April 17th 2021 is the 'Stangs 57th birthday.
The 1960s were a time that would provide some of America’s most iconic muscle cars, this helped to spark a cultural revolution in the car community among younger car enthusiasts. The Mustang could be regarded as the world's first pony car and some even credit it for starting this muscle car mania. Within the first year, the Mustang managed to crank out over 500,000 sales and it has continued the trend of outselling the competition ever since. This constant over-achievement has led to a cult following of the classic Ford Mustang pony car from the beginning and today we mark the 57th birthday of our beloved American legend.
Our story begins in the year 1964 when Henry Ford II unveiled the first generation Mustang at the World’s Fair in New York. Like many of our favorite muscle cars, this instant classic was named after a fighter plane. The aircraft in question is the P-51 Mustang Fighter used in WWII, this seemed like a perfect fit as it was an integral part of the American fighting spirit.
Surprisingly, the original design was meant to depict a two-seater mid-engine roaster similar to the Corvette. However, thankfully, this design was scrapped and the four-seater front-engine V8 was allowed to begin stealing the hearts of car lovers everywhere.
Now, after over 50 years and 6 generations, the Mustang is as athletic as ever utilizing its 5.0-liter V8 Coyote engine to become one of America’s most powerful muscle cars. The Mustang line is also entering the EV market this year with the Mach-E - a car pulling the Tesla fans to the pony emblem.
While others, such as the Camaro, try and fail to keep the Mustang stays true to what it has always been. The Mustang was first thought of as a lightweight version of a muscle car with better handling while still retaining the incredible engineering prowess that made American cars so great in the first place. Even today there is a massive following behind the Ford Mustang and it only seems to be growing by the minute.