A couple of months back, when the first renderings - based on what Ford had shown journalists during the official 2015 Mustang peek - became available, reactions to the new pony car were more on the negative side.
No surprises there, as this is how Mustang enthusiasts usually react when Ford redesigns its halo car. Except for the fifth-generation and its classic styling cues of course. But when the Blue Oval unveiled the new Mustang, things started going the other way around. It was the 2014 Corvette "syndrome" all over again. Hate it at first, learn to like it later.
Most of the people I know said it kinda sucked and I've heard all sorts of nicknames for it, including "two-door Fusion", "Aston Mustang", "import" and some nasty comparisons to the Subaru BRZ. I'm sure most of them will learn to like as well. But not me. I will never find it as appealing as the current Mustang. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that Ford put a lot of effort into the 2015 model. The Mustang needed an update after all those years, especially on the tech side of things, but I think Ford sacrificed too much in order to make it into a global car.
Do I hate it? No! Saying that would make me the world's biggest liar, but I think it's the saddest Mustang since the second-generation model. Sure, it has way more power and it's not just a Pinto-based car that looks faster than it really is, but it lacks something very important. That something is called heritage - a "thing" more and more nameplates, and automakers altogether, are ditching lately for the sake of global profits.
Like most manufacturers, Ford is busy with becoming global and giving their lineup a generic look. Can't afford a Focus? Buy a Fiesta. It looks the same, it's just a bit smaller. All Fords need to have that trapezoidal grille slapped on their face. The problem is the Mustang was always different, it had its own design. Just like the Camaro and the Challenger, it had an unmistakable appearance. You can't mistake a Challenger for a Dodge Avenger or a Camaro for an Impala, yet you can almost mistake a 2015 Mustang for a Fusion.
Why? Because Ford wants its new pony car to grow on its future European buyers, which have always been different than American consumers. The original Mustang was a hit among European car enthusiasts back in the day, but a car like that never made sense to European automakers and most buyers and that hasn't changed. Now the Mustang must look less American and more European. It has a corporate design...
"So what if the Shelby GT500 Super Snake has 850 HP? You can't make it take a left turn anyway," someone told me a couple of days ago. It's people like these that don't get what the Mustang is all about and, unfortunately, it's for people like these Ford put so many changes into the car, starting with the independent rear suspension and the launch control. Word has it Ford benchmarked the new Mustang to the BMW M3 and the Porsche 911.
If this is true, it means Ford diluted the 2015 Mustang hoping it will snatch some market from the Germans. We can drop the 911 from the equation for obvious reasons, but I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of 2015 Mustang vs. 2014 BMW M4 comparison tests. Which is plain silly. The Mustang was never intended to battle such coupes and Ford shouldn't try to take on anything other than the Camaro and the Challenger.
When buying a Mustang or a Camaro, an European customer is looking to get a piece of the American Dream he never had. It includes a live rear axle, speed in a straight line, a no-nonsense cabin and almost 50 years of heritage. It doesn't come with a staggering Nurburgring lap time, but with a lively attitude. It's a car you can really drive on the road and take it to the drag strip and not a computer you input your data into to get you to work or around the track. Because that's what German cars are nowadays, shiny high-tech appliances for outdoor use.
The electronics in them are like a kill-joy grandparent who doesn't miss the opportunity to slap you in the back of your head every time you try to have some fun. Will a BMW or Mercedes-Benz enthusiast buy a Mustang for its story? No! This leaves us with European drivers that want to hop on a Mustang at the nearest Ford dealership and not buy it as a gray import. They want the Mustang to be more accessible, but they want it the American way. They want it with the "ancient" live rear axle and the thrills that come with it. They want the musclecar and not an EcoBoost hot hatch in an exotic-looking body.
To me, it's almost shocking that Ford didn't learn anything from Chevrolet's European fiasco. Apart from Corvettes and Camaros, Europeans wanted Chevrolet's big sedans. The Impala and the Malibu, not the Korean-built lineup of Aveos, Cruzes and Lacettis that General Motors took there. We already know what happened because of that. I'm not trying to say that the 2015 Mustang will fail, because it won't. It'll just disappoint a few people.
The sad part is it will disappoint the people that have been waiting for Ford to deliver them the icon that started the whole pony/musclecar craze. And you know what, I bet it'll lose one of the three main attributes a musclecar needs to have: an affordable price. Before I forget, you must be wondering what's with the Grinch comparison in the title. A friend of mine, who owned a dozen or so Mustangs and still has four parked in his garage, said the 2015 Mustang "is the adult version of finding out that there is no Santa". There you go folks, Merry Christmas!
