The 2025 Ford Mustang Is Over $8,000 More Expensive Than A 1965 Mustang, How Much Better Is It?

In 2018, Ford made a historic announcement that it would end production of passenger cars for the US market. All, bar one that is—the legendary Ford Mustang. Indeed, having been born amidst the swinging 1960s, the galloping stallion has been in production ever since. It stands as one of the longest-running and most-storied models ever built by the Blue Oval.

Today, we’re going to look at two snapshots in the Mustang’s history—its storied debut, and where it stands today. We’ll be looking all the way back to the 1965 model year, a time when the American muscle car was firmly establishing itself as a legendary automotive genre.

Most specifically, we’re going to crunch the numbers to compare what you got for your money in ’65 versus what you’ll get at a dealership today. We’ll examine whether the Mustang is still an accessible performance icon, and whether it’s remained true to the original pony car from so many decades ago. Calculators at the ready, it’s time for another installment of Then & Now. 

DIMENSIONS: 2025 Mustang v. 1965 Mustang

The Mustang debuted in mid-1964 for the 1965 model year. Then-Ford executive Lee Iacocca had championed the project that would bring an exciting new performance vehicle to the Blue Oval’s lineup. Development had been rapid, taking just 18 months, and the result was striking. On the dealership floor stood a bold two-door coupe and convertible, which paired European-inspired elements with a uniquely American flair. The fastback followed quickly later in the first year of production.

The rapid pace of development led to some savvy parts-bin engineering. The underlying chassis was derived from the Ford Falcon, as was the suspension and much of the drivetrain. It’s no surprise, then, that the Mustang ended up landing at the same length as the Falcon of the time, at 181.6 inches. The wheelbase was a hair shorter at 108 inches, and it was a couple of inches narrower at 68.2 inches wide. The original Mustang seated four in the traditional 2+2 configuration.

Many nameplates have shifted and changed over the years, but the Mustang has remained truer than most to its original ideals. Today, the seventh-generation model stands firmly as Ford’s two-door muscle car. It’s still available as a hard top or convertible. The fastback is long gone; Ford still uses the term for the current model, but the current Mustang is really more of a standard coupe.

The model has grown in bulk over the years, guided both by trends and the need to meet modern crash safety regulations. The current Mustang has stretched to a full 189.4 inches long, and a brawny 75.4 inches wide, but still seats four as it always as [Ed Note: As the owner of a 1966 Mustang, I can tell you that the back seat room has gone down. -DT]. As we’ll see later, though, the growth in size has come with a concomitant increase in weight as well.

PRICE: 2025 Mustang v. 1965 Mustang

On its debut in the middle of 1964, the base model Ford Mustang sold for a manufacturer-suggested retail price of $2,368 for a hardtop, or $2,814 for the convertible. In 2025 dollars, that comes out to just $24,504 and $29,119 respectively. Meanwhile, the median family income was $6,600 in 1964, equivalent to $68,298 today.

The 2025 Ford Mustang starts at $33,315 for the base model hardtop by comparison, and a full $41,615 for the cheapest convertible. Median family income in the US was $80,610 in 2023, according to the most recent available data, which is approximately $84,603 in 2025 dollars.

Accounting for inflation, the hardtop is a full $8,811 more expensive than the 1964 model. Meanwhile, the convertible comes in at a hefty $12,496 price premium compared to the original. That feels like a lot! But it does depend on how you look at it. On pure monetary terms, it’s gone up a long way. The hardtop is 35% more expensive, while the convertible is up 42%.

Relative to the prevailing median income, the difference is more slight. A hardtop Mustang in 1965 cost about 35% of a household’s takings for the year; today, it’s more like 41%. That’s not so big of a difference!

In any case, price matters, and the difference in Mustang sales is huge between then and now. For the 1965 model year, Ford sold 559,451 Mustangs.  Compare that to just 44,003 units sold of the current generation Mustang in 2024. There are a great many reasons behind this shift that are beyond the scope of this article. We might look to higher costs of living leaving less money for purchases of discretionary items like sports cars, a societal taste for more fuel efficient vehicles, and the general trend towards SUVs and away from traditional cars like coupes and sedans. [Ed Note: The biggest thing is that the old Mustang was considered a usable family car, and the new one isn’t likely to be considered as a family’s only car. Crossovers have taken that space over. -DT]. 

