April 17, 1964, the day Ford unveiled the original Mustang at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY., was a day that made automotive history. The brainchild of Lee Iacocca, it was the first of a genre that came to be known as the “pony car.”

The unbridled success of the Mustang unleashed a whole host of other high performance competitive offerings including the Chevy Camaro and Chevelle SS, Plymouth Barracuda and Roadrunner, Pontiac Firebird and GTO, Dodge Charger and Super Bee, AMC’s Javelin and AMX, and the Olds 4-4-2. It was a time when horsepower ruled and the fastest cars on the road were all Detroit iron.

Ford recently returned to New York to unveil a special 40th Anniversary Edition Mustang, along with the limited production SVT Mustang “MystiChrome” Cobra and the return of the hot Mach 1.

The 40th Anniversary package will be available on the Mustang and Mustang GT coupes and convertibles. It features three paint colors, as well as special performance striping, wheels and interior enhancements. Only 5,700 Anniversary editions will be built.

The original 1969 Mach 1 is one of the most collectable Mustangs ever. My test vehicle was a Crinson Red, 2003 version of this high-performance classic, which boasts a 305-horse 4.6-liter, dual overhead-cam, four valves per cylinder V8. The powerplant in our test car was coupled to a 5-speed stick, although an automatic is available.

The Mach 1 is treated as your basic option package for the standard Mustang, and adds $5,575 to the price. But for that, you get a lot more Mustang for the money.

The Mach 1 has a sports suspension that adds stiffer springs, special shocks and struts, and has a lower ride height. It also comes with special 17-inch, 5-spoke Heritage wheels with the galloping pony logo inspired by the 1969-1973 Mustang’s Mach 1 wheel design, distinctive leather-trimmed seats, exclusive interior trim, six-disc in-dash CD player, and signature exterior graphics. It also includes “comfort weave” trimmed black leather seats.

Our test car was the aforementioned Crimson Red, but two new colors, Competition Orange and Screaming Yellow, will also be offered in 2004. Volume for 2004 will also be limited to fewer than 5,000 Mach 1’s.

The Mach 1 is easy to spot with its ubiquitous ram-air “shaker” hood scoop that was the signature of the 1969 model. Attached directly to the top of the engine, unlike the hood scoops on GT models that sit on top of the hood, the Mach 1’s black scoop appears through a squarish hole in the hood. A bold low-gloss black stripe runs up the center of the hood to accentuate it.

The scoop is designed to channel fresh air into the intake for greater breathing and increase power. But the real fun comes when you stomp on the accelerator and watch it move as the engine strains against the motor mounts. Couple this with the deep, throaty rumbling of the engine and it will transport you back to the glory days of 1969. Ironically, I drove the Mach 1 back-to-back with the Chevy Corvette. Although the ‘Vette has 45 more horses, the Mach 1 just sounds way badder!

Inside, the cockpit is a little quieter than previous Mustangs, but it’s still cozy. The convertibles and Mustang coupes offer about the same amount of room in the front seats, although it seems there is also more legroom than in earlier versions with enough seat-track travel to accommodate tall drivers and just enough elbowroom to keep from feeling cramped.

The Mach 1 offers comfortable reclining bucket seats that are fairly full, yet supportive. The running horse logo is stitched on the upper portions of the optional leather buckets recalling the deluxe pony interior of the mid-1960s.

The back seat is undersized, with only enough room for small stuff or kids — not a place you’d actually want to sit for any length of time.

Instrumentation on the Mach 1 features a tachometer and speedometer that uses a tall, condensed typeface with hash marks, making it a little hard to read at a glance. The instrument panel, center console — complete with cupholders — and the headliner are all color-keyed. In a throwback to 1969, turning on the headlights is accomplished by pulling out an old-fashioned knob on the left.

Driving the Mach 1 immediately brings you back to 1969. The V8 has more than enough power to break the rear wheels loose at will and “chirp” them shifting into second. In 5th gear, you’re cruising at 2000 rpm while doing 75 mph, although the engine isn’t loafing as much as rumbling along.

The amount of torque the Mach 1 has delivers steady, smooth acceleration, with an easy heel-and-toe pedal position. I give the manual gearbox very high marks. With top speed in second about 70 mph, I found myself downshifting a lot, and taking most corners in second or third gear — and enjoying the fact the gearbox can take a hard drop into second.

The firm suspension definitely transmits the road surface and there is some side-to-side jouncing on rough surfaces. In corners, the Mach 1 seems to enjoy being muscled — but it doesn’t have to be — and goes where you point it without much effort.

The optional Bosch traction control system, which can be turned on or off with a console-mounted switch, works well. Whenever wheel spin is detected, it retards ignition timing, cuts fuel flow, and activates the brakes at one or both drive wheels — in that order.

Whines: Throttle control was a small challenge with the manual transmission at slow speeds, like in parking lots. There is so much torque, and the clutch pedal is so strong, it’s easy to either stall or use too much power. The interior fit and finish was a bit cheesy, with the trim around the shifter coming loose and rattling during my test period.

Bottom Line: If you enjoyed 60s era muscle cars you will just love the new Mach 1. It offers the best combination of that era’s raw horsepower and today’s technology to come out of Detroit in awhile. The engine just sounds so good, it adds immeasurably to the enjoyment of this car. With the Camaro, Firebird, Barracuda, AMX, Charger etc. now all history, regretfully, they just don’t make cars like this any more.