Ford Mustang

The Mustang was a sports car introduced by Ford in 1964, based on the Falcon. It had originally been showcased as a dream car in 1962 in a more aerodynamic fashion, but the production model ended up being a performance coupe. The Mustang introduced the "pony car", a smaller version of the muscle car. The term was named after a "mustang" being a type of horse. Early generations had the sporty "fastback" model with a slotted rear window. The 1969 model had a "Boss" edition, after a sixties slang term for "cool" or "hip". It came in a 302 cubic inch or 429 cubic inch model. The former successfully competed in the popular Trans-American Sedan Championship road racing series as 302 cubic inches translates to the five liter displacement limit set by the Sports Car Club of America, the sanctioning body for Trans Am. The Mustang was chosen by Ford to replace the Falcon in Trans Am. In the sixties, the Mustang was famously featured in the action film *Bullitt.* Special editions were subsequently made based on the Mustang from that film. The Mustang was used in the International Motorsports Association's Grand Touring Championship, specifically the high-displacement IMSA GTO category that was also used in Trans Am after the Oil Crisis of 1973. The Mustang formed the basis for an IMSA GT Prototype. In the sixties and seventies, the Mustang was a twin of the Mercury Cougar. Eventually, the Cougar became a twin of the Thunderbird. The Mustang eventually was entered in NASCAR support series. The Mustang was entered in the Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series. Today the Mustang is used in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and the Pirelli World Challenge. Ford revived the Boss 302 edition and the Bullitt edition after the Mustang was redesigned around the turn of the millennium to resemble the sixties models. This led a team in the Cont'l Challenge to adopt Trans-Am tribute livery for one year. The Mustang is noted for its galloping horse logo, especially the one running in front of red, white, and blue stripes. However, from the seventies to nineties Ford actually dropped the pony in favor of a generic Ford logo. In the mid nineties, the pony returned and has remained ever since. The Mustang is popular in drag racing. A powerful Mustang Cobra edition was introduced in the sixties with the aid of the legendary Carol Shelby and named after the legendary Shelby Cobra. It was discontinued in 1971, shortly before the Mustang II was introduced, but revived in 2005. The Mustang II is infamous for being a low-performance model, as it came during the Oil Crisis. While the Shelby edition was discontinued, the Mustang II featured a King Cobra edition to continue the model. This edition featured a large cobra design on its hood similar to the phoenix design on the Pontiac Trans Am. Carol Shelby would go on create his own Shelby Mustang line, although they are considered a separate vehicle and not Mustangs. There was a hit Wilson Pickett song entitled *Mustang Sally*. The Shelby Mustangs were also revived. For decades there has been a "Mustang Daytona" edition, after the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race. It was also named after the Shelby Daytona sports coupe.