POWER & WEIGHT: 2025 Mustang v. 1965 Mustang

The very first Mustangs were officially badged as 1965 models, but are often referred to as 1964 ½ models due to some tweaks Ford made partway through the first year of production in 1964. From the model’s debut, the base models rocked a 2.8-liter (170 cubic inch) inline-six engine shared with the contemporary Ford Falcon. It was good for 105 horsepower and 156 pound-feet of torque. It sounds like a remarkably a low figure, and it was considered underwhelming. At the time, Car and Driver stated the base engine option was “a piece of machinery about as exciting as a dish of baby food.” Eager owners could upgrade to a 4.3-liter V8 (260 cubic inches) with a two-barrel carb, good for 164 horsepower, or a 4.7-liter V8 (289 cubes) good for 210 hp.

Later that year, Ford switched things up for what enthusiasts refer to as the  “late 1965” models. The 2.8-liter six was dropped, and replaced with a 3.3-liter (200 cubic inches) inline six making 120 horsepower. Similarly, the 4.3-liter V8 was dropped for a 4.7-liter V8 with a two-barrel carb, offering 200 horsepower. Up from there was a 4.7-liter V8 with a quad-barrel carb good for 225 hp. Best of all was the addition of the “HiPo” V8 offering from the Ford Fairlane, with the mightiest 4.7-liter engine offering 271 hp and 312 pound-feet of torque.

The V8s in particular offered healthy performance. No surprise, given Mustang debuted before the devastation of anti-pollution laws in the Malaise Era. Armed with a 271 horsepower V8 and a curb weight of just 2,877 pounds, a 1965 Mustang was quite the hot ship. With that “HiPo” engine and quick 4.11 rear gears, Car and Driver managed to rattle off a zero-to-60mph time of just 5.2 seconds. On bias ply tires, at that! In a more humble spec, the magazine found a 1965 convertible with the 210 horsepower V8 to achieve the same run in 8.2 seconds, by comparison.

Today’s Mustang continues to fly the flag for American muscle, albeit in a thoroughly modern way. The base model rocks the EcoBoost engine, a 2.3-liter turbocharged inline-four good for 315 horsepower and 350 pound-feet of torque. GT models get the Coyote 5.0-liter V8, which delivers 480 hp and 397 pound-feet of torque. At the top end sits the Dark Horse, which ups the ante to 500 horsepower and 418 pound-feet of torque.

All that extra power does make the new Mustang faster than the old one. However, there is a weight penalty, because the greater size of the newer Mustang also comes with additional heft. EcoBoost models start at a portly 3,588 pounds, while the GT and Dark Horse weigh 3,827 and 3,949 pounds respectively. In any case, you could expect to nail the zero to 60 mph sprint in just 4.1 seconds in a Dark Horse model, 4.2 seconds in a Mustang GT, and 4.5 seconds in an EcoBoost-equipped model. 25 years ago, these were Ferrari figures. Today, you can get that kind of thrust for under $35,000.

Options And Technology: 2025 Mustang v. 1965 Mustang

The original Mustang had a fairly typical options list. Beyond the aforementioned engine upgrades, you could also specify a three-speed automatic transmission, or a four-speed manual—both an upgrade over the basic three-speed stick. Ford would also sell you power brakes and power steering, and a power top if you ordered the convertible. You had to pay more for a push-button AM radio if you wanted one, and the same was true if you wanted a speaker in the rear of the car. If you wanted back-up lights, an air conditioner, or the two-speed windscreen wipers, those were additional-cost options too.

Most amusing, though, was the outside rear-view passenger mirrors. They weren’t standard in 1965—you were supposed to pay extra. As noted by Motor Trend, many cars shipped without a passenger-side mirror, though many were later fitted at the dealer. [Ed Note: You’ll notice that Steve McQueen’s 1968 Bullit car doesn’t have a passenger mirror. -DT].

Other nice-to-haves included the Rally Pac with tachometer and clock and the Special Handling Package with upgraded suspension, faster steering, and 14-inch wheels. Perhaps the most of its time, though, was the vinyl roof covering available for hardtop models.

