Mustang 2005 coupe..lots of pics

[Randy Rosenberg]

Today I took my Bullitt into my dealer for service. My dealer is my cousin, so every 3 to 5K miles I get to shoot the sh*t with my cousin (he's races a Formula Ford in SCCA, so we can take about racing at the local tracks for hours!). Anyway, I asked him to let me know when to put my name on the list for the new 2005 Pony car - looks like I'll be trading in my Bullitt sooner than I thought. I really like the new Pony car!!!

Rock on,
Randy R...

[Joe Pappas]

I'm glad that "most" of you like what you see in the 2005 Mustang. I work for a supplier company in the Detroit area and have been involved with the Mustang project for nearly two years. The photos that are circulating in the media and the two Mustang show cars (the silver coupe and the red convertable) are pretty representative of the final product. In my job, I get to see a lot of different vehicles while still in the studio (clay) and I have to admit that the 2005 Mustang is the first car in a long time that grabbed my attention. Engineering, designing, and producing an entirely new automobile is no small task. I give the Blue Oval guys a lot of credit for doing this with the Mustang in light of the financial troubles Ford is going through. This will be an entirely new car from the ground up. No carryover body or chassis. I don't know much about the powertrain stuff but you can certainly expect to see a lot of good stuff there as well.

[speed220mph]

I've been in the studios at Ford, too, Joe, while in Advanced Engineering. And I'm sure you've had that sick feeling when viewing a clay of the new whatever. This was the case when I first saw the '71 Mustang. I thought it what a truck! But the sickest I ever was when I first saw the Mustang II.

Fortunately, car people have assumed control of styling at Ford. The only area I have reservations about is the rear-end treatment of the '05 Mustang. I don't know why they insist on using luxury-car taillights on a sporty car. Wish they'd do something like using reworked Mangusta/Panatera taillights . . . anything but those full-width monstrosities. Otherwise, the car has killer looks. I'll get one in spite of the taillights if the rest of the design is carried through to production, though.

[Whaler]

Hello Joe
Good to hear from someone at Blue Oval's "Groundzero"
Also good to hear that this is practically the finished product and not a teaser that will be hugely refined from what we see in the pics.
There are likely going to be many drivetrain options as that will likely be what makes a sale or not. ( We should remember the 6 banger, auto, 3 spoke wheel types are what made it a number one seller with WOMEN!)
The car will be all over the map WRT pricing too. Imagine the car with the latest Cobra goodies easily 50 grand.
For that matter pricing the new Ford GT should be interesting too!

Thanks for the input

Tim

[Joe Pappas]

Hello Speed220mph and Whaler
I think the tailights shown on the show car are not accurate (thank the guy upstairs). I know there is a V-6, a V-8 (GT), and a Cobra version in the works. The media reported correctly that the windshield rake on the convertable was not production intent. I think the car will have a ton of appeal once it makes it into the showrooms.
Hey, by the way, Speed220mph, I used to work out of Hudson, NC (17 miles north of Hickory) back in the early seventies when I was Don Carlton's co-crew chief on the Mopar Missle Pro Stock car. I love North Carolina. Take care.

[speed220mph]

Hi Joe: Hudson, eh! I pass it all the time on my way up to Blowing Rock and Lower Creek Airport in Lenoir. I'm just south of the river off 321 by Lake Hickory. The drive up the mountain is a great Cobra ride, especially on a hot summer day. Come on down and we'll go for a ride.