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Ford Mustang

The Mustang has to be up there with Fords greatest vehicles of all time. Not only is it a beautiful vehicle to look at, but it also drives like an animal and reaches levels of performance that are immense. The Mustang was introduced to the world, and accepted by every petrol-head, in the summer of 1964 and has proved to be so popular, that it is still in production today!

Whilst it is a brilliant car to own and use to get your groceries and take your kids to school, it is not just a show car and has achieved a lot in the field of motorsports. It started out modestly as a safety car for the 1964 Indianapolis 500 race. Yet found its way into the competition that very same year and showed the world it could be much more than just a safety car. In 1964, the Mustang was driven to victory on a number of occasions; it picked up first and second place in its class at the Tour de France international rally.

1964 Ford Mustang

 A number of special edition Mustangs were then put into production for the 1965 NHRA drag racing season one of which won in its class. Mustangs also thrived in road races, winning and had won much in that area before the 70s, including taking the top spot in 5 of the 6 Sports Car Club of America’s divisions in 1965 with driver Titus winning the SCCA B-production national championship and with the Mustang winning the same award for the following two years. The Mustang also won Ford a manufacturers’ championship in the first SCCA Trans-Am series in 1966 as well as a repeat win the following year. It was then only another three years until the Mustang once again, won the same manufacturers’ championship.

Following on from these successful years, Mustang continued to raise the bar, and in 1972, Dick Trickie drove the Mustang to a bunch of record breaking victories in 67 short-track oval feature races. Another first came about 2 years later in 1975 when Ron Smaldone’s Mustang won the Showroom Stock national championship in SCCA road racing.

The 80s was also a successful decade for the Mustang, it won the 1985 GTO drivers’ championship after impressive performances in the IMSA GTO class in the 2 years prior to 1985. Mustang also picked up awards at the Daytona 24 Hours race winning ford its first manufacturers’ title in road racing since 1970. The Mustang also helped another ‘first’ come about in 1985 when driver Lynn St. James became the first female driver to win in the series when she achieved three class wins. The success continued into 1986 with Scott Pruett winning the drivers’ championship in a Mustang, Ford winning another manufacturers’ title and a further 8 GTO wins. It was also a year for celebration in drag racing with a Mustang winning the International Hot Rod Association Pro Stock world championship.

Over a decade later in 1997 Mustang was still making itself known, creating another record by winning 11 races in the Trans-Am series consecutively and winning Tommy Kendall his third straight driver’s championship.

2002 was also a good year for Mustang, made particularly special when John Force won his 12th national championship in a Funny Car Ford Mustang, breaking his very own NHRA drag racing record, a record which would only last until 2006 when he won 14 championships…. In a Mustang!

John Force’s Ford Mustang