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You could say that the classic Ford-Chevy muscle-car battle is between the Mustang and the Camaro - and you'd be right!
But as far as halo vehicles go, Ford has the Mustang and Chevy has the Corvette. Yes, the former has a back seat. But performance-wise, the Pony Car and the Vette match up, and both Ford and Chevy produce a variety of different versions.
(Chevy also just debuted its eighth-generation Corvette, with a mid-engine design that can take on Ford's very, very expensive GT supercar at a fraction of the price - $60,000 versus $400,000-plus.
Here's a quick rundown of what the Mustang and Corvette have to offer:
The Mustang — Ford's iconic "Pony Car" — first hit the streets in 1965 and was an immediate smash.
We've come a long way, baby. The first 'Stangs had a 200-horsepower V8 engine. The latest Mustang is the Shelby GT500, making 760hp from its V8.
The Shelby GT350 is a track-oriented beast that makes 529 horsepower.
The "Bullitt" Mustang is a nod to the famous Steve McQueen movie. It cranks out 480 horsepower.
The Mustang GT's 5.0-liter V8 produces 460 horsepower.
The Mustang GT California Special carries over the same engine, but adds add rev-matching to the GT's six-speed manual transmission — and of course, the top can be dropped.
The "Performance Pack Level 2" adds race-track goodies to the GT, but the engine remains the 460hp V8.
Finally, the 2.3-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost turbocharged motor on the entry level 'Stang makes 310 horsepower. I sampled it as a drop-top. There is no longer a V6 Mustang option!
The Corvette has been around a lot longer than the Mustang. The original roadster debuted in 1953.
The king of Corvette mountain is currently the 755-horsepower ZR1.
A notch down is the 605-horsepower Z06 — the Vette that finally put the car into supercar territory.
My personal favorite Vette is the Grand Sport, which extracts 460 horsepower from the V8 engine.
The Corvette Stingray also makes 460 horsepower, minus some of the Grand Sport's performance extras.
The Stingray also comes in a convertible version — and the automatic eight-speed transmission achieved a quicker 0-60mph time than the seven-speed manual. Both, however, break the four-second barrier.
Brace yourselves for the all-new eighth-generation Vette. The Stingray trim arrives for the 2020 model year with radical new mid-engine design and a 6.2-liter, V8 engine, making 495 horsepower.
