The Mustang and the Camaro – the two most iconic, mainstream sports cars in American history – have battled it out for over four decades. Looking back over the years, who is the winner?

Going strictly off of sales numbers, Ford takes the title by selling nearly twice as many Mustangs as Chevrolet has Camaros. Sales numbers spanning from 1964-2014 result in a total of 9.4 million Mustangs verses 5.3 million Camaros.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/warning-graphic-content-50-ye…/

But let’s take a look at each generation and determine who made the better looking car. Both Camaro and Mustang have gone through 6 major redesigns since the 1960’s. Here I’ll compare the 6 generations against each other.

1st Generation ~ 1960s
The 60’s is regarded by many, me included, as the era that produced the best sport car designs. The classics look better than most of the cars produced today. With that said, judging between the Camaro and Mustang during this time is difficult. Both are still amazing. But in the end, the Camaro takes it due to its sleeker front end design and side paneling.

2nd Generation ~ 1970s
Mustang easily takes the win for the 2nd gen. Maintaining its front squared off design is much more stylish than the Camaro’s awkward pointed grill.

3rd Generation ~ 1980s
If freshman and sophomore years can be considered the ugly period of our lives, the 80’s lived up to be just that for both the Camaro and Mustang. Both are horrible.

The Mustang’s short boxy pinto design is just as bad as the Camaro’s gangly stretched out body. Both sport rather ugly hood scoops. The Camaro even looks as though the base of its body is one big plastic Lego piece into which it is connected. No one came out ahead with the 3rd gens. Both are declared losers.

4th Generation ~ 1990s
Though I do appreciate some of the styling cues with the 4th gen Mustang, overall it's boring (although not as bad as the 3rd gens). The 4th gen Camaro offers better aesthetics with its more aggressive styling. Camaro wins the 4th gen battle.

5th Generation ~ 2000s
Although drastically redesigned from the prior generation, I can’t say I’m a fan of either 5th gen. Nothing innovative came through on either side. It’s almost as if Ford and Chevy lost their creativity and decided to start making sports car that didn’t look much different from any other car during that time. Not to mention the Mustang’s fake gas cap is an eye sore that couldn’t be deleted soon enough. Both are declared losers.

6th Generation ~ 2010s
The Mustang’s 6th generation redesign is phenomenal. Ford incorporated a very nice blend of European and American styling into the vehicle. The 6th gen Camaro, however, is just as stagnate in design as the 5th gen. Nothing really jumps out saying this is a Camaro verses any other oversized car on the road. Mustang takes it by a landslide.

Winners
1st Gen – Camaro
2nd Gen – Mustang
3rd Gen – Both losers
4th Gen – Camaro
5th Gen – Both losers
6th Gen - Mustang

Agree/disagree?

 

I think you missed some very important discussion points. The styling of a 1960's Mustang Coupe (i.e. Hardtop) was very different of that of a Mustang Fastback (i.e. including Boss and Shelby designs). Look at that picture of the Boss you posted compared to a standard 1969 coupe there is just no comparison.

You also missed out on early 2nd Gen Camaros. The early 70's split bumper Camaros where a hell of a lot different then the plastic bumper 1976 model.

Another key aspect you failed to recognize is slight design changes during the generational periods. Example of this would be LT1 4th Gens vs. LS1 4th Gens yes they have a very similar overall shape but to think that a 1996 WS6 looks anything remotely as similar to say an 2002 Firehawk is foolish.

A final note would be how much influence "appearance packaging" after line production made a huge impact. I mean look at the difference SLP did from the basic Camaros and firebirds that rolled off the line. Its amazing how different simple hood designs and things like that can completely improve the overall aesthetics of a car.

 

Of course there are differences within each generation, but the intention of this thread is to provide a high-level opinion of each generation. What stands out to you as a major design component that represented that generation, and who had the better design - Mustang or Camaro?

Look at all the Camaros that were produced in the 70's. Yes there were variations with the bumpers, but most of them had a pointed nose. That's what stands out to me.

