SPIRITS OF AMERICA
Let’s deal with the elephant in the room first. Or rather, the photo studio. That isn’t meant as a snide dig at either the 1966 Ford Mustang GT or the 1965 Corvette Sting Ray pictured here, but rather as an acknowledgement that, to our American readers at least, the mid-60s Mustang and Corvette are not natural rivals. One was launched as a stylish shopping car, the other as a ‘halo’ sports car from a company renowned for making blue-collar sedans. As Corvette specialist and historian Tom Falconer puts it: translated into UK terms, it’s like comparing a Ford Capri with a Jaguar E-type.
Why, then, have we brought these two cars together? Because, quite simply, the Mustang and Sting Ray are the American icons of the Swinging Sixties. They are mobile works of art, cars that speak to the ordinary Kia-driver in the street just as powerfully as to the classic car geek.
But here’s the kicker. These cars are also good to drive. Twenty-eight years ago, this writer borrowed a Sting Ray convertible from the above-mentioned Tom Falconer for a long weekend, driving Britain’s Route 66 – the A66 – from one side of the country to the other. Corny idea, but the car was a revelation. And today I own a Mustang, a 1966 notchback like the one in this feature. So I make no apologies for being an evangelist for both models. Let me see if I can convert you.
STYLE IS ARGUMENT number one. It’s no coincidence that both these cars had their roots in sporty roadster concepts, or that both are still beloved by design professionals.
The Mustang, in particular, seems to resonate with arty types. Former Jaguar design guru Ian Callum is a fan; British uber-architect Norman Foster keeps a 1964 Mustang at his property in Martha’s Vineyard; while former
