Chart Of The Mustang’s Horsepower History Omits A Few Cars

mustang-horsepower-historyAs the only American sports car to stay in continuous production since its introduction in 1964, the Ford Mustang has a long and storied history of adapting to changing tastes and needs among consumers. That’s not to say it’s been an easy run, and by charting the highs and lows of the Mustang’s horsepower rating, one can get a good sense of how long and hard this journey has been.

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BlueSpringsFordParts.com hired Spock Marketing to put together a chart of the history of the Ford Mustang’s horsepower, and while it’s mostly accurate, there are a few glaring omissions/inconsistencies that we need to point out as well.

In fact, this chart leaves off two of the most important Mustangs ever built, the 2007 Shelby GT500 which brought the Shelby brand back into the limelight with a 500 horsepower supercharged engine, and the 2013 Shelby GT500 with a mind-melting 662 horsepower.V8. Not only are the two Shelbys the successively most-powerful Mustangs ever built, but they represent a real turning point in the American horsepower wars as well. If not for the 2013-14 Shelby GT500, it’s doubtful we’d have cars like the 707 horsepower Challenger Hellcat and 580 horsepower Camaro ZL1.

The chart also has some inaccurate data in terms of photos and years. For example, it shows a 1970 Mustang in the 1974-1978 slot. Considering 1970 wasn’t a bad year at all, with the Boss 302, Mach 1, and Cobra Jet’s running around. The Mustang II was considerably smaller than the 1970 model, we’d consider that a fairly big mistake. Featured in this slot should have been a photo of the Mustang II. We also noticed they got the year wrong for the Fox Mustang. The Fox might have gone on sale in the fall of 1978, but it was a 1979 model. We hate to be overly picky, but if they wanted to talk about Fox horsepower, maybe the 1993 Cobra would have been a better candidate for that photo as well.

While the chart does show just how far Ford has come in bringing today’s horsepower ratings up to par, it leaves out some  high and low points and has some gross inaccuracies. Some low points include the 1974 Mustang II, the only model year of the Mustang to not even offer a V8 engine option, the emissions-choked powerplants of the early 1980s were only marginally better. But by the time electronic fuel injection began to take hold, in the second half of the 80s, horsepower numbers began to reflect what Americans really wanted out of the Mustang. The exclusion of cars like the 2003 Cobra, and the 2007 GT500 leave us wondering where this data came from.

The chart shows that after the Fox era there was no looking back and horsepower trended upwards. Today the Mustang offers a turbocharged four-cylinder and naturally aspirated V6 that make nearly as much horsepower as the V8 engines of just a decade ago. High-tech V8s also bless us with horsepower we could only dream of not so long ago.

From here, the only way to go is up.

About the author

Chris Demorro

Christopher DeMorro is a freelance writer and journalist from Connecticut with two passions in life; writing and anything with an engine.
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