Since I'm doing a high level summary here, it makes sense to group something together like a 1996 WS6 and a 2002 Firehawk together. I agree appearance packages do make a huge difference, but again, this is about who made a better looking car over each generation, all changes and appearance packages considered.

 

I agree, lots of points/factors were missed or glossed over. Not sure how anyone could dismiss the entire 3rd gen/'80s period as "losers". This was the time when actual "performance" returned to both vehicles - 5.0 Ford and L98 F-body were actually quick cars compared to anything released under those nameplates since the very early '70s. Styling is subjective, but keep in mind that the L98 GM/5.0 Fords were as quick as many of the "muscle" cars of the late '60s/early '70s.

But apparently you're just looking at styling, in which case you still missed several important points as mentioned above, such as the early 2nd gens. Camaro had several changes in this generation, you'd really have to consider the '70-'73 cars separately from '74-'77 and '78-'81. There was nothing awkward or non-stylish about the '70-'73 Camaro, this is a common favorite of Camaro enthusiasts just behind the 1st gen cars.

Overall, the summaries are cursory at best, not "high level" (meaning not comprehensive) IMO, and I generally don't agree with the statements regarding the earlier models.

 

Correct, this thread is just about people's opinions on strictly exterior design between the Camaro and Mustang. For each generation, which is your preference?

Just compare what design elements stand out to you the most for that generation. Addressing every update that ever occurred within each generation is another discussion.

 

I agree, but then what we're looking at would be more of a brief overview and not really the high level/comprehensive summary that was indicated as a goal/purpose.

I think that 2nd gen specifically is a hard one to do any sort of generalized evaluation on, since there is typically such a difference in enthusiast opinion regarding early vs. late examples. The value and desirability of the '70-'73 cars is vastly greater than that of '74-'77 or '78-'81, respectively. You can probably group '74-'81 together for this purpose, but really '70-'73 is almost a different car in terms of styling and enthusiast reaction. Other generations don't have quite such a watershed update contained within, so I understand the point of grouping the rest by entire generation. The '70s are tricky though, this can also be seen with C3 Corvette; the value and desirability of '68-'72 and even '73 examples is considerably greater than '74-'77 or '78-'82.

Again, I understand that you're trying to look at each generation as a whole but, when discussing enthusiast opinion on styling, such a major change as what took place with Camaro from early vs. late 2nd gen makes it very difficult to get accurate opinions when grouping them together as one.

 

This is a very good point. The '70-'73's are in a different class altogether and deserve to be evaluated independently. This example presents a challenge in addressing each generation in the way I have. In order to provide an opinion over an entire generation you have to ignore what you like in certain years if the predominant design trend for that generation is something you disagree with.

 

i have had 4 third gens, and 2 fourth gens,

i have decided that ls1 belongs in a third gen, and its awesome. i drive a pretty SS every day, and i got more attention driving my H.O. Camaro around (1984)

love them both, but my third gen is my favorite! (its also easier to work on)

 

Great information! There's just a couple things I'd like to add, though. The fact that the amount of mustangs sold is nearly double that amount of Camaros sold can be attributed but the fact that there were about 11 years where mustangs were sold and Camaros weren't (64-66, 03-09), although I do believe that the amount of mustangs sold would still be higher. As for your opinion on who had the better looking car through out the different generations I think we should let the numbers help settle that. Here are the amount of each cars sold each year from 1964-00 that I found from a quick internet search:
Since Mustang & Camaro sales have been brought up alot here lately, here is a historical list of yearly Mustang vs Camaro sales. Whenever needed, use it as a reference, or just cut & paste.

Notes:
1. Cobra production from 1965-1969 is not included (it was counted as a separate line by Ford).
2. Numbers preceded by an asterik (*) designates a redesigned .
3. I didn't include Firebird or Capri figures though they are similar cars. With Ford having only 4000 dealers to Chevrolet's 5000, I don't need to!!

