10 Million Cars Later, The Mustang Is Still A Choice The World Needs
The raw numbers behind the Ford Mustang are distracting, to say the least. Keeping the same iconic nameplate for the last 54 years has meant that sales have naturally stacked up, but to reach 10 million is a huge, huge achievement for any car, let alone a pony car – or sports car, depending on which side of the Atlantic you get your press releases.
By contrast the European sports car icon, Porsche’s 911, emerged one year before the first Mustang and in the same count of years managed one million sales. Mind you, the Porsche is quite a bit more expensive, but Porsche was ecstatic about its achievement so Ford has every right to lose its mind over what the Mustang has done.
It takes so many stars to align to make a car last as long as the Mustang. The fact that after five and a half decades we’re only on the sixth generation seems to tell a story about how long-lived each model has been… but that’s not quite the case. The second iteration lasted just five years after being hamstrung by a series of oil crises, while the third stab at the formula had to last some 15 years. Ouch.
And yet the American public stood by it. They carried on buying it, even when the weight ballooned, the styling turned so bland it could cure insomnia and the engines dropped from ‘muscle’ to more like ‘mollusc’.
Why? Because the Mustang had already made its mark. It inked its identity deep into the US consciousness. The mere memory of the superb first generation kept the model afloat through lean times. The Mustang was – and is – the Mustang.
Even though it does engage in them from time to time, in truth it’s above power wars. It’s above perceived technical flaws. Most importantly it’s above petty criticism. Say what you like; it doesn’t matter. The Mustang is uniquely cool and always will be. Even the divisive third- and fourth-generation cars have their fans.
The thing about the Mustang is that legions of people want to love it. That name helps. It feels so good when it rolls off your tongue. I’m just going out in my Mustang. Feels good, right? People also love it because it’s a car that says something about them; something positive.
Choosing a Mustang says that you value freedom, fun and character over boring everyday concerns like having five doors and averaging 50mpg. It says that you’re an interesting human, willing to make interesting choices in the face of a hundred more sensible options.
In 1964 the Mustang captured the imaginations of tens of thousands of people who were so, so ready for that car to exist. 10 million Mustangs have kept the faith all this time. Fast-forward to 2018 and today’s Mustang is the car 10 million more people need – but most of them probably don’t know it yet.
Comments
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Original joke
Anyone else hoping for a celebratory mass burnout?
Consequences notwithstanding
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Mustang is simply something else. Mustang is a Mustang. A definition. A benchmark. It’s the best performance for money, and it makes many many many kids dream about cars, and unlike most sports cars, Mustang fans usually do end up with a Mustang at one point in their life.
To put it simply, if an Alien came to our planet, and asked us what mean of transportation do we love the most a car would be what we would show them. And that car would be a Mustang. A cool, powerful, fast, yet affordable car for the masses.
Many cars made us smile, but hardly any car made people smile like the Mustang. Add the fact that Mustang brought smiles to more people than any other car, you have a winning combo. A legend
I’d argue the Mini in your statement, but it is valid :)
You’d be great for car commercials…Just everything that I had read, was accurate and stunning…
Even though I read this while doing my buisness in the bathroom, this warmed my heart. Reminds me of an old VW ad.
These are all of my thoughts put in one comment 😂
I’ve owned a mustang and a Corvette. Now the difference I thought would be subtle. It wasn’t. It’s night and day how differently the vette puts down its power, and handles.
Despite the vette being a way better car…
I still had a lot more fun on a day to day in the Stang.
So much that I want a Mustang again as a 2nd car to my ZR1.
I miss it, I loved it. What a simply great car!
And the Coyote motor has to be the best sounding V8 across the whole rev range in my opinion.
Here we go again, the mustang is meant to battle the camaro, charger, and challenger in the fight for pony cars.
But the car crowds on car meetings don’t… (Mustang fanboys don’t kill me plz)
That is literally one f**king incident dude. Dont base all mustangs on one dumbass person.
The Mustang may not have been the first pony car, but it certainly set the bar. It’s held it ever since.
Yes it was the first pony car… it literally created the segment. It’s why it’s called a pony car. Because of Mustang. Both horse terms
And just as slow 🐢
As long as the Mustang stays in production, overpopulation shouldn’t be an issue
Hiting crowds since 1964½