15 Best Mustangs of All Time

From its growling engine to its unmistakable body, the Mustang is arguably the most iconic car in U.S. history. Spearheaded by the late Lee Iacocca in the early 1960s and entered into America's imagination in 1964, six generations of Mustangs have since rolled off the line in almost as many decades. Over the years, the brand has had its icons and failures — we've yet to see how the Mustang Mach-E will turn out as the first electric vehicle with the branding — but one thing has never changed: The Mustang is America's muscle car. (It's also the last remaining passenger car made by Ford for North America.) Here's a roundup of its best.

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In 1964, the automotive world underwent a revolution that would change the history of American automobiles for the next half-century and beyond. That year, the Ford Motor Co. introduced the original Mustang pony car. The run of the original Mustang lasted less than five months, but its impact would endure through the ages. Legendary Ford executive Lee Iacocca, who died in July 2019 at the age of 94, imagined the vehicle — a small and accessible performance car for the everyman — in the wake of the Edsel disaster. On April 16, 1964, the night before the World's Fair, the company bombarded the airwaves with publicity for Iacocca's creation. Ford sold 22,000 Mustangs the very first day at a cost of $2,368 each.

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Pioneering automotive designer and engineer Carroll Shelby made his mark on the Mustang brand a couple years before he would perfect the Shelby model with the GT500. In 1965, Shelby designed a Mustang that was a road car built for racing, and the brand subsequently earned the status of legend in the performance automobile world. A variant of the Mustang Fastback, the Shelby GT350 would become one of Ford's most successful cars under the Mustang brand.

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In terms of both style and performance, the Shelby came of age in 1967. That's the year that the GT500 debuted, and Carroll Shelby himself would later reflect on the car as one of his greatest prides. Based on the same engine that the Shelby racing team used to sweep the top three spots at Le Mans, it was the first of its kind to come with a roll bar.

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One of the earliest limited edition Mustangs, the California Special was Michigan born but 100% West Coast in spirit. First produced in 1968, this beauty was the brainchild of a Southern California sales manager who headed a group of Golden State Mustang dealers who wanted a car to call their own. The prototype for this classic was given the green light by legendary auto man Lee Iacocca himself. 

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The 1968 police thriller "Bullitt" featured Steve McQueen as the lead actor — but the real star of the show was the Mustang he made famous. There were actually two Mustang Fastback models with modified engines featured in the film, but one was so heavily damaged it was beyond repair. The other would forever be known as the Bullitt, one of the most iconic Mustangs in history, and Mustang would give it several reboots decades after the movie dazzled audiences, including the most recent 2020 Bullitt.

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In the history of American muscle cars, few names ring out louder than the Boss 302. Its genesis is legendary. To race a car with its new 302-cubic-inch engine in the Trans-Am series, Mustang had to offer a production version of that car. Mustang's new competitor, the Chevy Camaro, had done just that and won the Trans-Am series in 1968. Not to be outdone, Mustang responded in kind with this roaring model.

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When the world met the 1969 Mustang Mach 1, it fell instantly in love. The grill-heavy beast stayed in production for nearly a decade. Although it offered more performance options than its predecessors, it came standard with a V8 that was capable of generating 250 horsepower. The arrival of the Mach 1 spelled the beginning of the end of the GTs that came before, and it remained nearly unchanged through 1978.

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Like the Boss 302, the Boss 429 was born out of necessity as it pertains to race series entry rules. To compete in NASCAR, Mustang had to build 500 examples of the car it planned to race. Although it never actually competed in NASCAR, the Mustang with the 429-cubic-inch engine, which could crank out 325 horsepower, did go down in history as one of the greatest street cars ever built.

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One of the biggest factors in the decline of the Mach 1 was the arrival of the uber-popular Cobra II in 1976. The model reflected changing times in the automotive world. The original Mustang pony cars had been phased out in 1973, which contributed to the decline of the Mustang brand during the rise of Mustang's second-generation line. To stoke a resurgence, and in reaction to energy insecurity in the era of the oil embargo, Ford unleashed the Cobra II, which not only was reminiscent of the early GTs, but also guzzled less gas than its predecessors.

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In 1979, the Mustang was honored as the official pace car for the 63rd Indianapolis 500. Ford debuted a special car for the occasion, and soon after made a nearly exact replica of that Indy Pace Car available to the public at a base price of $9,012. A longtime favorite among drivers and collectors, it remains a cult classic in Mustang world.

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The original prototypes for the 1984 Ford Mustang SVO were built in 1982 under the direction of a collection of gurus from the racing world known as Special Vehicles Operation. Since Ford was interested in launching Mustangs as competition vehicles once again, the SVO was built with a focus on handling, thanks to big wheels, big brakes, and advanced struts and shocks.

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The Cobra is a survivor, and different models of snakes slithered their way through the 1970s, '80s and into the '90s. But it wasn't until 1993 that the Cobra reemerged as a pony car. Built under the direction of Ford's Special Vehicle Team, the division that bears the '93 Cobra's acronym, the SVT Cobra was powerful and limited, built in small quantities that were consumed mostly by racers and collectors.

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The true name of the Mustang known as the Terminator is the 2003 SVT Cobra. It earned its nickname and its place in history from its raw power and impressive muscle. Its 390-horsepower engine actually tested at 425. The Terminator's engine is among the most powerful in Mustang history, and one of the toughest ever to appear in a mainstream car.

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Mustang is known for breathing life into old favorites, and that's what happened in 2013 when Ford introduced a new, and some would argue improved, Boss 302. There was actually a 2012 model that incorporated the same engine, but the 2013 model featured a host of amazing cosmetic upgrades, not the least of which were reflective racing stripes and a new paint finish.

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2013 was a banner year for Mustang fans, who witnessed the rebirth of another classic favorite: the Shelby GT500. Thanks to the arrival of giant Hellcat engines, the 2013 model is not the biggest, meanest muscle car on the block — but it's close. The beast puts out an impressive 662 horsepower.

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