Ford Mustang
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The Mustang is probably the only car on this list that deserves a list of the best 20 versions of itself! So rather than populate this list full of Mustangs, we are giving it the top spot on the list. The Mustang was introduced back in 1964 and has taken off since then. Unlike a lot of the other sports cars produced by other vehicle manufacturers, the Mustang has never taken a break. It’s always been around in one version or another.
The Mustang was the creator of the pony car class. The Mustang name helped create the pony name. The idea of a pony car was that they would be fast American sports cars with big hoods and tiny rear ends. The pony car was a great subset of the muscle car grouping.
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Copycat World
The Mustang immediately inspired envy in other car manufacturers. They were all rushing to create a car that could compete with it. Without the Mustang we would have missed out on the Camaros, Firebirds, and Barracudas. We’d like in a world where the Dodge Challenger never existed. That’s not the world I want to live in.
Here Comes Shelby
Some of the very best models of the Mustang came once Carroll Shelby was contacted by Ford to create a better version of the Mustang. In 1965, Shelby worked with the GT350 version of the Mustang to produce an even better version of the early classic. Shelby worked with Ford until the early 90’s and then reignited the relationship in the 2000s. For example, the 2011 Shelby GT500 featured a supercharged V8 giving us 550 horsepower. That’s quite the step up from the 305-412 horsepower the regular versions offered. The Shelby versions are incredibly, but admittedly expensive. The Mustang has strayed a little from the cheap powerful car that it started as. But that’s just the special editions. At its heart, it has managed to remain a cheap exciting sports car available to the masses.
