With the 50th Anniversary of the Ford Mustang looming in 2014, Ford is hard at work redesigning the legendary pony car. But just because the Mustang is a American icon, don’t expect the Mustang to be solely engineered in Detroit. As part of the “One Ford” world-car program look for design team in Europe and Australia to weigh heavily in the Mustang’s new look. With fewer Mustang being sold than any other time in it’s history, we expect Ford to move quickly and bring out the new 2014 Mustang in mid 2013. Motor City sorts through the latest news and rumors to let you know whats in store for the next GT.
Ford design chief J. Mays has long hinted that the retro design is dead, however the Mustang will go back to its roots by paring down it’s weigh and size. One insider revealed, “The design studios in Europe and Australia are working on it, as well as those in America. It will be smaller and closer in spirit to the original 1964 Mustang.”
The illustrations we obtained from Auto Express UK give you a good idea of how the new ‘pony’ car will look. It’s leaner and ever so slightly smaller, but still very mean, and packs all the visually aggressive stance for which the legendary muscle car famous. These styling cues include recessed headlamps, a traditional C-pillar, honeycomb grille with the running pony emblem, and three tail light combination which every model, expect the Fox body Mustangs, have sported. The “Power Dome” hood from the current 2010-2011 Mustangs will disappear for all models except the Boss Mustangs.
Ford as played around with adding an independent rear suspension in its pony car as early as 1965, however the IRS has only seen use in the 1999-2004 Cobra variants. For the first time, an IRS 8.8 rear axle will be a standard feature on the Mustang. The rival Chevrolet Camaro, features an IRS suspension, but Ford faithful have always preferred the decades-old solid rear axle, for ease of changing gear ratios and for drag racing. However, the move to an IRS suspension should translate to better handling, ride comfort, and traction.
Power will continue to come from the 5.0 power plant in the GT, However, a new 2.5-litre four-cylinder EcoBoost turbo with around 300 hp, will be available as well. Much like the 1984-1986 SVO Mustangs that was powered by a 2.3L Turbo this will be ford BMW killer. We expect the Shelby to continue using the 500+ hp 5.4-litre V8. Six-speed manual and auto transmissions are likely to be offered with torque vectoring to keep the performance in check, while the suspension tuning will be handled by Jost Capito and his team at Ford’s Global Performance Vehicles.
With the Mustang being designed both at home in Detroit and abroad the new Mustang this will be the most “European friendly” American muscle car ever built. A report from Auto Express, claims that the 2014 Mustang is headed across the Atlantic: To coincide with the muscle car’s 50th anniversary in 2014, Ford will launch it across the world, and will be available in right-hand drive for the first time. Sources claim that Ford dealers in the UK and Germany are already been prepped in advance of the launch.
The possible demise of the Australian Ford Falcon, means the Mustang will again a have a specific purpose built platform, rather than sharing a platform with another Ford model. It gives engineers more freedom when design the car. It will be the first true platform change for the Mustang since 1999, even the current 2010-2011 Mustangs share the roof design from the 1994 SN95 models, and the change is critically needed as the Mustang continues to lose ground and customers to the more aesthetically pleasing Camaro.
While the Mustang will undoubtedly hark back to it’s original 1960's design, Ford must be careful to avoid the mistakes that lead to the Mustang II. As Ford sought to reduce the size of the 1974 Mustang by building a lighter more compact model similar to the 1964 Mustang. We expect the new pony car will be the most technically advanced Mustang ever built However, we hope that performance is not sacrificed to help conform the CAFE standards for improved fuel efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions. Ford can ill afford another miscue like the suffered by with holding the 5.0 engine from the 2010 lineup during the most recent refresh.
See what J. Mays, ford Global Design Chief had to say about the 2014 Mustang at the recent Paris Auto Show… Starting at the 3:45 mark.
Photo Source: Auto Express
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visit my website Twenty years ago Chris set out to major in Architecture and History in hopes of producing coffee table books about Critical Regionalism in modern design. Thankfully a 1965 Mustang distracted him from this course and he has been working in the automotive aftermarket ever since. Today, Chris is one on the most celebrated Product Manager’s in the industry, with more than ten SEMA and industry awards to his name. Certainly more readers enjoy his column on our auto blog than ever would have read the jacket on his coffee table books.
