Is the Ford Mustang a Cliché?
 

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One of the biggest clichés in automotive history, according to a recent list, is the Ford Mustang. The whole car, all 50 years of it. That is, if you believe these know-it-alls.

Read the rest on the Mustang Source homepage. >>

Well I think a lot of this is attributable to the "nose in the air" snob crowd that infests the ranks of automotive media these days. In their eyes they are just too sophisticated and high brow for a Mustang, a car that they regard as beneath their stature and best left to the knuckle dragging masses. Much of that disdain stems from the fact that the Mustang still utilized a solid rear axle long after other sports coupes like the Camaro and Challenger had adopted the independent rear suspension packages.

Regardless of the solid axle the Ford engineers managed to adapt a suspension package that kept the car competitive from a performance standpoint. We all remember that a V6 Mustang with a solid rear axle beat their oh so precious and way over hyped Scion FR-S on a road course. A car that was supposed to be a road course phenom. I'm sure this didn't at all sit well with the snob crowd in the media who regarded anything with a solid rear axle as something straight out of the Dukes of Hazard era. So despite the fact that the Mustang could still hang, even on road courses, the media continued to heap criticism on the car for one reason or another. Often heard from them are complaints about he lack luster interior, to which I say "have you looked at the interior of an FR-S?" It's a joke and by no means as well appointed as the 2nd Gen S197 or the current S550 car.

The fact of the matter is that the Mustang has offered the best bang for the buck for a lot of years. In recent years this fact has, regretfully, become less the case. Mustang GT prices now can easily hit the mid 30's to 40K mark making them far less attainable to the general public at large. On the plus side the performance level in the entry level car has at least improved to the point that one can still have a lot of fun with the V6 or EcoBoost powered versions of the car.

Now that the Mustang has an independent rear suspension one would think that the media forces that be would have less reason to criticize the car. I'm not holding my breath. I think they will still find ample reason to talk crap about the Mustang simply because they still regard the Mustang as a car for low brow people who they tend to look down on. Keep in mind that this is the same media that openly complains on private facebook pages about the quality of "free gifts" they get from automotive companies while on location for a collective car review.

The Mustang is not cliche. The media is cliche. The Mustang is an American icon, loved by millions around the world and that just drives the snob crowd up the wall.

:ignorant:

The only thing worse then the mainstream media is all the new "media outlets" focused on one subject or another. Apparently anyone can become a journalist these days, and it's all about sensationalism and getting page views then actually writing anything useful.

In short: who ****ing cares?

https://themustangsource.com/ford-mustang-cliche-13059/
here's a link to a story on the home page of the mustang source.
One of the biggest clichés in automotive history, according to bzrong.kinja.com, is the Ford Mustang. The whole car, all 50 years of it. That is, only if you ask these know-it-alls.

Our beloved pony, the car that gives kids good reason to dream of someday being as cool as Steve McQueen, is ranked higher than such classic clichés as…

No. 40: “Calling a Jaguar a ‘kitty'”

Or…

No. 30: “Calling a small convertible a ‘girl’s car'”

Or…

No. 9: “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday”

2013-VW-Beetle-convertible-main

While all these clichés are certainly that, No. 5 makes no sense me: The Ford Mustang.

Maybe it’s because I’m blinded by fandom, but someone’s going to need to explain this to me: what the heck is cliché about 50 years of crushing it? Okay, well maybe there was about 10 years that might not be quite as representative as the whole, but how can 40 years of road warriors be a cliché?

Honestly, I just don’t get it. And it’s not like the “author” has provided any frame of reference for why a “cliché” merits inclusion on such an esteemed list. Though to be fair, at least No. 2 does give us some sense of how seriously we should take this: “Lists.”

Am I missing something? How is the Ford Mustang a cliché?

It's not a cliche.. it's an icon.

Well stated and very true!

And IMO a will always be an icon.

Cliche: a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.

I guess, in this case, the mustang has been around so long that some people feel that it has been "overdone" or "played out", and that the new models "lack original thought".

Everyone is entitled to their opinion... And mine at this moment in time being that the very word "cliche" is 'cliche'. Don't let success over decades fool you into getting bored with success. The mustang is and ICON in American culture... Not just automotive culture.

Are there better 'drivers cars' out there... I guess don't let segment crushing performance fool you. The mustang isn't perfect. But it succeeds at what it intended to succeed at. So what if it's not an "M" car or worse... The sports car writers wet dream: the Miata.... Thank God. We drive something much more than a Miata. Not only in stature and power, but in meaning. The mustang name goes a lot further than just about anything around these days.

Call it cliche. I call it the benchmark. With everything going the way of forced induction and Eco-friendly, I take solace in the fact that we still can get manual, RWD, naturally aspirated v8s that inspire thoughts back to a time with less restriction and feelings of raw, uninhibited AMERICANA.

Cliche? More like clutch: because most of you're "drivers cars" don't have them anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for innovation, but I also don't under appreciate those that choose to keep within a culture.

I guess the rest of the automotive world finds it hard watching a highlight reel longer than their own life story... I call that ignorance.

Long live the Mustang!

The only cliche here is the plethora of stupid inane internet lists that moronic self involved basement dwelling bloggers make.

:yup:

bloggers... what a cliche' :rolleyes:

Mustangs are owned in one variation or other by such a diverse group of people that you just can't pin cliche on it. Now the Corvette on the other hand, that would be more cliche. Lol

Maybe so on the Corvette guys but the without a doubt for the single most cliche vehicle of all time I give you . . .

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Ironically it's also the brand that the cliche media fawns over like its the second coming something.

Agree!!! Also know as the Douche Bag crowd! :heh:

...And that's about all that needs to be said.

We love 'em; we've got 'em, and we're glad we do.

I don't care what other people think. I daresay that Ford does not either.

Ford sells them. So they'll keep making them as long as they keep selling.

I like mine. I don't care one whit about anyone else's opinion. There are some on these here forums who would call my '06 GT "dated", and I say to them... "Don't care. I love it more than I love yours. To each his/her own. Laters."

And that's all I got to say about that. You wanna chocolate?

Sometimes I think articles like these 'lists' are written just to piss people off and to get said people to comment on the story, driving hits and increasing ad revenue. Nothing more. Anyone with any knowledge of American culture knows the Mustang is one of the single most identifiable icons of Americana. It symbolizes the desire to go/do/live/think for one's self and to eschew the staid, thoughtless, old, traditional paths everyone else trudges in their cookie-cutter Hondas and Toyotas. It's the joy of driving, American style.

Sounds like Gary's got this :salute:

Too bad ford cannot paint aluminium for the life of them

:whythis: :offtopic:

That's it. No more Ed posts for me. Sorry, Ed, it's one too many 'Waaaah bad paint Ford!' posts.