PONY PLAY!

BOTH ARE LIMITED EDITIONS AND SHAPING UP AS MODERN CLASSICS. THE QUESTION IS, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOSE?

- MARK HIGGINS WITH JOHN BOWE

The two most significant Fords of all time are the Model T and the Mustang. Both are automotive and societal icons, game changers and groundbreakers.

The Mustang is one of Ford’s longest running nameplates that celebrates its 60th birthday next year, and straight out of the blocks in April 1964 it was an instant classic, and not just in America.

Our passion for the Mustang can be partly explained by its success in the Australian Touring Car Championship from 1965 to 1972; the pinnacle of all those Mustangs competing being Allan Moffat’s Trans Am, one of only seven built.

The Mustang’s starring role on the big and small screens has further ingrained it as a classic.

But the overriding factor for our love affair with the Mustang is that until late 2015, they weren’t sold here as an ongoing model.

When Ford Australia announced it was getting the Mustang some 51 years after the nameplate hit US streets, Ford dealers were teeming with eager buyers throwing wads of cash to secure one. Since then, almost 35,000 have been sold.

So, this begs the question, will this latter day Mustang become a classic in the future?

That is open to debate and time will tell, however there are two versions that are a pretty sure bet: The 2018 Bullitt and the 2021 Mach 1, both based on the FN Series Mustang and both limited to just 700 units in Australia.

Paying homage to the iconic Steve McQueen movie Bullitt, Ford Australia revealed that come October 2018 buyers could get their hands on a third-generation Bullitt Mustang.