Camaro tops Mustang in dependability solidifying its dominance in the pony car class

The Camaro Mustang rivalry is one of the best in the automotive world and Camaro seems to have nosed ahead lately. In its recent dependability study the Chevy Camaro was first in its category. That category being the one that Mustang started back in the 1960s. We like to call them “pony cars” but J.D. Power and Associates calls these cars “midsize sporty” cars. Call them what you will, there really are no other rear-drive affordable coupes selling in any numbers even close to the Mustang and Camaro.

There are some Chrysler products that are in and out of contention, but calling them midsize is a stretch. Hyundai has the excellent Genesis coupe, but that vehicle is not available in V8 format, the configuration which defines this segment.

The J.D. Power and Associates Vehicle Dependability Study looks at cars 3 years old to determine how reliable they have been in comparison to their peers. In the Midsize sporty car category, pony car class to the rest of us, the Camaro was at a distinct disadvantage heading into this match up. The Camaro was all new three years ago and the Mustang was not a new vehicle that year. Thus the Camaro had the wind in its face as it joined this contest. However, in the end the Camaro prevailed. This is starting to be a trend for Camaro.

In a recent slew of car magazine contests the Camaro is doing quite well. The folks at Chevy and Ford either on purpose, or by coincidence create many close match-ups of the Camaro and the Mustang. The head to head matchups should be taken lightly. There is not very much comparison shopping from brand to brand between these two rivals. Like a man is either a Ginger or Maryann guy, car enthusiasts are generally either a Camaro or Mustang fan.

And please don’t let me give you impression we at Torque News make the mistake of thinking that only guys buy these cars. We not only know the sales of these ponies are just as often, if not more often, to woman than to men, we know a lot of enthusiast women who own amazing mustangs. One dental professional we know has an extremely rare 1960s Mustang Hertz car worth close to the value of a nice beach house. She is not alone.

That said, the Mustang Cobras do sometimes take the win in matchups with Camaro ZL-1s, but not often. The Camaro SS 1LE recently beat the Mustang GT Track Pack in a Motor Trend head to head comparo lapping Willow Springs fully 3 seconds quicker than the Mustang.

Magazine comparisons are created to sell magazines. We suspect the wins and losses may have more to do with keeping readers interested than in which car is the better consumer choice. However, cars are meant to create revenue and the Camaro is winning that race hands down. In decades past the Mustang used to outsell the Camaro. In fact, the Camaro was discontinued for a while due to lack of buyer interest. Our own Patrick Rall is the go-to guy at Torque News for sales numbers on muscle cars and he reports on the sales of the Camaro-Mustang-Challenger trio monthly.

Not only has the Camaro sold more units than the Mustang this past month, it has sold more cars than the Mustang in 2012 overall, 2011 overall, and 2010 overall. If that isn’t the deciding factor in deciding which is the better car we don’t know what is. Tell us below what you think is the better car and why.