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Two great names spring to mind when you think of domestically produced sports cars: the Corvette and Mustang.
While Chevrolet's 'Vette has always followed a distinctive two-seater path, one of the things that made the "Pony Car" such a success for the Ford Motor Co. was the fact it could be so many things to so many people.
Ford aptly described its pony car as, "A steed for every need."
In its basic form, the 6-cyIinder hardtop was fun, sporty and relatively inexpensive to own and operate.
In V8-powered variants it was a potent muscle car able to show a clean pair of heels to some of the best European high-performance cars of the times. As a convertible, it was, and still is, highly popular on the auto rental front and with nostalgic baby boomers looking to retrace the heady days of their younger years.
Since its dramatic introduction on April 17, 1964 at the New York World's Fair, the Mustang has been an icon of performance and style, capturing hearts worldwide. Such was its appeal that the first cars were auctioned off to the highest bidder.
The brainchild of then up-and-coming Ford executive Lee Iacocca, it was born of humble origins. It was based on Ford's budget Falcon model, with coil spring, and wishbone suspension at the front and a beam axle on leaf springs at the rear. When it first appeared in early 1964 (called a 1965 model), its crisp, clean styling came in notch-back and convertible versions. Its long, sweeping hood, sculpted flanks and short rear deck soon set it apart. A swooping fastback body was added in October.
At the same time, the arrival of the true 1965 Mustang saw it equipped with a 120 hp, 6-cylinder engine, a substantial boost over the anemic 101 hp output of the original. But perhperhaps what made it so appealing was the ability of owners to have the car built and equipped to suit their exact tastes. The original sold for only $2,368 US. Options included air conditioning at $283, a trio of V8 engine choices ranging from $100 to $328 and performance buffs could order the famous Shelby GT-350 for about $4,500 and a race-ready example for $5,950.
Those early, high-performance models made prodigious horsepower with acceleration to match and top speeds around 135 mph. Today, they can sell for well over six figures. At the recent Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, a 1965 GT-350 crossed the block for a cool $151,200 US.
In its 40-year tenure as America's favorite muscle car, the Mustang also has made it to the silver screen more than 300 times, from Goldfinger to Gone in 60 Seconds. But if the car could win only one Oscar, it would undoubtedly be for its starring role in Steve McQueen's 1968 police drama Bullitt. That 1968 GT-390 Mustang drew an indelible image in the minds of millions of people that helped define "cool." In 2001, Ford introduced a special-edition Bullitt GT inspired by the Warner Bros. film star.
The special edition Mustang Bullitt GT was inspired by the 1968 movie Bullitt starring Steve McQueen.
The car's basic, pretty shape continued fairly unchanged until a longer, paunchier 1969 marked the start of its decline from a great car to a fair car to a poor car. It reached its low point with the appearance of the 1973 Mustang II.
Smaller than the original 1964 model, the Mustang II shared many of its components with the Ford Pinto and claimed the dubious distinction of being the first Mustang to be equipped with an 88 hp, 4-cylinder engine. Many collectors consider this version the worst ever made, but its timing was right. Sales soared to more than 400,000 units in its first year of production.
By 1979, new crisp and clean lines helped the Mustang start its transition back to greatness. In 1983, the first convertible in 10 years added some glamour. A year later Ford introduced the hot SVO and this was followed by a heavily restyled "aero look" body in 1987 and the introduction of the SVT (Special Vehicle Team) Cobra model.
After another styling makeover in 1994, Ford's all-new 2005 Mustang combines state-of-the art technology, a fully modern architecture and all the soul that makes it so overwhelmingly popular - bold style, a brawny engine and rear-wheel drive excitement.
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