Of all the body styles used by Ford for its popular Mustang line, the fastback remains perhaps the best representative of pony car styling. Taking nothing away from other styles, the roof line of the Ford Mustang fastback makes a clear case that a powerful steed has arrived, with the performance to prove it.

Fastback Yore

Ford’s fastback design was not all new, but it did signal a trend which caught on in the 1960s. As far back as the 1930s, the fastback design began to show up in various cars under the Stout, Packard, Pierce-Arrow, and Tatra makes. That style was later picked up Saab, Chevrolet, Nash, Bentley, and others before the Mustang made its debut.

Today’s Mustang offers fastback styling cues but it was certain models offered during the 1960s which comprised Mustang’s collection of sloping C-pillar models. Price-wise, Ford positioned the fastback just above the standard coupe and ahead of the convertible, outselling the latter but only offering a fraction of the sales of the coupe. Yes, while first generation Mustangs are collector’s items, the fastback designs of the late 60s are especially valued by enthusiasts.

AM Equipped

The Mustang fastback stood out mainly due to two things: its stylish ventilation louvers and sweptback rear glass window. Every Mustang featured adjustable driver and front passenger bucket seats, a colorful floor mounted shifter, and standard AM radio. In the 1960s, radio was still typically optional on most models, but Ford offered it across the entire Mustang line.

Rear seating was tight, but the most obvious problem for the driver was the huge blind spot created because of the fastback design. Unless you ordered the optional right side view mirror, then you risked slamming into whoever was coming up alongside you. But that didn’t stop people from choosing the fastback body style which was soon immortalized in the 1968 Steve McQueen thriller, Bullitt.

Mustang Bullitt

In the film, Steve McQueen’s Mustang was given the job of chasing down a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T, itself immortalized in the film. Two Mustangs were used, with suspensions and brakes heavily modified in order to handle the stunts. Those stunts had the cars racing through the streets of San Francisco, topping speeds of 110 mph in outlying areas and at times sailing through the air. McQueen himself performed many of the stunts over three weeks of tortuous filming.

The Mustang’s fastback design continued through 1973, although beginning with the 1969 model ventilation louvers were dropped. From that year through 1973, the Mustang was larger and heavier than before until that model was replaced by the Mustang II for the 1974 model year. Alas, the fastback was discontinued although more recent models have attempted to recapture that spirit without invoking an unmistakeable fastback look.

Why not upgrade to the Cobra ? I have always enjoyed the mustangs for what they are, true muscle cars. In my eyes there is not better mustang than the Cobra, and as suggest if you are going to purchase a mustang I would say just go for the cobra. Its a common saying, “go big or go home” and this would apply to this situation. For some extra money you will enjoy the best mustang out there, if you divide the extra amount of money spent and divide it in years of enjoyment you have a bargain when you get a cobra. Also the car will eventually become a classic so there is no reason to sell it ever at all in future years. Cobra is the way to go when it comes to mustangs.

The import scene usually is categorized by adding body kits to their vehicles. But now it is becoming more usual for muscle cars to wear some sort of body kit or lip kit. For the new mustang there are some really nice body kits out there, they make the car get a lower stance and more aggressive look. In my opinion a good idea.

Recently I saw the 2010 mustang on a show room, the car comes with some different body lines and I would have to say it seems to have a better fit and finish. Overall it keeps its retro look and it is very similar to the previous models starting on 05 but it has a new twist to it, that in my eyes seems to make it more sporty.

New turbo hype in V8 engines.

As part of the import scene , Honda, nissan, toyota. Turbos have played a big role, usually small displacement set ups are transformed into HP monsters by adding a single turbo set up. The engines particularly in Honda, are only 4cylinders and very easy to work on. Puttina turbo on those cars its pretty much easy. Well V8 might take a bit longer to actually achieve a nice turbo set up , but once you achieve it there is nothing that will compare to the power output that is possible. More and more people are going turbo and if you have the money and time to do it, definately is the way to go.