Pure Ford

This was a simple, straightforward car, with a front engine and rear-wheel drive, that made Ford almost as British as it is American. Deeply beloved in the United Kingdom, it became a fierce rally car and a performance icon. (1970 model shown.)

The “Fox body” Mustang had been in production since the 1979 model year and conventional wisdom was that no one cared about performance anymore. The most powerful V-8–powered 1981 Mustang used a crummy 4.2-liter version of Ford’s classic small-block, wheezing out a measly 115 horsepower. But the Mustang GT roared back in ’82 with the return of the High Output 4.9-liter small-block (marketed, duh, as a “5.0”) with a two-barrel carburetor and rated at 157 horsepower. That’s modest by 21st-century standards, but it started a horsepower war that, many years later, is still going strong. It was a small step forward but a big turning point.

The original two-seat Thunderbird was the first truly glamorous Ford. After three years it would bloat into a four-seat mess, but the sight of an original T-Bird today is an instant trip back into a supposedly happier and pastel-rich past.

After the hideous 1958–1960 Continental, Elwood Engel’s gorgeous ’61 Continental saved the entire Lincoln brand with its clean sides and flat hood and trunk. Influential beyond Ford, the four-door flagship inspired a generation of clean, muscular cars. And the su***de rear doors were way cool, too.