The current base Ford Mustang is a 300hp V6. The GT packs in 435 horsepower. And now we have the Shelby GT350 and GT350R, that has one of the snottiest factory exhaust notes heard since the 1960s. When the topics turn to American performance, the Mustang is always on the tip of the tongue, but that wasn’t always the case…one look at the maligned Mustang II tells you all you need to know about that. Most enthusiasts can agree that performance came back to the Mustang with the 1982 GT 5.0, but just how drastic a change has the Mustang gone through in the following years? The fact that a 1988 Mustang existed at all was a surprise. Originally Ford was planning on putting the name on a front-wheel-drive model, but after learning about the move, Mustang fans bombarded Ford with enough angry letters and threats that the company agreed to a refresh of the Fox platform car…and the FWD model went on to become the unfortunately-named Probe. This MotorWeek clip takes two top-tier tuner Mustangs, the ASC/McLaren convertible and the Saleen Mustang Coupe, a modified LX hatch with mostly suspension tuning. Pay attention to the numbers, and remember that people were excited to see these figures in 1988. The Saleen ran 0-60 in 6.7 seconds. Know what can do that today? A Fiat 500 TwinAir.
The $22,000 for the ASC McLaren is $44,000 in 2015 dollars, FYI.
Can a stock Fiat TwinAir lay rubber through second gear, 30 degrees sideways down a street?