In the pantheon of American cars, the Ford Mustang is one of the legends.  It has consistently represented a way for the common man to get something powerful for not a lot of cash.  For most enthusiasts, though, the Mustang through the years has always been a bit behind.  The previous generation, no matter how good of a car it was, was still held back a bit.  I think, however, with the new model on its way, that there’s a big change in the winds.

The new Mustang, to me, represents a significant change in the way we need to start thinking about the ponycar.  It’s no longer a throwback with an archaic rear suspension, style-over-substance looks, and a relatively cheap interior.  This new Mustang is a big step in the right direction in design.  The biggest change to most enthusiasts, myself included, is the addition of standard independent rear suspension.  It’s been a decade since the Mustang had IRS even as an option (on the SVT Cobra).  While it’s already not at all bad in corners, the new rear suspension design is going to change the way we think about the Mustang as a sporty coupe.  No longer can it be automatically ridiculed for being behind the times by half a century.  Instead, it’s up to date and it will handle like a front-engine, RWD car with proper suspension.

It’s more than that, though.  The IRS is just one indication that Ford isn’t screwing around here.  I stumbled on a news piece that Ford benchmarked the Porsche 911 and BMW M3 as the targets for how they want this car to handle.  That in and of itself is newsworthy.  Instead of going after the norm in this segment of putting straight-line performance ahead of everything else, Ford is going for the balanced approach and has finally recognized what the sub-40K market sports car needs to do–provide a great driving experience on a balanced front for less money than a hedge fund.  Ford also has recognized that in order to take the Mustang to a level above its rivals, they’ve had to up their targets and their benchmarks, something that GM and Chrysler have not done since all three came back on the market a few years ago.

Ford’s also, in my opinion, taking the reverse of their “One Ford” movement.  This is one thing I wasn’t expecting to say but after looking into it a bit more, it’s all the more apparent.  Since about 2008 or so, Ford has slowly brought models from Europe in to replace their American counterparts (new Focus, Fiesta, new Fusion, new Transit).  This time, though, Ford’s doing the opposite by attempting to sell the Mustang in Europe officially.  However, unlike some brands who would just rebadge and call it a day (cough cough….General Motors), Ford has evaluated the new model much more and is tailoring bits and pieces to European tastes in order to make a foothold, something I have to personally applaud them for.  Probably one of the smarter examples of this is the offering of the 2.3L turbo four.  While it’s been a badly kept secret for some time that Ford will offer an EcoBoost option in the Mustang, we can now confirm it, and it’s one of Ford’s brighter ideas as of late.  Rated at a similar power output to the V6, it will get buyers in the door, but it will be easier to modify to obscene levels of power than the V6 of the past couple of years.  This will probably be a great way to shift popularity of the new Mustang across the board a bit.

The styling, however, is a case where Ford didn’t try and make everyone go crazy.  Rather, it’s brand new, but an evolution of the current look.  The shape’s not all that much different, but the cues are sharper, the lines are more crisp, and the details are brought out better.  Ford went for a subtle, aggressive look–something that will get people’s attention subconsciously.  I’ve noticed reactions to the styling are all over the board, which is what Ford needs–not everyone is going to like it or love it, but it’s going to get them attention from now until the new model hits showrooms.  If the new Mustang is any indication, Ford has made leaps and bounds in how it sees not only the domestic market, but the entire world market of the automobile and how they have to compete.  In and of itself, that’s a great sign, and I think the Mustang should be the logical next step to get Ford to go global with more platforms, even those designed here in America.

-Albert S. Davis