After the 1973 model year, Ford took the Mustang in a decidedly different direction that, over the course of the next three generations, lost all of its retro identity. For the 2005 model year though, Ford brought it back old school style with a retro look that has re-inspired the Mustang faithful, and for 2015 Ford kept many of those styling cues intact.

To demonstrate this retro identity that has translated so well to the 21st century, Ford released this video comparing the most iconic classic Mustangs with Ford’s most recent models. After watching this, you really get a sense of how different, yet familiar, the Mustang’s face has remained.

The first Mustang rolled out with round headlights that became iconic in and of themselves, and while the pony car grew in size and weight during the first generation, that front end stayed mostly the same. The Mustang II brought a different look that the successor Fox-body stayed with, before the 90s Mustangs want in an “extreme” different direction.

That’s why this video jumps directly from the 1969 model year to 2005, when Ford return to its roots with a retro new look. Though in all ways a better car, for many it rekindled a love affair that began decades ago, and Ford has done its best to update the Mustang in a meaningful way, while still paying homage to its roots. We’re convinced that this is the first new Mustang design to be as expressive and as powerful as the original, but in an entirely new way.