Standard equipment was okay for the era, but so many things we consider standard today were called out specifically in the brochure in 1965. Ford noted you got “deep foam bucket seats,” a “padded instrument panel,” and even “full wheel covers.” The fact the car had full “wall-to-wall” carpeting was noted, too. Other standard equipment included the cigarette lighter, and the light inside the glovebox. Glowing pony badges weren’t on the options list yet—they’d come along a couple years later before vanishing in short order.

The new Mustang, by contrast, is a thoroughly modern vehicle with all the fruit. It’s got a touch-screen infotainment system with Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto built-in. It’s also got a digital display for the instrument cluster, too, which can display emulated versions of gauges from older models, including the famous Fox body and the 1967 Mustang to boot. You also get steering wheel controls, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, power windows, and power locking—all of which is the norm these days. That’s not even to mention everything else we take for granted these days. Air conditioning, power steering, power brakes, and power mirrors are no longer luxuries—they’re in every car on the market.

Still, there are some fun options if you want to set your Mustang apart. You can get yourself an active valve performance exhaust, heated seats, and even an engine block heater if you live somewhere really cold. You can also choose from a variety of rear-end axle ratios—a rather obscure option for a modern vehicle to have. There’s also the Nite Pony package which pairs black wheels with a painted black roof, black bezel headlamps, and black pony badges front and rear. You can also get painted brake calipers, which wasn’t a thing on the earliest Mustangs—because they only had drums. Interestingly, one thing that was common in the early days is now rare—a spare tire. Ford will sell you a mini spare wheel and tire on the 2025 Mustang as an extra-cost option for $665.

There’s also the Nite Pony package which pairs black wheels with a painted black roof, black bezel headlamps, and black pony badges front and rear. You can also get painted brake calipers, which wasn’t a thing on the earliest Mustangs—because they only had drums. Interestingly, one thing that was common in the early days is now rare—a spare tire. Ford will sell you a mini spare wheel and tire on the 2025 Mustang as an extra-cost option for $665.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note about the first and current Mustangs is how drastically they’ve changed in their underlying automotive technology. The first Mustang relied on leaf springs and a live rear axle. It used drum brakes, recirculating ball steering, and pushrod engines breathing through old-school carburetors. These days, the Mustang has fully independent rear suspension, disc brakes all around, rack and pinion steering, and electronic fuel engine—to say nothing of the sophistication of the dual-overhead cam Coyote V8 and the turbocharged EcoBoost. In the past 60 years, a great deal of the fundamental components have changed.

A Prosperous Dynasty

Product development teams love history. Whenever they can, they’ll dig up and old name and throw it on a new car. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a completely different segment for a completely different purpose. All that matters is that somebody’s heard it before. Hence we got vehicles like the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross and the new Ford Capri, which took the names from performance legends and sullied them in the mud.

The Mustang has avoided this and fallen victim to it, all at the same time. In itself, the Mustang remains true to its history. It’s still a brawny American muscle car with two doors and a brash soundtrack that’s played with the right pedal. It’s been thoroughly modernized, but it’s built to do the same thing it always was. It’s about going fast and making a great noise while you’re doing it.

At the same time, Ford was more than happy to cash in on the Mustang name when it came time to shift some product. Thus was born the Mustang Mach-E—an electric SUV that shares nothing more than a grille design with the car it was named after.

As a side model, it hasn’t dearly hurt the Mustang brand, but nonetheless it was a decision that raised many eyebrows in enthusiast circles. Perhaps the biggest insult is that the Mustang Mach-E now outsells the Mustang itself—moving 56,337 units in 2024 compared to the muscle car’s 44,003.

Despite everything that has happened in the last 60 years—oil crises, political upheaval, and yes, even electrification—the Mustang persists [Ed Note: Even though it was almost replaced by the Ford Probe in the 1980s! -DT]. It’s not as cheap as it once was, and nowhere near as popular. Still, it’s worth holding on to—in this year of 2025, you can still get an angry car from Ford with a horse on the grille and a V8 under the hood. That’s worth something.

Image credits: All images via Ford