Ford Mustang

When Ford unveiled the Mustang at the New York World's Fair, it did more than launch a car; it named a class. The long-hood, short-deck proportions, bucket seats, and a low sticker backed by a deep options list defined what the industry would come to call the pony car. Lee Iacocca, then general manager of the Ford Division, had pushed for an affordable, sporty four-seater aimed at the postwar baby-boom buyers coming of driving age, and the finished car answered that brief almost too well.

Demand embarrassed the forecasts. Ford had planned for modest annual volume, but dealers took tens of thousands of orders on the first day, and the Mustang blew past its full-year projection in a matter of months. It sold more than 400,000 cars in its first model year and reached one million built within roughly a year and a half, figures that reset expectations for what a single new model could do.

Under the hood, early cars ranged from an economical inline-six to a small-block V8, letting the Mustang be a commuter or a stoplight brawler depending on the order sheet. That breadth, together with a body offered as hardtop, convertible, and later fastback, kept the car relevant as tastes shifted. The Mustang became the longest continuously produced nameplate in Ford's history, and it has carried the pony-car idea it invented across seven generations without ever leaving the market.