Sports cars and automobiles have been a huge part of American Culture. American muscle cars are some of the most popular in the world. However, there is one car that is iconic to this country that symbolizes freedom, speed, and American muscle, and that is the For Mustang.
The Ford Mustang was first introduced to this country on April 17th, 1964. The car had anywhere between 250 and 300 horsepower depending on which model you bought which was a whopping amount back in 1964. This car also had between 300 and 350 ft/lb of torque kicked up under a standard V-8 engine.
However back in 1964, the automotive industry did not have regulations on vehicle safety. Automobile safety was non a subject of discussion in this time frame, nor was it almost any concern to the public or manufacture companies.
The early model mustangs were very dangerous and had no safety features to them what so ever. The mustang had been notorious for claiming the lives of so many people. The ironic twist to this was that ford had been claimed as the father of safety as mentioned in this CBS article https://tinyurl.com/ybrd7bz9. The car had even proclaimed the name as “The Classic Danger”.
While conducting research for safety features on this career there were none to be found except for the classic seatbelt. If you have any questions about the safety of these cars there was however this forum I came across with car experts opinions on this matter of and they are able to be seen here https://tinyurl.com/y6vjs98r.
After several people had lost their lives due to the American muscle packed under the hood, the company began to invest in implementing safety features into the car. 9 years later, Ford had made their first 5-star crash test rating possible. Since the 1973 model of Mustang, Ford has consecutively achieved their goal of reaching the 5-star crash safety test, even all the way up to the 2020 model of today’s time.
Comparing the safety features of the 2020 model it makes the first-generation model look like a death trap of disaster. With several new regulations that are government mandatory we can take a look at some of the safety features following the 2020 ford Mustang. The new up to date model includes several air bags that are imbedded all across the car’s interior. The 2020 Mustang has front, side, overhead, and knee impact airbags all across the car’s interior virtually covering your entire body in a collision. Another great safety feature that has been built in the 2020 model is a roll cage for extreme high speeds. A roll cage sounds like what it is, it protects the passengers from having the cars weight crush them if they were to be in a highspeed collision that caused the car to roll several times significantly reducing the cause of death to occur. If you have any more interests on safety features on the car you can visit and find more information here https://tinyurl.com/ycxg45sv.
With all of these safety features implemented in the newer models it allows for newer automotive innovations to occur. The ford 2020 model Mustang has been completely revamped under the hood of the car. With a V-8 engine with 760 horsepower under the hood and 420 ft/lb of torque and a 0 to 60 speed of just 3 seconds, it begins to make the first model Mustang look something like the modern-day Toyota Prius.
After showing some of these technological advancements to a car enthusiast like my father he wasn’t shocked at all. “it definitely is impressive to see the advancements in these vehicles but it’s nothing to be compared with to other cars of the world, have you ever heard that the Mustang is the poor man’s sports car?” He also had mentioned that it is still a technological achievement and a bang for your buck for the price of this car.
I then proceeded to ask my younger brother if he found that car specs from the 64 model to the 2020 model interesting. He simply responded to the stats and finding of these info-graphs saying, “the new Mustangs are tanks”. He also had mentioned that he wished to own one of these cars someday (as do I myself).
All in all, the newer Mustang has the older model beat in almost every way imaginable. The car is a lot faster; it accelerates a lot more quickly and believe it or not the newer cars are cheaper than a lot of the older models. The older models maintain their value because they have become such a rarity amongst the car world. The older mustangs can sell for over 200,000 American dollars because they are a timeless automobile. One thing the new model mustangs will never be able to take away from older models are the classic times built into them.
Bloomsburg Infographics 