No surprises there, as this is how Mustang enthusiasts usually react when Ford redesigns its halo car. Except for the fifth-generation and its classic styling cues of course. But when the Blue Oval unveiled the new Mustang, things started going the other way around. It was the 2014 Corvette "syndrome" all over again. Hate it at first, learn to like it later.
Most of the people I know said it kinda sucked and I've heard all sorts of nicknames for it, including "two-door Fusion", "Aston Mustang", "import" and some nasty comparisons to the Subaru BRZ. I'm sure most of them will learn to like as well. But not me. I will never find it as appealing as the current Mustang. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that Ford put a lot of effort into the 2015 model. The Mustang needed an update after all those years, especially on the tech side of things, but I think Ford sacrificed too much in order to make it into a global car.
Do I hate it? No! Saying that would make me the world's biggest liar, but I think it's the saddest Mustang since the second-generation model. Sure, it has way more power and it's not just a Pinto-based car that looks faster than it really is, but it lacks something very important. That something is called heritage - a "thing" more and more nameplates, and automakers altogether, are ditching lately for the sake of global profits.
Like most manufacturers, Ford is busy with becoming global and giving their lineup a generic look. Can't afford a Focus? Buy a Fiesta. It looks the same, it's just a bit smaller. All Fords need to have that trapezoidal grille slapped on their face. The problem is the Mustang was always different, it had its own design. Just like the Camaro and the Challenger, it had an unmistakable appearance. You can't mistake a Challenger for a Dodge Avenger or a Camaro for an Impala, yet you can almost mistake a 2015 Mustang for a Fusion.
Why? Because Ford wants its new pony car to grow on its future European buyers, which have always been different than American consumers. The original Mustang was a hit among European car enthusiasts back in the day, but a car like that never made sense to European automakers and most buyers and that hasn't changed. Now the Mustang must look less American and more European. It has a corporate design...
"So what if the Shelby GT500 Super Snake has 850 HP? You can't make it take a left turn anyway," someone told me a couple of days ago. It's people like these that don't get what the Mustang is all about and, unfortunately, it's for people like these Ford put so many changes into the car, starting with the independent rear suspension and the launch control. Word has it Ford benchmarked the new Mustang to the BMW M3 and the Porsche 911.
If this is true, it means Ford diluted the 2015 Mustang hoping it will snatch some market from the Germans. We can drop the 911 from the equation for obvious reasons, but I'm sure we'll be seeing lots of 2015 Mustang vs. 2014 BMW M4 comparison tests. Which is plain silly. The Mustang was never intended to battle such coupes and Ford shouldn't try to take on anything other than the Camaro and the Challenger.
When buying a Mustang or a Camaro, an European customer is looking to get a piece of the American Dream he never had. It includes a live rear axle, speed in a straight line, a no-nonsense cabin and almost 50 years of heritage. It doesn't come with a staggering Nurburgring lap time, but with a lively attitude. It's a car you can really drive on the road and take it to the drag strip and not a computer you input your data into to get you to work or around the track. Because that's what German cars are nowadays, shiny high-tech appliances for outdoor use.
The electronics in them are like a kill-joy grandparent who doesn't miss the opportunity to slap you in the back of your head every time you try to have some fun. Will a BMW or Mercedes-Benz enthusiast buy a Mustang for its story? No! This leaves us with European drivers that want to hop on a Mustang at the nearest Ford dealership and not buy it as a gray import. They want the Mustang to be more accessible, but they want it the American way. They want it with the "ancient" live rear axle and the thrills that come with it. They want the musclecar and not an EcoBoost hot hatch in an exotic-looking body.
To me, it's almost shocking that Ford didn't learn anything from Chevrolet's European fiasco. Apart from Corvettes and Camaros, Europeans wanted Chevrolet's big sedans. The Impala and the Malibu, not the Korean-built lineup of Aveos, Cruzes and Lacettis that General Motors took there. We already know what happened because of that. I'm not trying to say that the 2015 Mustang will fail, because it won't. It'll just disappoint a few people.
The sad part is it will disappoint the people that have been waiting for Ford to deliver them the icon that started the whole pony/musclecar craze. And you know what, I bet it'll lose one of the three main attributes a musclecar needs to have: an affordable price. Before I forget, you must be wondering what's with the Grinch comparison in the title. A friend of mine, who owned a dozen or so Mustangs and still has four parked in his garage, said the 2015 Mustang "is the adult version of finding out that there is no Santa". There you go folks, Merry Christmas!
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