project. Allegro was a musical term and Clark and all of the designers he worked with were involved with various musical instruments. This gave the young group who originally were with GM a way to speak about the Mustang project in a code that no one to this day can decipher except for the original designers. After traveling from his hometown in Nashville, Tennessee to the Art School of Design in Pasadena, California where he passed the wild mustangs in Nevada and was captivated by their beauty, Clark suggested the Mustang name to Ford executives. After public relations and the legal department vetted the project name (they particularly liked the connection to the wild horse of the same name), the name continued onto the Mustang II show car and later was applied to the production version of the Ford Mustang. The final decision on the name was left up to Lee Iacocca, the vice-president and general manager of the Ford Motor Company. Clark also designed the Ford Capri, a fact which until recently was unknown. Later work Clark's designs continued to evolve and were influential in other Fords, including the GT-40 race car and its derivatives. Other designs were incorporated in Ford Europe products including the Ford Cortina. Clark died at 32 from kidney failure. To this day he is known for his design of the Mustang "running horse" emblem. References Notes Citations Bibliography Clark, Holly (and Red Van, photography). The Man Behind the Pony Series, Finding My Father. Rusk, Texas: ClarkLand Productions, (Division of Phil Clark Foundation), 2006. . Leffingwell, Randy. Mustang: America's Classic Pony Car. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1995. . Leffingwell, Randy (and David Newhardt, photography). Mustang: 40 Years. St. Paul, Minnesota: Crestline (Imprint of MBI Publishing Company), 2003. . External links "Ford Mustang prototypes" by the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide, undated, Retrieved on April 27, 2008. 1935 births 1968 deaths People in the automobile industry