Gautam Sharma•30 Oct 2013
NEWS
All-new Mustang ‘outed' by Car and Driver
Latest issue of US magazine reveals what looks to be the real deal, as far as the Blue Oval's next-gen Pony Car is concernedFord’s eagerly awaited sixth-generation Mustang has been ‘leaked’ by American magazine Car and Driver, which has published what look to be genuine images or detailed renderings of the all-new coupe.
The latest model’s arrival will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the iconic nameplate (the first Mustang debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair), which has been a mainstay of the American muscle car scene even as the Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger disappeared for several years before being reprised over the past decade.
The new ’Stang takes over from the fifth-gen car that launched in 2005, and which has been a strong seller in its domestic market.
Unlike its predecessor, the new Mustang has been conceived as a global car, and it will allegedly be lighter and more fuel-efficient to find favour in markets such as Europe and Asia.
The US publication reports the latest pony car will be underpinned by a new platform – codenamed ‘S550’ – that introduces independent rear suspension to the mix, along with a weight saving of around 100kg.
According to Car and Driver, the sixth-gen model will be slightly smaller than the outgoing car, even though the classic Mustang proportions appear to have carried through to the newbie.
As evident from the accompanying images, it shares more than a few design cues with the likes of the Fusion and 2011 Evos concept, but the familiar gaping grille, swept-back headlights, fastback roofline and three-bar taillights immediately signal it as nothing other than a Mustang.
Car and Driver suggests the design process took longer than expected as the Ford top brass rejected the initial proposal for “not being Mustang enough”.
The final result (if, indeed, this is it) looks pleasing to our eyes, with the long snout, cab-rearward seating position and kicked-up tail endowing the car with a suitably muscular stance. It evokes a retro theme, yet manages to look contemporary.
The nods to tradition apparently extend to the cabin, which reportedly retains the prominent barrel-shaped gauges as the dominant feature of the dashboard, and they are mirrored by round vents atop the centre console, with rectangular ducts at each flank.
According to Car and Driver, the Mustang will be equipped with the latest iteration of the
MyFord Touch interface, which has buttons and switchgear for drivers who prefer to interact with real controls rather than virtual ones.
At launch the Mustang will reportedly be offered with carryover 3.7-litre V6 and 5.0-litre V8 powertrains (with 228kW and 313kW respectively), and the six-speed manual and auto gearboxes are also unchanged.
However, C&D reports the new 10-speed automatic that Ford is jointly developing with GM will replace the six-speed auto in two to three years.
Also in the pipeline is the first four-cylinder turbo Mustang since the 1986 SVO, as a 2.3-litre EcoBoost unit with 231kW will eventually be in the mix, and this unit is expected to be particularly popular in Europe.
Car and Driver suggest the 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 that propels the Taurus SHO is also under consideration and, of course, badass Shelby variants with up to 500kW will join the line-up in due course.
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Written byGautam Sharma
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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