What’s the best way to ensure that an icon musclecar prospers in the 21st century? Simple, says Ford, remain true to the original design and add more horses under the bonnet…
What’s the best way to ensure that an icon musclecar prospers in the 21st century? Simple, says Ford, remain true to the original design and add more horses under the bonnet…
The Mustang has made a comeback since Ford turned its icon into a bloated parody of itself in the Eighties and for much of the Nineties.
Many critics said that cars from that period were pretentious boulevard cruisers – a far cry from the car that Steve McQueen made famous in the cult movie in 1968.
But the spirit of the original Mustang, and the lifestyle it represented during its heyday, is very much alive and well. In her new music video , US rock star Sheryl Crow can be seen driving a jet black late Sixties Mustang and sings: “Like Steve McQueen, all I need’s a fast machine and I’m gonna make it all right… I’m an all American rebel making my big getaway. Yeah, you know it’s time I got to fly”.
At the recent Detroit Motor Show, it became apparent that Sheryl may not be the only one crowing about the Ford icon.
A team working under Ford’s styling chief J Mays designed the new Mustang, complete with aluminium bonnet and bootlid. As can be seen from these pictures, the two-seater is more muscular than ever and draws inspiration from Ford’s coupés and roadsters of yesteryear.
“The high waistline and low roll bar give a wide stance, while the inset exhausts are a new Mustang feature. The large alloys are also likely to stay, complemented by the flared arches,” reported.
The base model, when it goes on sale in the US in the third or fourth quarter of this year, will be available with a 160 kW three-litre V6, but top-end versions will have beefy V8s (naturally!).
The 4,6-litre V8 unit fitted to the current model will be tuned to produce 209 kW and the flagship Cobra is rumoured to pump out a barn-storming 300 kW.
US buyers of range-topping Mustangs will also have the option of a six-speed sequential box with a steering column-mounted paddle-shift selectors.