Car and Driver put the Ford Mustang on its Ten Best list in 1983, 1987, 1988, 2005, 2006, 2011, and 2016.
Car and Driver’s 10Best program began in 1983, selecting vehicles the magazine considered the year’s ten best cars. The Mustang’s appearances span several eras: the Fox-body Mustang GT in the 1980s, the fifth-generation Mustang GT in 2005 and 2006, the sixth-generation Mustang in 2011, and the Shelby GT350 and GT350R in 2016.
The list is not simply a lifetime award for the Mustang nameplate. Car and Driver evaluates current vehicles, so a specific model, engine, or variant may represent the Mustang in a given year. That is why the 2016 entry refers specifically to the Shelby GT350/GT350R rather than the entire range in general terms.
The main mix-up is Motor Trend, another influential automotive magazine with its own awards. Motor Trend named the Mustang its Car of the Year in selected years, but the Ten Best list belongs to Car and Driver.