CONTINENTAL SHIFT

AROUND THE WORLD, IN THREE FLAVOURS OF V8-POWERED MUSCLE CAR

- SIMRAN RASTOGI

August 1964. John, Paul, George and Ringo landed on American soil for the first time ever. They brought with them Beatlemania — crowds of swooning, sometimes fainting, fans — that would sweep the US of A. It sparked what came to be known as the British Invasion, swinging the tide of American dominance in rock and roll, changing the world’s musical landscape forever; imagine a world without Oasis, and the hundreds of mangled Wonderwall covers?

But just a few months prior, in April 1964, Ford debuted a car that definitely put Detroit back in the spotlight. A car so ubiquitous it became America’s best-selling compact car in six weeks, going on to sell over a million units in two years! The Mustang, after the Model T, is arguably the Blue Oval’s greatest contribution to cars, and next to the hamburger, America’s most fun contribution to the world. While the muscle car may have been pioneered before it, it brought the formula back to popularity — a 2+2 body style, big engine up front, rear-wheel drive — as the original Pony car with the added benefit of being smaller, and more agile than a traditional muscle car.