About forty-five or so years ago, the public got its first look at the Ford Mustang. The reception was, to say the least, buoyant.

When the Mustang was unveiled, the reaction was so positive that there was no doubt it was going to be a success. The original Mustang (technically a 1965 model but widely known as a 1964½ because it was launched at an unusual halfway point in the year). The Ford folks were right: 22,000 orders were taken on the first day the car went on sale.

We loved it, too, and my dad ended up buying a 1964 1/2 model with the inline 6 cylinder Ford engine. Since then, news publications have devoted thousands of pages and tons of awards to Ford’s second-most-iconic automobile (after the Model T).

We’ll congratulate Ford for Mustang, personally, the most impactful car produced in my lifetime. Single handedly forced Chevrolet to produce the Camaro. Mopar to produce the Barracuda and Pontiac the Firebird. And the Shelby Mustang was and still is king..

So popular was the mustang and soon to follow pony cars from the other manufacturers caused many performance versions of each car. Most of which are worth a fortune now, veritably priceless.

As a matter of interest, when it comes to restoring one of these jewels, you can count on GotEngines.com to have access to any used or rebuilt engine on hand should you need a replacement engine.

You may know I’m a Shelby Mustang freak from a past article I wrote on our GotEengines.com blog called I’ve got Fords and Shelby Mustangs on my mind today…Enjoy…