The iconic Ford Mustang pony car just turned 60 last month, and the celebrations include an upcoming 2025 model year 60th Anniversary package reserved for just 1,965 examples – that's a pretty exotic collectible, right?
As far as the sales are concerned, the Mustang is mostly fine – it retained American 'muscle car' supremacy during the first quarter of the year against dwindling opponents, the discontinued Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger, but its deliveries slipped a bit compared to the same period of 2023 even though now Ford sells the newer S650 seventh generation as opposed to the S550.
On the other hand, the worldwide situation is pretty simple – in 2023, the global best-selling sports car was the Ford Mustang, all over again. Naturally, one of the most popular options is the Mustang GT, equipped with the legendary 5.0-liter Coyote V8, now massaged for no less than 480 hp (or 486 hp with the optional active exhaust system). It's the same story everywhere – at worldwide dealerships as well as the local American quarter-mile dragstrip.
But there is no need to take our word for granted because we have an eloquent example. The videographer behind the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube is a big fan of The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and he witnessed something Ford going on during one night of action. More precisely, a white S550 Ford Mustang GT knight in shiny armor (with black wheels, though) was seemingly decided to show the newer Blue Oval S650 Ford Mustang GT kid on the block (dressed in blue, of course) who's boss.
Those who know the nation's premier quarter-mile dragstrips are also well aware that racers can perform a pre-race burnout before entering their lanes to ensure their tires are at the right temperature to take advantage of the sticky tarmac. As it turns out, though, the blue S650 Ford Mustang skipped this part, and the S550 didn't – maybe it wasn't their first race, and the tires were already warm, or they didn't know better.
They both align to take their mark pretty soon, and the race master didn't waste any time giving them the green light. Maybe that caught the S650 driver off-guard, or he was slightly inexperienced, but that was more than enough for the S550 to take command of the race and put a couple of car lengths between them. Ultimately, that proved fatal for the more powerful and newer S650 Mustang because it lost the skirmish: 11.98s versus 12.69s, although they both had the same 115-mph trap speed.
Determined to wash away the shame, the blue Mustang came back for another skirmish against a derelict-looking front-wheel drive Honda Civic and, this time around, didn't skimp on trimming the fat off the rear-wheel tires. That decision was wise, as it finally nailed the victory: 12.6 versus 13.38s. Cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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