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If you haven't driven a pony car in decades, you're in for a pleasant shock. Cars like today's Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger aren't brutal-handling shipping containers for hoary V-8 engines. They're no longer cavemen. Yes, they're brutally fast, and now, great handling isn't just on the menu--it's a main course.
It's especially true with the 2012 Ford Mustang. No longer a rehashed icon, or a throwback, the Mustang's dragged itself down the quarter-mile into modern times in some amazing ways. There's still a live axle in back, but no mainstream Mustang has ever handled better or accelerated faster than today's V-8 'Stangs--and it's almost true of the V-6s as well.
To the heritage recipe, Ford's trimmed out the Mustang's proportions over the past six years. It's leaner, and more aggressive, and can be customized with all the hood scoops, paint schemes and decal packages you need to fondly remember that night in high school, or college, or detention. The cockpit has the upright dash and big, beautiful gauges with color-shifting lighting and metallic trim, a good blend of Sixties style and today's touchscreen sensibilities.
Entry-level buyers will get a 305-horsepower V-6 that can turn in 0-60 mph times of about 6.0 seconds--and fuel economy of up to 31 mpg on the highway when teamed with a reluctant-shifting automatic six-speed. It can carry its own weight against the likes of the Nissan 370Z, at long last, and against the Camaro V-6.
The V-8 catapults into a whole other performance category. The 5.0-liter V-8 thumps out 412 horsepower, with six-speed manual or automatic transmissions pushing power to the rear wheels. The live-axle suspension has never been in better tune: the Mustang rides quite well for a sporty car, and much less of the rumbly, jumbled handling of the pre-2005 versions. Electric power steering isn't of the darty variety; it's quick and suits the rorty, rev-happy V-8 quite well. Opt into the supercar-strength Shelby GT500 or the race-ready Boss 302, and you're going even faster, spending more than $40,000 to get there.
As before, Coupe and Convertible editions can be had with either powertrain. The Convertible has a reasonably tight, power-operated soft top, but the body structure isn't stiff enough to make the most of the suspension improvements. We prefer the glass panoramic roof if you want to let the sunshine in--but recognize there's nothing quite like the full top-down driving experience in something like the Mustang GT, where your attitude is sure to be sunny even if the weather outside isn't.
It's abundantly clear from the hard evidence presented in these pages over the past months that these are the best of times for car guys, if vehicle performance is your measure of such things. And yet, yank a geezer's chain at a car show, and he'll jabber on about how the new ponycars just can't compare with those of the late 1960s and early '70s. Is there anything to these lunatic ravings? To find out, we've gathered three modern high-spec ponycars and matched them with their glory days ancestors. We're pitting a 2011 Camaro SS against the '69 Camaro SS396 that inspired its design; a 2011 Challenger SRT8 meets the '70 Challenger it so faithfully resembles (ours is an R/T SE 440 Six Pack); and a freshly minted Shelby Mustang GT500 convertible meets its '69 forebear. We'll turn them all loose on a closed section of road in L.A.'s Griffith Park and see what happens, but first, let's have a look at those good old days. 
The late 1960s was a golden era for American automakers. Those pesky imports were nibbling away at the margins, but at the dawn of 1970, they accounted for a little over 11 percent of sales. Design reigned supreme, and designers had yet to be reined in to any great extent by buzz-kill pedestrian safety regs, crash-survivability standards, bumper strength laws, aerodynamics, etc. Gasoline was plentiful and cheap, and engineers were finding better ways to burn as much of it as possible in halo performance models that earned the brands big headlines and drove sales up. Vehicular variety was on the upswing, too, with new automotive platforms of different sizes and configurations making their debut throughout the 1960s. All those babies conceived by randy veterans returning home from World War II were now grownups ready to buy their first new cars, and they accounted for 20 percent of the market. They didn't want what Dad was driving. They wanted a car to lure a backseat mate-something with a long phallic hood, two doors, and a pert, short trunk. They wanted ponycars. To keep the cars affordable, OEMs shared compact-car underpinnings, and prices started just a bit higher (Dodge and Plymouth moved their ponies up to midsize architecture for 1970). The formula worked. By 1970, the pony market topped a half-million annual sales.Motor Trend Rating: 
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Total brake failure during regular performance testing is a very rare occurrence. I’ve had plenty of cars get squishy pedals and smelly pads after hot laps around a road course. But in more than 25 years of testing, I’ve never known of such a complete—and potentially catastrophic—loss of braking.
Ford reacted instantly to news of the failure. Our Boss 302 was collected and sent away for a tear-down and inspection. The Mustang line was shut down, and every brake assembly checked. Ford also reviewed its process to ensure incorrect attachment of the brake pedal arm to the master cylinder clevis rod end could not occur. We’re told no anomalies were found. And we haven’t seen anything awry on the Mustangs we’ve checked since.
The Mustang was first introduced at the New York World's Fair in April 1964 in the first week, over 20,000 cars were sold.
"Nightmare" This is one of 298 Q code Mach I Mustangs built in 1972. Red Pearl paint and a Keith Craft 410 Staker with 500+ horsepower under the hood. Please enjoy - it's sleek and fast.
Modifications: Mac full dual exhaust with off road H pipe. Mac cold air intake, Acculab 70mm throttle body with spacer. Mach 1 Shaker hood scoop with Mach 1 hood BBK chrome valve covers. BBK ceramic headers. Steeda under drive pulley. Ford Racing aluminum drive shaft, Motive 3.73 gears with Ford Racing Limited Slip Diff Ebooherential. Eibach Pro Springs, Belatrain shocks and struts, BBK caster camber plates. Steeda rear and sway bar, Mach 1 wheels, Mach 1 chin spofer, Mach 1 blackout pannel, Mach 1 leather seats. Mustang GT Fog Lights. Custome paint and decals and performance tune with SCT tuner. This car was given to me by my Grandfather when i gratuated from high school and all my work on it is dedicated to his memory.
