2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 vs 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 Laguna Seca

From the March, 2012 issue of Motor Trend
By Michael Febbo |  Photos Brian Vance

It was the 1960s. The Baby Boomers were in their 20s; we had the technology  to put a man on the moon; and social change was the new social norm. Ford’s idea  guy, Lee Iacocca, decided it was time to go after the youth market with a small,  performance-oriented fashion piece built from off-the-shelf parts that would  turn heads on the streets and profits in showrooms. The plan was not only simple  but brilliant. The 1964 Mustang was born to instant success, with dealers taking  22,000 orders on the first day. Ford hoped to sell 100,000 carsin the  first year of production, but after extending the model year to meet orders,  more than 600,000 1964-1965 Mustangs galloped off lots. Clearly, this Lee guy  was on to something, and that something would later be dubbed the ponycar.

Chevrolet  was not about to let Ford run away with this new market. Within two years of the  Mustang’s launch, GM had its own ponycar headed to showrooms and eventually  racetracks. The Camaro was bigger and heavier and had more powerful engine  options than the lithe Ford. The trend of bigger and faster would continue until  the gas crunch of the ’70s, and, even then, the quest for power continued as  expectations for comfort and convenience were rising