Mustang Club of Maryland

Sorry Ford but they built your perfect car overseas. Good thing Mustangs are a lot less expensive here in America!

http://equus-automotive.com/unique-driving-sensation

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1990 Mustang GT
http://www.ocstangs.com

Wow that's a pretty sweet looking ride. No doubt they were trying to capture a Mustang. Love the Shelby-esque rear.

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Dave

by , on Flickr
Some people are like Slinkys. They have no purpose, but they sure bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

Whenever Ford has to redesign the Mustang you can bet that a lot of thought goes into that process. They are dealing with a 50 year old icon in automotive history and have to keep a healthy balance of the cars traditional values and looks while still trying to attract a new generation of customer and fend off the competition from the Camaro and the Dodge Challenger.

The new Mustang will readily be identified as a Mustang but they are abandoning the retro look of the 2005 to present cars. The new Mustangs will sport an independent rear suspension, be a little smaller and will feature a 4 cylinder Ecoboost engine putting out about 240-260 horsepower as the base engine. The current 305 HP V-6 and the 425 HP 5.0 liter Coyote engine will also carry over to the new Mustang.

The styling will be more corporate as they use styling cues from the Evoc Concept Cars. The new Mustang is also designed to be a "world car" meaning that it will be marketed extensively outside of the US. That is one of the reasons they went with the independent suspension and 4 cylinder Ecoboost engine. Gas is extremely expensive in Europe so performance and gas mileage were key factors in the design of the new Mustang.

The retro style Mustang was tremendously popular when it came out in 2005 but sales have leveled off and dropped as Ford is not attracting a new customer base. We will have to see how this new styled Mustang will be accepted by current Mustang enthusiasts. But again Ford is confident that they will be able to retain the faithful but need a new modern look to attract a younger demographic especially on a global basis.

Midnight Blue
MCOM Treasurer-Historian

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The Red Baron

Good catch Bob. Nice looking car. I like the 67/69 fastback styling. I love the suspension, handling and performance. All with modern comfort. Three things that I don't like about it are:
1. The dash and gauges are off. The dash looks, fluffy. The gauges look, odd. I like the Tach and Speed-0. The horizontal mounted dash toggle switches are also, odd.
2. The price. MSRP 250,000.
3. The Aluminum 6.2L V8 engine is a GM.

Basicly, Corvette power, Cadillac magnetic suspension and Mustang Muscle car styling.

The retro mustang (05-14) has grown old as it is 9 model years old, it is true that the sales numbers have dropped since the 05 redesign (retro look) it was so popular at the time, it revitalized the mustang which had been suffering sales wise. It also forced Chevrolet and Dodge to step up their game, bringing back the muscle car wars! Since there was a true rivalry among the big three for the first time in ~ 6 years in the case of camaro and over 35 years for dodge, these cars started to thrive and raise sales, and hp numbers.

Both chevrolet and dodge stepped up their game with bigger engines then the dated 4.6 v8 of the mustang, and in proper order Ford stepped up once again and brought back the Legendary 5.0 or 302 for the purists, this time as a 4 valve modular engine. This new 5.0 produced over 100 hp over the out going 4.6 which had 305 hp.

When the 4.6 replaced the pushrod 5.0 it left mustang owners disappointed and asking the question why? just as I remember back in 87 when they changed to front end to the "euro" look from the "4 eyed" Fox body. Only thing people were happy about was fuel injection and more hp!

The introduction of the 3.7 v6 producing 305 hp boosted sales of the mustang, as it produced more hp then any of the past v8's with exception of the terminator '03-04, or the mach1's 315 hp since the early 70's! And for the introductory (base model) price of $21k and change, was the "biggest bang for the buck" on the market!

Now to the 50th Anniversary of the iconic Mustang! Ford has been the most secretive in regards to public knowledge, Letting out what Ford wanted to expose about the 50th model, and teasing all of us with "sneak peeks" of some of the changes. We still have absolutely no idea of what this new car will look like, and in my opinion will look nothing like any of the "sneak peeks" but will be clearly recognized as a Mustang!

I think we are all in for a surprise on April 17th 2014!

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James Heller
MCOM President

1967 Fastback 289, C4, Magnum 500 wheels, Long Tubes

1989 LX Notchback 5.0 supercharged SSP too much to list

2011 GT some basic bolt on goodies

Competition James forced Ford to up it's game dramatically for the Mustang! When Chevy reintroduced the Camaro and boosted the base V6 to 300 HP, Ford had to ramp up their base V6 engines to match the Camaro, thus the 3.7 liter V6 cam out with 305 HP. Dodge also felt it necessary to boost it's base V6 engine to the 300 HP range to be competitive with the Mustang and the Camaro.

Ford has wanted a "global" version of the Mustang but could not do so with it's current architecture. The new Mustang will feature a more modernistic style to attract a new generation of Mustang enthusiasts. If you remember before the Mustang was first introduced to the public in 1964, Ford teased the auto magazines and auto enthusiasts who had been hearing rumors about this hot new car from Ford, the Mustang.

As I mentioned earlier, the Mustang will feature some interesting "improvements", that should entice European and Asian drivers who would love to own a Mustang!

Midnight Blue
MCOM Treasurer-Historian

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The Red Baron