Of Human Baggage: The Pony Car is 44

On April 17, 1964, the Ford Mustang was introduced. It was the first and by 2005 the last "Pony" car in constant production. Its closest competitor, the Chevrolet Camaro was born in 1967 and died in 2002. During these 44 years the "Pony" class cars included Pontiac Firebird, Mercury Cougar, the AMC Javelin, Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda which got the official jump on the Mustang by two weeks.

We should be very clear on one point: the pony kink has nothing to do with a Pony car. They didn't have young women with stick on tails harnessed up to pull these things around. The only fetish involved was that of putting rubber to the road.

We were still a nation of full sized four door sedans during the peak of "Pony" car popularity. There's no legal definition for a Pony car, but in generally accepted terms it was smaller, though decidedly not a compact car. It was far less utilitarian and a more personal car for the better funded younger buyer. It was far lighter than sedans and increasingly more powerful than compact cars. It was comfortable for two people, but eschewed the interior opulence of the luxury sedans.

It hit the freedom note with the sporty casual look, but even more because it just was neither practical nor comfortable for riders in the back seat. So, dead weight was shed both by the use of lighter materials as well as nixing human baggage. In a nutshell, the Pony car allowed one to escape the gravity of family and unwanted passengers. That was and is the essence of freedom.