Ford Mustang Through the Years: A Retrospective (2024)

Generation I: Introduction through Model Year 1973

• 22,000 orders taken on the first day of sale, April 17, 1964.
• 417,000 orders in first 12 months, one million by March 1966.
• Design themes are established—blunt nose, long hood, short rear deck, scalloped sides.
• Offered in notchback, fastback, and convertible body styles.
• Iconic Mustang nameplates are born: Shelby GT350, Shelby GT500, Boss 302, Boss 351, Cobra Jet, Mach 1, and KR. Steve McQueen’s Bullitt deifies the ’68 Mustang GT390 fastback.

Generation II: Model Years 1974–78

• Mustang II: The Pinto-based Mustang that we, and probably even Ford, would like to forget.
• The second-gen Mustang is nearly 500 pounds lighter, a response to the 1973 oil crisis and the overgrown final first-gen models.
• Iconic Mustang design themes prove ill-suited to smaller dimensions.
• Convertible is abandoned, and T-top is available on fastback model.
• Engines downsized to include— gasp! —a four-cylinder. No V-8 is offered for 1974 at all .

Generation III: Model Years 1979–93

• Mustang adopts new “Fox” platform from Ford Fairmont sedan in 1979, grows several inches in key areas but is still a wimp under the hood.
• Boxy styling is improved over that of Mustang II but remains far from elegant and evokes little of the original’s design themes.
• Convertible returns in 1983. T-tops quietly get lost in the Ford garage, never to return.
• New SVO version appears in 1984 with turbocharged four-cylinder engine.
• 1987 brings sexier styling. LX model with 225-hp V-8 becomes a certifiable performance bargain. Wire wheels and whitewall tires remain available until 1992.
• New SVT team builds SVT Cobra and Cobra R models that set new standards for Mustang performance in 1993.

Generation IV: Model Years 1994–2004

• New “Fox-4” platform is massively updated for stiffness. Hatchback body disappears for good.
• Styling intends to evoke the original’s, although the result looks much like a Gen III Mustang that melted in the sun.
• Ford experiments with hideous colors, like grass green, school bus yellow/orange, and—worst of all—the Mystic purple/green/gold metallic available on SVT Cobras.
• Fresh DOHC 4.6-liter V-8 appears in GT and SVT Cobra (remains to this day). Output levels quickly rise to 300-plus hp.
• SVT team gets its legs, producing SVT Cobra with an independent rear suspension in 1999; IRS technology proves short-lived on the Mustang. Throwback Bullitt model is born in 2001.
• Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, Ford’s last pony-car competitors, are discontinued for 2003, but Mustang forges on.

Generation V: Model Years 2005–Present

• All-new body really evokes original. Buyers go bonkers.
• Mustang production moves from ancient Dearborn factory but stays in Michigan, moving to Flat Rock.
• Ford plays with colors again, this time inside the car, with 125 goofy color choices for dash lights.
• New-for-2009 glass roof option is next best thing to T-top.
• Base V-6 makes 210 hp, and GT’s V-8 makes an even 300. Reborn GT500 model produces monstrous 500 hp, thanks to supercharging, and limited-edition GT500KR model offers 540 hp.

2010 Mustang

• Body receives major nip and tuck to look even more like the first gen, and it works.
• Suspension updates effectively tame the archaic live-axle rear end, especially with optional Track Pack.
• Newfound technology includes navigation system and Sync infotainment. Sixties-style sequential turn signals appear, and 19-inch wheels are offered for the first time.
• GT V-8 output rises to 315 hp. GT500 gets KR’s 540-hp state of tune.
• In many ways, 2010 Mustang is as appealing as original. In many others, it is even better.