Mustang hits 150 m.p.h. on Colorado interstate; cops give up chase

First off, we do not condone this sort of dangerous behavior.

We do, though, feel compelled to share this new evidence that classic Ford Mustangs are mighty fast.

The Colorado State Patrol early Friday gave up chasing a driver in a car that could be identified only as a dark-colored, older-model Mustang when it hit 150 m.p.h.

(We have it on good authority the car was not the 1968 “Bullitt” Mustang that starred at January’s Detroit auto show. That 1968 Mustang GT fastback, used in the Steve McQueen movie "Bullitt," is set to be displayed on the National Mall later this month.)

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In Friday's incident, CSP spokesman Gary Cooper told the Denver Post that the driver was going 140 m.p.h. on Interstate 70 about 10 miles west of Glenwood Springs, or about 170 miles west of Denver.

When troopers turned on sirens and lights, the Mustang driver sped up.

“They tried to catch up. They weren’t doing it,” Cooper said. “They couldn’t get close enough.” Troopers couldn’t read the car’s license plate.

That stretch of I-70 along the Colorado River is generally straight and much flatter than mountain passes and canyons east of Glenwood Springs toward Vail.

For that reason, it’s a particularly dangerous stretch of road where drivers tend to speed up. Garfield County, where the Mustang sped away, records more fatal crashes on I-70 than any other spot west of Denver.

Troopers decided not to compound the danger by pursuing the car, Cooper said.

“It’s extremely reckless, especially with people who haven’t been trained to drive at those speeds,” Cooper said. “I’ve seen a deer total a car before.”