The Ford Mustang is more than a car. It symbolizes peak Americana, it captures the imagination, it’s stepping into a car and taking on the open road of the American West. It’s an automotive icon that is as American as baseball, hot dogs and hamburgers, air conditioning, and the bald eagle.
The OG Mustang
When the first-ever Mustang was released by Ford in 1964, hopes were high. The company was expecting the car would sell 100,000 vehicles per year, a lofty yet realistic aim.
It’s fair to say that the Mustang hit it out of the park. At launch, it became the hottest car on the market, the most successful vehicle since another classic, the 1927 Ford Model A. It sold more than 400,000 units in its first year alone.
But we’re not here simply to highlight the car’s role in shaping American culture or its impressive initial sales figures. The car is very much a vehicle of today. The recently launched models are not simply homages to the classic OG release; they’re cars that stand in their own right.
Still Going Strong
In 2023, the Ford Mustang continues to set the tone for pony cars, cementing its status as the American car, bar none. Where Ford has all but eliminated the traditional passenger car in favour of SUVs and trucks, the Mustang is still part of the company’s flagship lineup.
The classic car is even expanding its market share beyond the United States, with sales up 54.3% in New Zealand and 37.3% in Brazil. It continues to feature in big-budget Hollywood flicks like the Fast and the Furious. Big-name celebrities like Zac Efron and Jay Leno pepper their social media accounts with snaps of their prized vehicles. Such is the popularity of the car that the latest Ecoboost model is even being offered by local online casinos, just like they continuously offer free spins or no deposit bonuses as a welcome offer to their customers. A deliciously tempting exercise that would make most think twice about putting down a cheeky punt.
It’s, therefore, no surprise that in 2021, the car retained its title as the most popular sports coupe on the planet for the sixth year in a row. For a back-to-back title, the car also returned as the best-selling sports car, period.
Why We Continue to Heart the Mustang
Yes, the Ford Mustang oozes an iconic style that most modern cars just can’t quite capture. It has bona fide historic value, harking back to the days when Route 66 was more than just an inspiration for a Disney movie (we love the movie Cars, by the way, even though the origin ideas are questionable!).
Yet it’s more than ‘just’ style and cultural value. The car is a solid vehicle, which is a must in today’s competitive market. It’s reliable, can get you from 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds, and is more than worth its price tag.
Sure, it’s not a cheap vehicle. But in terms of power, the car gives you a definite bang for your buck. Compared to other cars in its price range, the Ford Mustang continues to outperform its competitors. For those who opt for the 5.0-litre V8, the car is tremendously addictive to drive. It just purrs performance from top to bottom.
The Ford Mustang goes beyond being a car, with a strong community forming the backbone of ownership. Owners tend to band together, joining Facebook groups, and local meetups, and will often wave or at the very least acknowledge other Mustang drivers. When you buy one, you join a big family.
Mustang Mach-E
The original Mustang is a car steeped in tradition, still popular with car enthusiasts to this day. The recent versions build on this strong reputation, enhancing everything that we love about the OG model. But Ford doesn’t want its Mustang to simply represent the past, symbolize a historic sense of Americana.
That’s all well and good, but Ford is also all about looking to the future.
The Mustang Mach-E is the company’s drive to join the electric car revolution. The company pulled out all the stops when it revealed the model to the world, with huge fanfare following the event (over 5.9m Twitter views and 1.3m Facebook and YouTube views).
The car has exceeded industry expectations, representing a competitively priced, feature-rich model in a growing sector of the industry. Its acceleration matches the Tesla, while its stylistic features honour the original Mustang series. Perhaps most importantly, you can reach a very decent 379 miles before you need to charge up the battery.
Never Underestimate the Mustang
Each and every company that’s tried to oust the Ford Mustang as the signature pony car has failed. The Mustang has a Rocky-esque quality, often excelling and beating competitors with force, but also sometimes having to simply survive in a struggling market.
It got through the 1970s fuel crisis, which seriously threatened the guzzler of a vehicle as it was then. It remained popular through the 1980s when ‘glam’ models dominated the industry. And since, it’s kept a place in the automotive industry in the midst of a mass market move to SUVs.
And now, with the release of the Mustang Mach-E, the company is showing that it can move with the trends of the future. In short, the Ford Mustang is a car of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.