let me prove that you have a very short memory. Introducing the Ford Mondeo/Ford Contour

if you wanna go far back the Pinto's front end shared a DNA strand or two in general shape and appearance, though the mustang had a bigger grille.

 

I love my '14 more and more each day especially the more I mod it and learn by doing the work myself. I gotta say I love the performance aspects of the new stang but not completely liking the looks of it. I'm waiting to see one in person but for now my 14 is not going anywhere.

 

This is a standard 1997 Ford Mustang.



And here is a 1996 Ford Thunderbird.

 

exactly.

 

My first car was a '93 Thunderbird. Got it for $500. It was a cool car. Lasted me a lot of years.

 

weren't those even on the fox chassis for a time?

 

OK, I own an '05 GT, but I hope my viewpoint is still valid in this thread.

When the 2010 came out, I had the opportunity to drive a dealer demonstrator and was blown away by the increased refinement both in terms of interior quality and the way the car flowed down the road. This, despite the car being lowered on Ford Racing springs and 20" Shelby wheels. The ride was soooooooooo much better than my '05.

Then came the 2011 and I've had a couple of opportunities to drive the 5.0 Coyote. What an engine!

Then came the Boss 302 which could hang with a BMW M3............sadly, the opportunity to drive one of those has, so far, escaped me.

Now comes the 2015. An IRS so good that the front suspension had to be revised to keep up. The GT using the Boss 302 as a benchmark for performance and the M3/911 as a benchmark for handling. The Coyote taking many of the Boss goodies to make an engine that must be capable of almost 440bhp (if not more........Ford are only saying "at least 420bhp" for now).

Ladies and gents, the 2015 has the potential to be a superb world class car, not just the best of the pony cars.

Most of this thread has been focused on the looks. That's natural as it's what draws us to a car in the first place. Personally, I think if all you see it Fusion, that's because that what you want to see. I see hints of '69 more than I see Fusion. I see a car that suddenly makes the S197 look old, never mind retro.

As for those looks. We're currently only seeing the vanilla version. The aftermarket is waiting, and they'll turn the heat up on this Mustang, just like they have for all the others that came before.

When I see this, all I see is a bad-*** Mustang

 

Paul I won't disagree with you one iota that technologically speaking, the 2015 will annihilate the previous year stangs. No doubt. Just like the c7 will destroy and prior year vettes.

But yes, my issue with it is purely aesthetics. Purely. Not saying it's an ugly car. It's just not my preference, when I think "mustang". But that's ok though, there is no wrong answer here. Some people will love it, some will not. I respect the other camp. For now I "personally prefer" the S197

 

Agreed. After seeing rendering after rendering claiming to be "the most accurate", I wasnt impressed.... and still am not with it. That was the only reason I went ahead and got a `14 because I figured it would take 3-5 years of "tweaking" on the appearance before the car looked anywhere decent enough to overcome Ford`s new found love affair with "cookie cutter" designs.

My only complaint though is I wish they wouldnt have made 2014 perhaps the longest production run for any given year ( and will hurt 13/14 resell values due to so many more being on the market ) because I still feel when all is said and done several years from now that the 2011-2014`s will be the most desired modern mustangs due to the engines and retro designs as the first generation mustangs become more and more out of reach to most people that arent financially well off but want an older mustang to enjoy

 

there will be resistence to change for now, same happened in 2010..but then people really love the new style

 

So happy I purchased now. I think the 2015 is a good looking car, but they wanted to appeal to Europe and it really shows to me. I see hints of BMW/Mercedes in the body. The 2015 is softer looking. I wanted an American muscle car and got it with my 2014. Couldn't be happier. I also like my interior better. Love the console design in the 2014.

 

Took a Sledge Hammer too it.

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Perhaps for the gotta have new new new crowd.

But personally, I love that it looks a bit 'dated' - rather than 'new retro'.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love every generation of Mustang. With a few tweaks here and there they can each look superb. I still love the look of my '05, and I'd quite happily give a '14 garage space

Please forgive the watermark (I know some aren't fans of that website) but these make a good comparison between S197 and S550.

Y'know what? It's not the quantum leap I think many seem to think. To me, it's clearly a great re-interpretation of our beloved S197s

 

^ I think I figured out (for my own personal tastes) why I think the S550 doesn't "do it" for me. It's for sure the front end (obviously), but it's the lack of a solid B Pillar!!! I caught that in the pics above, because I see my past 370z in it... and I wondered why. It's the roofline (along with the double crease on it) and also the lack of a B pillar....

very interesting.... hmmmm

 

Wow that's the Mustang in the 80s? I wonder why the Mustang didn't follow the rugged looks of the trans am or Camaro during the 80s.


After seeing the 2015- it makes my car looks like a classic car now.

 

Do I see more legroom for the rear seats?

 

Gotta admit. I'm a bit jealous. But it's mostly from the performance of the added Boss engine components and the new suspension. All the new features are awesome as well (6 pot Brembos, push start, launch control, etc).

The exterior style is really nice. I obviously see the "fusion" in it, however think that other than the common grill that's on all Fords (and to which I like, when manufactures have a matching visual element) it is still very much Mustang.

Love the rear end and like the newness of it. It makes my 13 look older for sure.

That's where it stops however. The interior is trash. Only thing I like is the leather on the sides by the nav screen. Hate the rest of the dash. Hate the wheel. The center console is terrible. And finally the dash button layout....I get this is a "world" mustang, but Ford didn't need to conform to European designs. That dash is straight out of a Benz. The dial pad number thing is specifically one of the things I really dislike about Benz interiors. That being said I love it's existence and evolution. But don't feel the need to get one any time soon.

 

I think I'd like the front better if it had grille mounted fog lights. It would look more aggressive.