The Pony is an American car classification that came about in the mid-1960s, after the launch of the Ford Mustang in 1964.
Pony cars are usually affordable, compact and highly styled coupes or convertibles that have a sports or performance-based image. Rear wheel drive, long hoods, wide ranges of individual customization and the use of mass-produced parts from other models are all classic features that can be found on the pony car.

At the present time, the Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger are the main produced pony cars, but how did it all start?

The Plymouth Barracuda was actually the first pony car – released two weeks before the Ford Mustang – but due to a limited budget the design, and ultimately its popularity, was compromised. On 17 April 1964, the Ford Motor Company released the Mustang, which was to be an affordable yet sporty-looking two-door coupe and convertible (available in 1964 for just under 2,500 USD) and the popularity was spectacular.

Orders for 22,000 vehicles were seen on the very first day alone, with over 600,000 models sold within a year, resulting in the Mustang breaking all post-world war 2 sales records and thus beginning the craze of the pony car, which was soon to be copied by competitors too.

In the next few years, a number of models entered the pony market, such as the Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin and the Dodge Challenger. The Mustang itself was redesigned in 1967 and evolved into the Mercury Cougar.

All four domestic US car manufacturers were producing pony cars, with factory supported racing also adding further competition that even resulted in “The Pony Car Wars” during the Trans-Am Series from 1966 to 1972.

Brand loyalty was the main focus, particularly with the younger buyers, but when the early 70s arrived, this coincided with a decline in sales for the pony cars. Redesigns were getting larger, heavier, and more expensive, so buyers started looking elsewhere in the market. By the mid-70s, a number of pony cars were no longer in production.

The late 70s and early 80s did see a revival though, mainly due to the appearance of pony cars in movies and TV shows, with the Ford Mustang being redesigned as a third generation vehicle in 1979.

By 2005 however, the Ford Mustang (fifth generation) was the only pony car still in production but it still proved to be a popular car amongst enthusiasts of this genre, so much so that a third generation Dodge Challenger came out in 2008, closely followed in 2010 by a fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro.

By 2016 both the Mustang and Chevrolet had been updated again, with the Mustang becoming the first globally developed pony car. In 2017, the Dodge Challenger became the first all-wheel drive pony car.

So what could be next for this still popular trend? The current cost of a Ford Mustang is in the region of 50,000 – 75,000 USD – depending on actual model and type of transmission. Currently, new 2020 models have been released and popular buys are the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, the Chevrolet Camaro ZL 1, the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, and the Dodge Charger.

The pony is still alive and kicking, so if you are a US dealer and have pony cars for sale (or indeed any other classic or supercar) then why not reach a greater market through advertising on our website? Please contact us using the details below so we can discuss the best options available for you.

Nick: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

When the name Rowan Atkinson comes up most people usually think of the character "Mr Bean" and his citron-green British Leyland Mini 1000 Mark 4. In reality, the automobile world of the actor and Oxford University graduate who played Mr Bean, and several other notable characters, is somewhat different indeed!

Over the years, Rowan Atkinson has become a very serious classic and supercar enthusiast, driving most of the cars he owns (or has owned) and also participating in club track days and major events such as the Goodwood Revival.

In this article, we take a brief look at just a few of the cars he has owned and some of the history behind them.

Probably his most famous acquisition was the McLaren F1 that he bought in 1997. Despite crashing this car on two occasions, with the latter smash resulting in Britain's largest-ever insurance payout for car repairs at just over 900,000 GBP, he was still able to sell it for 8 Million GBP in 2015.

Another vehicle he owned and later sold, again after crashing it and spending a fortune on repairs, was a very rare Italian-styled V8 Zagato Aston Martin. However, this classic was sold at a loss at auction after all of the repair work!

One car that he has bought and sold on more than one occasion is the Mercedes 500 E. He bought his first in 1993 but sold it a year later, then in 2017 he purchased another only to sell that one too in 2018.

He was also the proud owner of a 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint but crashed this one during the 2014 Shelby Cup race at the Goodwood Revival.

One of his more recent buys was a limited edition 2014 Bentley Mulsanne Birkin, a car named after a famous straight on the Le Mans circuit.

Other classics that are, or have been, in his collection include a 2011 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead (with a special nine-litre V16 engine installed), a 1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale, a 1989 Lancia Thema 8.32, and a 2002 Honda NSX.

One of the oldest cars in the collection is quite possibly his 1939 BMW 328, a very significant car from that era and winner of the Mille Miglia road race, which he has had meticulously restored to perfection.

The oldest car in his collection, in terms of personal ownership, must certainly be his 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage which he bought in 1984 and has kept ever since (and even used it in one of his Johnny English movies too!).

Quite surprisingly he has never owned a Porsche and has no desire to. Even though he likes these cars, he feels that he is not quite the "right kind of person" to own one.

So as you can see, Rowan Atkinson is indeed a classic and supercar enthusiast with very diverse taste, and a person that truly likes to drive the cars he owns rather than just store and display them. He will no doubt buy and sell many more in the coming years so his collection will constantly be in a state of coming and going, never remaining static – just like his character Mr Bean all those years ago.

History was made in May 2022 when a 1955 Mercedes-Benz, one of only two of a kind, was auctioned off for a staggering US$142 million, making it the most expensive car ever sold.

RM Sotheby's conducted the auction where the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut was sold to a private collector and brought in almost triple the previous record price for a car, which was held by a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO that went for over $48 million in 2018.

The auction took place on 5th May at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, and was for invited guests only. The record price for a car also put it in the top 10 of most valuable items sold at auction in any category – quite an achievement indeed!

The car was named after its creator and chief engineer, Rudolph Uhlenhaut, and was one of only two prototypes built by the Mercedes-Benz racing department.

The buyer has since stated that the car will be accessible for public display on certain special occasions and the other SLR 300 Coupe is on display at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, being company-owned. Though not confirmed, it is rumoured that the buyer was a British collector.

Recognisable by its unusual lines and gullwing doors, the 300 SLR was apparently modelled on the W196 R Grand Prix race car, which won two Formula 1 world championships in 1954 and 1955 with Italian Juan Manuel Fangio driving.

The car does, sadly, also have somewhat of a dark history as tragedy struck in June 1955. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, French driver Pierre Levegh crashed a 300 SLR and was killed, along with 83 spectators. As a result of the deadliest tragedy in motor racing history, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from the sport for many years, only returning to competitive racing again in 1989.

According to RM Sotheby's, the proceeds from the auction will be used to establish a worldwide Mercedes-Benz Fund that will fund environmental science and decarbonisation research.

With a top speed of 180 mph and featuring a straight-8 engine, the 300 SLR was one of the fastest road cars during the 1950s, and now it has claimed the ultimate prize (for now at least) as the most expensive car in the world!