Flagstang

maybe hes trying to stop the "footballers" from buying them

Twin Turbo

Possibly, LOL.

Anyway, overpaid footballers perfer to flaunt their worth. £60k? That's a week's wages. A Bentley with a chrome wrap is more their style.

UOP Shadow

This looks a lot like my 2013 GT500. Except mine is a vert. Other than that, looks pretty close?

Z.r.q Othman

I like the ferry scene too. People take pics of the Stang!!! The car looks good!!! on HD TV!!

I wonder if his comment would effect the sales of the upcoming Stang (2015 shape)?

Moustang

That's misleading.


What he said was that it produces a lot of road noise and the suspension is imprecise and unrefined, which leaves it feeling like a 1970s Escort. He also quantified that by saying a new Focus at similar motorway speeds was much more quiet and much more comfortable.


Now, the English to English translation of that for the Americans here is............ It sounds, handles, and feels much more like a 1970s musclecar rather than a more refined luxury sports car or even an average family car.


And in that respect he is correct and I doubt too many here would argue with it. The Mustang is a muscle car, built in the style and spirit of the classic late 60s and early 70s muscle cars. It doesn't have a luxury interior, it doesn't have a lot of sound deadening insulation, it doesn't have a refined suspension that is designed for comfort. The Mustang in general is built to be a cheap muscle car, and corners are cut in the area of luxury and comfort to achieve the desired performance and price. Even the Shelbys suffer from the design choices of the base Mustang in that regard, but that's also the point of the car. It's not trying to be an expensive luxury sports car, it's trying to be a muscle car.

Flagstang

I think he was trashing it.. its just what he does.

I still love him and want to have his fat headed children

Moustang

I think the problem is the British just do not understand muscle cars. They've never had them, muscle cars are not part of their culture.

A shining example would be a few years ago when Top Gear compared the Camaro SS to a Mercedes SLS calling both a muscle car. In America we would NEVER consider a near $100,000 car to be a muscle car. Muscle cars have always been something the average Joe could buy, not something only the rich elite could afford.

Muscle cars have always been about pure, raw horsepower on a budget. They've never been about comfort or luxury, and that's something the British just don't understand.

But by the same token, we Americans have never really understood the British fascination with micro-sized shoeboxes which they love to death. The old Triumphs, MGs, and Coopers. More recently they've fallen in love with the Fiat 500. We've always viewed them as little more than gokarts with a body kit, but they are super-popular in the UK.

It's just a different culture there.

Flagstang

I think some of us understand it

https://themustangsource.com/f697/fi...86317/index11/

Twin Turbo

Hardly!

He didn't mention anything about it being like a 70's muscle car. He only mentioned the Escort and the Focus. Probably because most Brits wouldn't have a clue what a 70's muscle car is like! You can interpret it any way you like. Lets face it, JC spouts some serious BS most of the time, in the name of entertainment.

For what it's worth though, I'm with you 100% that it IS like a 70's muscle car..........certainly compared to the vast majority of other cars out there.

And that's why I love it.

Twin Turbo

Oi, some of us do

cdynaco

Twin Turbo

Yep, white with blue stripes......and built by Ford. Looks very close


Here's one more fitting for the GT500 in the show......blue with white stripes

Moustang

Try reading my post again. I clearly said what he said and never said that HE said anything about muscle cars.

I interpreted it the way any American who actually understands Brits would interpret it. What you don't realize is that the 1970s Escort was NOT something that was sold in the US at all, and was NOT the same Escort that was sold in the US in the 1980s. It was basically a small version of an American muscle car built for Europe.

The Ford Escort RS1600 was a Cosworth tuned road car that also won the World Rally Championship. It was powered by what was essentially a detuned Formula 3 engine. It was basically a street legal race car in Europe, but was never sold in the US.



So before you start thinking he was just trashing the Shelby understand the pedigree of the car he was actually comparing it to. Another cheap but very powerful Ford car that used to win a lot of races.

Moustang

Yes, and some of us Americans understand British sports cars.






But most Brits don't understand muscle cars, and most Americans don't understand British sports cars. I get blank stares here if I ever mention a Bugeye Sprite.

2k7gtcs

Personally I think whatever he thinks is irrelevant.


I know a lot of guys here and on SVTP were hoping by some chance he'd love the car.


Frankly I don't give a ****. Doesn't take anything away from the car for me. And I'd you ask me the car is too **** quiet. And road noise? Wtf? They must have some ****ty *** roads. Because I've got to be doing at least 90 before I even notice any noise. And 100 feels like 60. But them again I do drive a truck and a SUV and a much louder mustang in my other life.

burningman

Great episode..loved it.
BTW you can toss Jeremys claim of that thing having the most powerful v-8 in the bin because it doesn't. The Agera-R does..for that matter The Venom GT does too but the Agera is by far more of a production car than the Venom. The new Agera has 960HP which is a **** site more than the mustang has.

Anyway I haven't driven the latest GT 500 but i have driven the first gen version and it was a bit raw so I can see his point about the refinement.

Rather B.Blown

Something that costs a couple million dollars and only a dozen or so made a year doesn't even come close to being considered a production car in my book.

Zastava_101

I love those 70s Escorts, especially Mexico.

Escort is the reason why I love Fords. My uncle used to have one of the 1980s turbo models, which he traded later on for a Sierra.

stangfoeva

This.

Twin Turbo

I'm not looking to pick a fight

Firstly, I'm WELL aware "our" Escort was very different to yours. However, the vast majority of 1970s UK Escorts were a long, long way from being a small version of a muscle car. Mostly 1.1, 1.3 and 1.6 engines with less than 100bhp will see to that. They did sport RWD though. But, drive one today, and you can feel every one of the 40-odd years of development from then 'til now.

Secondly, I'm more than aware of the Escorts pedigree. The Mexico editions, and the RS2000s were the hot models to have. BUT, Jeremy didn't mention these my name at the end of the show, he only referred to it as an Escort.

Thirdly......I'm on more than a few forums here in the UK and, as you can imagine, that episode of TG has got tongues wagging. I can assure you, most here think he WAS trashing it at the end.

However, as I said before......that lack of refinement is, for me and many others, one of the attractions of the Mustang. My BMW 330i is a great car, but it doesn't make my heart beat faster just by starting it up......it doesn't have the character of the Mustang. It's almost like driving a classic car (say, something like a 70s Escort ) but with modern amenities and safety features.

What JC didn't say...........or make clear, was whether that was what he was getting at. Was comparing it to a 70s car a good thing or not. That's whay I said you can interpret it any way you like.........he wasn't specific.....and so we have to take it at face value.....it was not a compliment. In my opinion, anyway.