In 1964 the Ford Mustang arrived on the American market and was a success from the beginning, being one of the fastest selling cars of all time with 418,000 sold in its first year and over a million by 1966. The Mustang was based on the floorpan of the budget Falcon range, with models offered in notchback, fastback and convertible form, all of which could be ordered with a vast range of options. For the ultimate in Mustang muscle, Carroll Shelby offered an officially sanctioned road racer - the GT350 - based on the fastback model, which has passed into legend, with up to 425bhp available in the later 7 litre GT500, making it a true muscle car. In the 1968 film Bullitt, it was a GT350 that Steve McQueen used to pursue the Dodge Charger. In 1973, the Mustang II model appeared - a meek and mild economy car launched in the wake of the oil crisis that was intended to capture the spirit of the original. Although it sold well (over a million cars) it would never be a classic quite like its predecessor.

Henry Ford was building and racing cars of his own design as early as 1901 and it was the good publicity from this that enabled him to raise the US$28,000 needed to found the Ford Motor Company in 1903. The first production car was the 8HP Model A (also sold in England) but it was the Model T introduced in 1909 which garnered worldwide acceptance and sold over 16 million vehicles during its 18 year production run. By 1921, Ford had over 50% of car sales in America. Until 1932 Ford Great Britain only produced right-hand drive versions of the American models, but with the opening of a plant at Dagenham, Essex a whole range of UK-specific cars were produced. The range of models needs little introduction as many have become household names, but the racing success of certain models such as the Lotus Cortina and the Escorts of all marks is noteworthy.