Ford Motor Company’s financial analyst, George Pippas, has a numbers perspective on the retro pony-car phenomenon. “There are between 70 and 75 million Baby Boomers, aged 45 to 60, and many have a lot of money. Many are in their peak earning years, are now entering a different life stage and, therefore, want to drive different vehicles. For many, their first car was a Mustang.” And, if you ask Pippas, Mustang is “the best-loved nameplate in America.”

“Many Baby Boomers don’t need an Explorer, and as they downsize, many are choosing CUVs. But some will put two cars in their driveway and, maybe, the new Mustang Shelby Cobra GT500 will appeal to them,” said Pippas, describing the 2007 limited-production model that has a 5.4-liter supercharged and intercooled V8 whipping up a riotous 475 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque under its bulging hood. To put that into perspective, consider this: The Cobra makes 175 more horsepower than the already quick Mustang GT.

“Few cars have gone so far to be at the top,” remarked Pippas. “People don’t say we’re going to have fun, fun, fun in our Volvo and there’s no Volvo Sally,” he laughed, by way of contrast. “These cars work best when they line up with the styling cues from the past. Whenever we’ve departed from the original – the Mustang II, is a case in point – they haven’t done as well. These cars have to line up with the original!”