Poll: Ford Mustang Turns 60, Which Generation Did It Best?

The original pony car outlived all its imitators, and there are heroes from every era – yes, even the Mustang II.

The Ford Mustang turns 60 next week. It has outlived every imitator it inspired, and although the original pony car now sells for about 12 times what it did during its 1960s heyday, it remains a cultural icon and is one of the few new cars still available with a V8. and manual box.

To last a long time, the Mustang has had to adapt to changes in technology, consumer needs and government regulations along the way. But which generation did it best?

Related: Ford Mustang 60th Anniversary Retro Package Inspired, Debuts April 17

Ford classifies all 1964-1973 vehicles as one generation, but they were so different in terms of style and/or engineering that we have divided them into separate series. Read our mini Mustang profile to refresh your memory and then vote in our poll.

1964.5-1966

Proving that it’s marketing and not innovative engineering that sells cars, the original Mustang was just a rebadged Falcon compact, a classic case of smoke and mirrors. But it looked good and offered plenty of customization options, helping it to an astonishing 608,000 units in 1966 alone.

1967-1968

Detroit horsepower was on fire by the second half of the 1960s and Ford’s new Mustang design included a larger engine bay that could accommodate big-block V8s.

1969-70

Longer, wider and lower, the 1969 ‘Stang introduced popular model names such as the Mach 1 and Boss. But economy-minded buyers could still get a six-pack – think of it as the Ecoboost of its day, but without the boost.

1971-73

The larger Mustang still sported supercar-like styling and was available with a massive 429 cu-in (7.0 liter) V8, but it had the lowest sales numbers up to that point as buyers moved to the greenest cars they could afford. to see them. of.

1974-78

It’s the Mustang we all love to hate, and it wasn’t available with a V8 for its first year. But arriving just in time for the crippling gas crisis, the II was the right car at the right time and sales tripled. Pity the fools.

1979-1993

The Fox-platform Mustang introduced turbocharging, breathed new life into the V8 and provided a large tuning scope. Decades later it is still a popular car to mod and crash.

1994-2004

Ford used Mustang styling cues for the ’94 redesign, but there was nothing old-fashioned about the Cobra’s DOHC V8 and multi-link rear suspension.

2005-2014

The retro game was all the rage in the early 2000s and Ford’s new Mustang took on the trend just in time for the model’s 40th anniversary. The highlight was Shelby’s return after three decades away, the GT500 getting a supercharged V8 with up to 662 hp (670 PS).

2015-2023

Sleek styling, a classic multi-link rear end and an entry-level turbo four that made almost as much power as the old GT’s V8? No wonder sales jumped 50 percent. The Crazy GT350 came with a flat-plane V8 revved to 8,250 rpm.

2024-date

The Camaro and Challenger are gone, but the Mustang is racing, this time with a full digital dashboard and a $300k halo model, the GTD, which is Ford’s answer to the Porsche 911 GT3.

Photo credits: Mecum, Ford