Year: Mustang/Camaro
64:*121,583/NA
65: 559,451/NA
66: 607,568/NA
67: 474,121/*220,906
68: 317,404/ 235,147
68: 299,824/ 243,065
69: 299,824/ 243,065
70: 190,727/ 124,901
71:*149,678/*114,630
72: 125,093/ 114,630 (not a typo!)
73: 134,867/ 96,751
74:*385,993/ 151,008
75: 188,575/ 145,770
76: 187,567/ 182,959
77: 153,173/ 218,858
78: 192,410/ 272,631
79:*369,936/ 282,571
80: 271,322/ 152,005
81: 181,552/ 126,139
82: 130,418/*189,747
83: 120,873/ 154,318
84: 135,678/ 261,591
85: 156,514/ 180,018
86: 224,410/ 192,219
87: 159,145/ 137,760
88: 211,225/ 96,275
89: 209,769/ 110,850
90: 128,189/ 35,048
91: 98,737/ 101,316
92: 79,280/ 70,712
93: 114,228/ *39,755
94:*123,198/ 119,934
95: 185,986/ 122,844
96: 126,483/ 66,827
97: 100,254/ 95,812
98: 170,642/ 77,198
99: 126,067/ 42,098
00: 218,525/ 45,417
01: 155,162/ 29,009
(01 production stopped May 2001. 2002 had a lengthy run))
02: (not yet released)

Total 1965-2001: 7,899,556/ 4,821,768


First Generation:
Year: Mustang/Camaro
64:*121,583/NA
65: 559,451/NA
66: 607,568/NA
67: 474,121/*220,906
68: 317,404/ 235,147
69: 299,824/ 243,065
Total: 2,379,951/699,118
the mustang obviously out sells the camaro do to the longer run of the 1st gen mustangs, but the sales between the two cars nearly even out at the end of the 60s

Second Generation:
70: 190,727/ 124,901
71:*149,678/*114,630
72: 125,093/ 114,630 (not a typo!)
73: 134,867/ 96,751
74:*385,993/ 151,008
75: 188,575/ 145,770
76: 187,567/ 182,959
77: 153,173/ 218,858
78: 192,410/ 272,631
79:*369,936/ 282,571
80: 271,322/ 152,005
Total: 2,078,019/1,704,309
Mustang beats out Camaro most of the second gen years (I know the second gen Camaro ended in 81, but I am unfamiliar with the mustang years and figured it'd be easier to group it by decade)

Third Generation:
81: 181,552/ 126,139
82: 130,418/*189,747
83: 120,873/ 154,318
84: 135,678/ 261,591
85: 156,514/ 180,018
86: 224,410/ 192,219
87: 159,145/ 137,760
88: 211,225/ 96,275
89: 209,769/ 110,850
Total: 1,800,906/ 1,600,922
Mustang again beats out the Camaro throughout the 80s (again, unfamiliar with the mustang gen years, I know third gen Camaros went till 92)

Fourth Generation:
90: 128,189/ 35,048
91: 98,737/ 101,316
92: 79,280/ 70,712
93: 114,228/ *39,755
94:*123,198/ 119,934
95: 185,986/ 122,844
96: 126,483/ 66,827
97: 100,254/ 95,812
98: 170,642/ 77,198
99: 126,067/ 42,098
00: 218,525/ 45,417
01: 155,162/ 29,009
(01 production stopped May 2001. 2002 had a lengthy run))
02: (not yet released)
Total: 1,686,327/ 845,970

(The 01 and 02 were like that in the original post I got this info from, I'm sure those years have been released)

And once again mustang beat out Camaro. Being a GM fan it pains me to say that for the most part the mustang is the better selling car, although I'm pretty sure since it's rebirth in 2010 Camaro has beaten mustang in sales up until 2014-2015. I don't believe these numbers are including Firebird/ Trans Am numbers.
Just my input on the matter! (Well, my sharing of someone else's input, at least)

 

Nice breakdown. That's a good way to analyze it. So aside from the numbers, who would you judge to be the winner of the best looking car for each generation between the Camaro and the Mustang?

 

There are some issues with the above production numbers. I don't have reference material for every year, but I do have a complete breakdown of 1998 Camaro production and the total isn't anywhere near 77k units (that's probably combined Firebird and Camaro totals for '98.) Total 1998 Camaro production was 48,490. Having said that, it's also possible that other such discrepancies exist in that list.

