Fresh off the boat, but having forgotten to pack a
muscle-car engine, Ford’s Europeanised pony car aims to save us from German
domination in a market where Capri once reigned. We assess its chances
So Ford is finally bringing the Mustang to Europe. The question
is, does Europe still want it? If what follows seems at any time less than
fully enthusiastic, keep in mind that I love the Mustang. Specifically, I love
the boss 302 version of the current model, which more serious pony car fans
seem to agree is one of the best ever, and which every version of this all-new
sixth generation Mustang is intended to channel. A couple of years ago I spent
ten days working in Los Angeles, including reporting a story for this magazine,
and I was lucky enough to have the use of a boss 302. I wrote at the time that
it handled better than anything with a live rear axle had a right to. It
sounded even better, once I’d knocked out the baffles in its side pipes, a
ten-minute, one-wrench job that Ford makes deliberately, ridiculously easy. Even
in supercar-weary La-La-Land, it drew eyes. I parked it in a garage under rodeo
Drive which also housed Simon Cowell’s Veyron and phantom and the attendants
still came running over to check it out. And I liked it so much that I wanted
to see how it felt in the UK, so I borrowed one of the handful that Ford
brought as curiosities to Europe; collecting it, weirdly, from Shane Lynch from
Boyzone, who loved it as much as I did.
2015 Ford Mustang
Ecoboost
It didn’t feel out of place on our roads. The changes Ford
has made to this latest version ought to suit it even better to Europe. And
yet, and yet... You have to wonder if it will come too late. Us Europeans have
been deserting our mainstream brands in droves, and you wonder if people are
prepared to spend around $49717,50 (and more for the V8) for car with a blue
Oval on the bonnet when you could have a BMW, Audi or even a Porsche for the
same money. Note that the Mustang will start from just $23,600 in the Us.
That’s less than $23201.50, or the price of an 80bhp Fiesta here. But it will
have cabin quality to match, though the designers promise us ‘less hard
plastic’. And the changes Ford has made to the Mustang to make it more relevant
– including a four-cylinder engine! – might also make it feel a lot less like a
Mustang.
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost engine start/stop button
Or see it the other way. Maybe it’s arriving just in time to
both help and take advantage of Ford’s push upmarket, which also includes the
launch of the ‘premium’ Vignale versions of other models. Maybe the Mustang
name is bigger than Ford anyway. Maybe a four-banger in a body with that
presence is exactly what we want, and damn your finickity Audi button-feel
obsession. This isn’t the new Capri: with a half-century of history and nine
million sold, the Mustang is very much its own thing. But the two Ford coupes
share the pony car principles: big image, low price, not necessarily the
quickest. Maybe they’re still appealing enough for this car to swim against the
relentless tide of premium. The fact is, we don’t know. There are just too many
variables to be able to predict if the Mustang will be a home-run here.
2015 Ford Mustang
2.3L EcoBoost tachometer and oil temperature gauge
