Chevy Plays the "Frenemy" Card and Wishes Mustang a Happy 50th Bday

Images: GM

For decades, there has been an undeniable rivalry between the Chevy Camaro and the Ford Mustang, which stemmed from both cars’ entrances into the muscle car era. So with Mustang celebrating its 50th anniversary this Thursday, would you expect Chevy and the Camaro to wish their friendly rival a happy birthday? Well, that’s exactly what they’ve done and Chevy has its reasons why!

Image: Mark Gearhart/ StangTV.com

When the Ford Mustang was introduced in April of 1964, it brought about a whole new era for the automotive world. No longer were big boats of vehicles “cool,” especially not when it came to performance and style.

Three years later, the Camaro was introduced, set to challenge the Mustang’s popularity and outright performance. Though the Mustang has been around longer than the Camaro, the two muscle cars continue to thrive off the rivalry they share to this day.

To Chevy, the Mustang’s 50th birthday is more than just a milestone in a competitor’s life. It’s also the celebration of a completely new genre of cars- one that has transformed the industry into a performance-seeking, design-driven, engineering-advancing entity.

Truly, the automotive world, especially the muscle car scene would not be the same without the Mustang or its immediate rival, the Camaro.

“For five decades, the Camaro and the Mustang have been battling it out in every possible setting,” Mark Reuss, executive vice president, GM Global Product Development, stated in Chevrolet’s recent press release.

“These two cars have been striving to beat each other on the track, on the drag strip and on the streets. That competition is a big part of why both cars are so amazing, and so popular, today.”

To celebrate this rivalry and the milestone it will hit on Thursday, Chevy posted a picture (seen above) this week with a 50th birthday candle on top of a new Camaro and a special message to the Mustang. They also posted up some other iconic rivalries to put the Mustang vs. Camaro question in perspective, including Pepsi vs. Coke, Nike vs. Reebok, and Jay Leno vs. David Letterman. Of course, these rivalries are just as well-known as the Mustang and Camaro rivalry, but nothing will ever top the muscle car wars between the two automotive icons in our book!

Happy Birthday Mustang and here’s to another several decades of competition!