Mustang Met With Cheers in New Zealand
Writer details longstanding passion for Ford pony car in the antipodes.
There’s nothing like being the new player on the block, and already having a fan base. It certainly makes hanging out with the locals a whole lot easier.
Just ask car writer Lesley Wimbush, who talks about how her recent test drive in a Mustang in one of the Ford pony car’s latest new market conquest abroad was met with people honking their horns and cheering for the vehicle, as detailed in at Driving.ca.
The market? The great Land Down Under, where the Mustang just started being sold last year but ranks only second to the U.S. as a place that has more models of the Ford pony car per capita than anyone else in the world.
As Wimbush points out, New Zealanders have had a thing for the Mustang dating back to 1965 when the first one made its way to the country in racing. American military officers stationed in Christchurch, who brought their Mustangs over, also helped fuel a local love for the car. And over the years, the fan base has continued to steadily grow.
Most of the earlier Mustangs that populate New Zealand came to the country through private motor vehicle imports. The stipulations tied to getting the cars in the country became more relaxed over the years, but the cost associated with owning a Mustang in New Zealand grew quite costly in the mid-2000s.
One of the biggest cost came with converting the Mustang from left-hand-drive to right-hand-drive, which could cost up to $40,000 (U.S.), according to the Drive. Now, with Ford offering right-hand models of the Mustang straight from the factory, expect an even larger fan base in the Land Down Under in the years to come.