What was the quintessential automobile of the 1960s? Many people, car enthusiasts and non-enthusiasts alike, would be quick to choose the Ford Mustang as the car that represents that decade. It was not the fastest or most powerful car by any stretch of the imagination: until power-car builder Carroll Shelby put a giant V-8 engine into it in 1967 and called it the Cobra Mustang GT 500, the Mustang was actually at the low end of the high-performance-car lineup. It was basically a compact car, but there were smaller ones available. It was more or less in the sports-car category, but the Corvette was the most popular sports car. But when the design was unveiled at the annual show of new models on 17 April 1964, both Ford and its competitors realized that something big was in the making. The model presented at the show...