IMO, during years where both Camaro and Mustang have been in production, the only years where Mustang has been the better looking car have been from 2010 to the present - including the 2016 Camaro (vs. newest Mustang.) Now that's not to say that there haven't been some great looking Mustangs during the '67-'02 period, just none of them have ever looked better to me than a same year Camaro.....until 2010 and beyond.

 

Well, I have to say that I'm biased towards Camaros, but it's because I do genuinely think the Camaro has always looked better. Not that I'm down on mustangs, there have certainly have been some cool ones over the years.

1st gen: Camaro- the mustang has kind of an ugly look to it. In some cases ugly can be mean or cool, but in this case it's not cool enough to beat the Camaro in looks, in my opinion.. I do think that there are some good looking mustangs, such as "Eleanor" and "Bullitt," but over all I have to say Camaro.

2nd gen: Camaro- The 70-73 Camaros are pretty up there on my list of best looking Camaros, I honestly don't know how mustang beat them in terms of sales. The early second gens aren't bad looking, but the the later seconds gens are flat out ugly to me. Even though the later second gen Camaros didn't look as good as the early ones I still bunk they're better looking than the mustangs.

3rd gen: Even though they are towards the bottom of my list of best looking Camaros i still like them. I clean and well kept 3rd gen Camaro can look beautiful. A lot of people don't like the fox body mustangs, but I have a soft spot for them, for the most part. The earlier fox bodies aren't as good looking in the beginning, but by the end they looked pretty good.. This is a pretty close one, with my GM bias I say Camaro wins, without the bias I'd say it's a tie. I just can't really picture myself owning a fox body though.

4th gen: Camaro wins this one for me. In my opinion, the Camaro has consistently looked better through out the 4th gen. The early 4th gen mustang just doesn't do it do me, but towards the end they looked pretty mean looking. I think the late 4th gen Camaros are one of the best looking Camaros. I could be biased though, I do love my catfish that's sitting outside right now haha.

5th gen: it's killing me to say this, but mustang. It's not a case of me not liking 5th gen Camaros, I do light how they look, but the mustangs have had a nicer look, in my opinion. The 5th gen mustangs had that cool, ugly look, on top of having that aggressive look. Whenever I see one I think to myself "that thing is ugly, but mean." They only got better too, the later fifth gens are beautiful cars. Although, there are some models of Camaro that I think beat out the mustang for looks, like the 1LE, ZL1, and Z28, over all the mustang is better looking.

6th gen: I have to go with Camaro, I like why I see with it. I'm not really a huge fan of Ford trying to appeal to the European market. I just don't really like the Euro styling of the mustang.

Obviously these are just my opinion/ bias! Sorry for the long post haha.
Whoops! I was thinking there were probably some mistakes in it, but I didn't fact check anything as I was copying and pasting from the site I got that from. Thank you for the correction! If anyone else has any corrections or more accurate information post it up!

 

RPM WS6, adray96 and Mappinsj, thanks for sharing your opinions. I'd be curious to see more opinions on this from other LS1 members.

 

I didn't read all replies, but don't forget it has been easy for Ford to sell more Mustangs than Camaro's, Chevy took an 8 yr break from producing them**

 

Addressed earlier by adray96 whose opinion I share.

 

does this count appearance mods? or are you just referring to stock looks?

If its stock looks id give the 5th gen mustangs the win by default. Theres very few 2010+ camaros i like and they all had appearance mods

As for the 4th gen category, id give the win to the mustangs IMO. I love the looks of sn95 cobras and machs. The only 4th gen camaro that might come close is the lt1 ss. Unless you count the ws6 which is technically not a camaro.

Third gens would be a tough call between a 91 iroc and a 93 fox body hatch. (even though everyone seems to like the notchback better).

Even though im biased towards 2nd gen camaros, i cant deny the mach 1 of that time looks tons better.

And for the first gen, the camaro easily takes the win.

So when it comes to stock looks only, i think the mustang has had better looks overall than camaros. Just my opinion though

 

It's not intended to account for any aftermarket mods, but does consider options and appearance packages offered by the manufacturer.