For all the accolades the Ford Mustang has achieved in its legendary and long-tenured run, there’s a good chance that “ultimate stunt car” has never been one of them. That was the case until recently, when the Blue Oval’s very own iconic pony car was named by stunt driver and former Stig Ben Collins as the best stunt car in the market today.

Collins made the proclamation in his new film “Ben Collins: Stunt Rider”. In it, Collins pits the Mustang against a bevy of noteworthy competitors, including the Noble M600,->ke3186 Aston Martin Vanquish,->ke1316 and believe it or not, even the Ariel Atom.->ke564 The objective is to find that one car that’s best suited to star in a Hollywood-style car chase. Each of the cars Collins drove in his film underwent a series of challenges designed to test their capabilities under duress. The cars also had to deal with enough explosives that would certainly make Michael Bay stand up and applaud.

Collins didn’t elaborate on the criteria he used to determine which of the cars are stunt-ready and which ones aren’t up to it, so at least we have that element of surprise going for us.

Needless to say, the Mustang->ke428 knows which category it belongs to, especially considering that the model -- in various incarnations over the years -- has been involved in over 37,000 Hollywood movies including the legendary Bullitt racing scene back in 1968.

The announcement on who won the title may have been premature because most of us have yet to see Stunt Rider. Then again, it’s not the least bit surprising to see the Mustang receive this accolade. The Ford->ke31 pony car is arguably one of the most iconic models in the business today. It may not be the fastest and most powerful performance model that has ever graced the silver screen, but it certainly knows how to get past the baddies on its way to racking up the multitude of roles in has played in Hollywood.

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Why it matters

I’ve seen my fair share of movies that have the Ford Mustang in them. Sure, Bullitt and Gone in 60 Seconds’ “Eleanor” get most of the attention, but other Mustangs have earned their keep in other movies. There’s the 1964.5 Mustang Fastback from Goldfinger; the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 from Diamonds Are Forever; and the 1976 Mustang Cobra II from Charlie’s Angels. Oh, let’s not forget about the 1968 Shelby GT350 from Bull Durham and if you’re really reaching for it, the 2015 Fox Body from Back To The Future II.

I bring this up because Ben Collins has a point. The Ford Mustang makes for the best movie stunt car because -- in addition to all the technical and performance minutiae he says about the car -- he didn’t mention one important point: the Mustang has been there and done that.

The movies I mentioned are just a few examples of the Mustang being an all-around badass in movies. Whether it’s being driven by James Bond, Steve McQueen, or Marty McFly, the Mustang has that uncanny ability of doing things in movies that buffer up its legacy.

Sometimes, the Mustang even ends up becoming the defining feature of that movie. I love Gone in 60 Seconds as much as anybody, but nobody remembers Angelina Jolie being in it. All everyone cares about in that movie is Eleanor, and rightfully so.

2016 Ford Mustang

Read our full review on the 2016 Ford Mustang in here.