Ford Mustangs: The Muscle Cars of the Past and Present

The Ford Mustang is the only muscle car that has been produced for over forty years without interruption. This makes the older versions of the Mustang just as popular as the newer versions. The first Mustang ever made that was considered a muscle car was the pony car, which had only two seats and was introduced to the world in 1964.

The Mustang was based off the Ford Falcon design and had a long hood and shortrear deck. It was the most popular car since the Model A. With each passing year, the Mustang grew heavier and this caused the fans to write to the Ford company in the 1970s and request that they go back to the original 1964 style of car.

A smaller, more fuel efficient Mustang based on the Pinto was made from 1974 through 1978. It was heavier due to the new U.S. standards, which made this muscle car less popular than the older ones. These new mustangs were available in the coupe and hatchback styles. In 1976 and 1978, they came out with the Cobra II and the King Cobra.

The Mustangs built in 1979 thru 1993 had the body styles of the coupe, hatchback, and the convertible. In 1984 thru 1986, they came out with the L, GL, GLX, LX, GT, and the Turbo GT. In 1993 came the Cobra and the Cobra R.

The Bullitt GT was introduced in 2001, and the years 2003 and 2004 brought the Mach 1. In 2005, they brought back the 1960s style of the fast back. The Mustang GT had an aluminum block 4.6 L SOHC 3-valve Modular V8 with variable cam shaft timing that produced 300hp. The 2010 Mustang GT has a new muscular appearance.