The 1965 Ford Mustang is the car that defines the pony car segment and the car against which every subsequent pony car was measured. The design, the proportions, the combination of style and accessible pricing — it captured something that Ford's competition spent years trying to replicate.

The 1965 model's first production run is technically the 1964½ — models built before August 1964 are generally called 1964½ despite carrying 1965 VINs. The design was continuous and the differences are minor, but the early cars carry a premium in the collector market.

For a driver, the 1965 small-block cars offer the best combination of simplicity, parts availability, and driving pleasure. The 289 High Performance is the engine specification that defined the model's performance credentials. It's not the fastest engine in the Mustang catalog. It's the most refined.