I read somewhere, some time back that the Mustang wasn't originally meant to be a sports car. It was meant to be an economy car, probably a more luxurious relative to the Falcon.
The original mustang was marketed as a "secrataries car"....ie a cute easy to drive car for women (remember it was 1964 lol)
It wasnt untill 67 when they amped it up as a "pony car"...alot of people use the term "muscle car" to cover the mustang or camaro (you could throw the challenger in there but in reality it kinda blurred the lines) but in reality they were pony cars.
Pony cars were meant more for "all around" performance driving, as they tender to be lighter, supposdly handle and stop better then a "muscle car"
A "muscle car" was the chargers, chevelles, roadrunners, and torinos. Stopping and steering were basically an afterthought with primary focus being going like hell in a 1/4 mi
Personally mustangs were always kinda overrated to me. The only ones i really care about are the 71-73 big bodies anf the foxes. The 70s mustang 2's looked cool with all the cobra graphics but they were basically a pinto with a wheezing 302.
Anything after 93 in the mustang world to me is "meh"
The modern camaro is ugly as piss, as were the 90s ones, dodge IMO totally owns the modern muscle market