Guess the year: a $2,368 Mustang, a Liverpool band, and a bullet train

By The Yourtale team · Published 31 October 2026 · 4 min read

Three clues, one year. A brand-new Ford Mustang goes on sale for $2,368. Four young men from Liverpool have the number one song in America. In Japan, the first bullet train starts carrying passengers on a line built for 210 kilometres an hour. Which year is it? Guess, then watch the short or read on for the answer, with a source for every clue.

The answer: 1964

All three happened within eight months of each other. Here is each clue, checked.

Key takeaways

• The Mustang went on sale on 17 April 1964, with the hardtop at $2,368.
• The Beatles held number one in America for seven weeks from 1 February 1964.
• The bullet train opened on 1 October 1964, on a line built for 210 km/h.
• The question to ask a parent who was young then: where were you when you first saw the Beatles?

Clue one: a new Mustang for $2,368

The Mustang went on sale on 17 April 1964, the day Henry Ford II unveiled it at the New York World's Fair. "The hardtop's base price was an affordable $2,368," in Ford's own words (Ford Motor Company). Using the US consumer price index, that is roughly $24,600 in 2025 dollars (BLS CPI-U).

Dealers took 22,000 orders on the first day. Ford had expected to sell 100,000 in the first year and sold 418,812 (Ford).

Clue two: a Liverpool band at number one

"I Want to Hold Your Hand" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on the chart dated 1 February 1964 and held it for seven weeks, through the chart of 14 March.

On 7 February the band landed at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport on Pan Am Flight 101 (This Day in Aviation). Two days later they played The Ed Sullivan Show. Nielsen estimated that 73 million people watched, nearly 40 percent of the US population (History.com; The Beatles).

Clue three: a train built for 210 km/h

The Tokaido Shinkansen opened on 1 October 1964, between Tokyo and Osaka, nine days before the Tokyo Olympics opened on 10 October (Japanese Olympic Committee). The fastest train, the Hikari, covered the 515 km in about four hours (Railway Gazette).

One correction to our own short: the line was designed for 210 km/h, but for the opening period the national railway held regular trains to 160 km/h. Trains were allowed to run at 210 km/h in November 1965, when the Hikari's time came down to 3 hours 10 minutes (Tokaido Shinkansen, Wikipedia).

Why a year game works on the people who lived it

Someone who was fifteen in 1964 is in their late seventies now, and the years between roughly ten and thirty are the ones people remember best. Memory researchers call it the reminiscence bump, and a systematic review of the evidence calls it one of the most robust findings in autobiographical memory.

That is why the clues are a price, a song and a machine rather than a decade. "What were the sixties like?" gets a summary. "Do you remember when a new Mustang cost $2,368?" gets a car, a friend who had one, and a Saturday.

Ask them where they were

If your mum or dad was young in 1964, they may remember exactly whose living room they watched the Beatles in. Next time you are with them, put your phone on the table, press record, and ask: where were you when you first saw the Beatles? Then ask who else was in the room, and what the adults said about the hair.

Or send them this page first and see whether they get the year from the first clue.

That is what we do. Our AI interviewer asks by voice and follows up, and we turn the conversation into a printed book in the speaker's own words. We are opening to a small group first: join the waitlist. More questions like this one: for your mom and for your dad.

FAQ

What happened in 1964?

The Beatles reached number one in America and played The Ed Sullivan Show to an estimated 73 million viewers, Ford launched the Mustang, and Japan opened the Tokaido Shinkansen nine days before the Tokyo Olympics.

How much did a Ford Mustang cost in 1964?

The first Mustang hardtop had a base price of $2,368 when it went on sale on 17 April 1964, roughly $24,600 in 2025 dollars.

When did the first bullet train run?

On 1 October 1964, on the Tokaido Shinkansen between Tokyo and Osaka. The line was built for 210 km/h, though trains were held to 160 km/h until November 1965.

How we made this

This page is the written version of a short we published on 22 October 2026. We wrote the script with AI tools, a synthetic voice reads it, and we checked every figure against the sources below before publishing.

Sources

• Ford Motor Company, Mustang 50th anniversary release, 2014 (archived copy): on sale 17 April 1964, hardtop base price $2,368, 22,000 first-day orders, 418,812 first-year sales.
• History.com, Ford Mustang debuts at World's Fair.
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U, all items, US city average: annual averages 31.0 (1964) and 321.943 (2025).
• Billboard Hot 100, charts dated 1 February 1964 and 14 March 1964.
• This Day in Aviation, The Beatles: arrival at JFK, 7 February 1964.
• History.com, Beatlemania sweeps the United States, and thebeatles.com, 9 February 1964: 73 million viewers.
• Railway Gazette, Tokaido Shinkansen turns 50, 2014.
• Japanese Olympic Committee, Tokyo 1964.
• Wikipedia, Tokaido Shinkansen: opening-period limit of 160 km/h and the November 1965 timetable.