Skotty

The 2010 tail lights maintains there "Mustangness" by having three vertical bars.

eci

05-09 = old news, no one cares.

2010+ = The current, best Mustang.

Keep hatin'.

2010MustangGT

Houtex, you're missing the whole point I feel.

Not a single Mustang ever had a "design" to it's rear other than just a flat line- and be serious, that's not a design. There was nothing to them. The 2010 is sculpted just as the rest of the car is. It's the flow of the car. If you don't like the rear then you shouldn't like the front- but yet many of you do. The lights just follow the pattern laid out by it's overall design. You're main issue is then the sculpting.

And being one big line was cool for 05-09. But now the idea is in the progression movement of cars with subtle design ques to the past. It works for the Camaro and challenger because it's still in it's first design period... But a flat line to any section wont work in the overall progression of the mustang. How else do you make aspects that make it unique to it's own? Going back and nitpicking over the years as to why none of them relate to the 2010, how the light tilt is 5 degrees off to your taste and saying how ford screwed it up is ridiculous! You never explained why should it relate to the past in an overwhelming, obvious majority? The 2010 is it's own design. I mean clearly the 66,623 and more that bought it (being that it was written in Jan) -outdoing that of Camaro and Challenger... While being in one of the worst economies- shows they succeeded.

jadedpony

fixt

rhumb

I don't fault Ford for trying to do something different or updating the Stang, indeed, I often bemoan that the Stang's styling is too often mired in the past rather than referencing it in a sophisticated way. That said though, simply being different or updated design is not itself indicative of a good design and it is the execution of the rear that I'd quibble with.

The least of my quibbles would be the tail lights themselves, which, if a touch non-traditional and a bit contrived, are fairly cleanly done, at least the tail lights themselves. The curving/contouring/gapping of the panel between the lights is pretty clumsy however and the faux gas cap still would still look better dangling from a rapper's neck than decorating a Stang's stern.

My main quibble is the lumpy, lardy execution of the bumper and lower valence area which is just a mess of lines, bulges, more lines, more bulges, and just looks like a heavy, lumpen mess. Like on women, I prefer a tight, toned and pert butt, not a fat, sagging cellulite ridden one.

The '10 rear really does look like a committee project where the first guy came in one day and added his ideas, then the next day designer two came in and added his on top of that, and then on the third day .... well, by the end of the week, there you have the '10 rear end. Everyone in the design committee is happy because everyone's elements got grafted on.

Personally, I wish that perhaps it looked more like the '05 Stang Concepts rear which I think was the best rendered version of a 2005-on Stang rear.

cdynaco

It was different 'back in the day' because you had chrome bumpers to break up the rear end space. Now its all bumper covers that make the whole rear end look large on just about all late model vehicles.

The problem (as many have noted) is the conflict of lines. Looking from the rear, the S197D doesn't know if its smiling & winking (lines turn up) or frowning (lines turn down). That ain't flow bro.
And from the side, it looks like a load full about to drag the ground.

You might want to re-think that analogy. You're always going to have a group that buys the latest off the showroom floor but one good month doesn't mean anything. And 66623 compared to 08's 91251 (a year with record $4 gas and Wall Street collapsing with TARP rescue, etc.) is hardly a victory or confirmation of enthusiastic acceptance of a re-design:

2009 Ford Mustang Sales Month-By-Month
January:
2,944 Mustangs Sold
Down 55% From 2007 (6,545 units)
February:
2,990 Mustangs Sold
Down 61.4% From 2008 (7,752 units)
March:
3,711 Mustangs Sold
Down 63.5% From 2008 (10,180 units)
April:
7,699 Mustangs Sold
Down 23.4% From 2008 (10,050 units)
May:
8,812 Mustangs Sold
Down 8.5% From 2008 (9,633 units)
June:
7,632 Mustangs Sold
Down 29.9% From 2008 (10,893 units)
July:
6,686 Mustangs Sold
Down 37.6 From 2008 (10,711 units)
August:
6,289 Mustangs Sold
Down 23.3% From 2008 (8,197 units)
September:
4,917 Mustangs Sold
Up 0.1% From 2008 (4,910 units)
October:
4,789 Mustangs Sold
Up 2.2% From 2008 (4,686 units)
November:
3,627 Mustangs Sold
Down 1.1% From 2008 (3,667 units)
December:
6,527 Mustangs Sold
Up 62% From 2008 (4,027 units) Total Mustangs Sold: 66,623 units

2010MustangGT

You know, at the end of the day, it's all in the eye of the beholder isn't it? That we can agree on. Which is why this discussion will never amount to anything.

To put those derived comparisons into more of a perspective. When gas was $4 a gallon, did you seriously drive your car 50% less? probably not, maybe a little less, but not overwhelmingly. By me it reached $4.96 (4.69 for reg) and I still had to go to school, run errands, do things, continue with life. Putting on at least 100+ miles a day. But i worked- and got by with that.

When unemployment spikes at 12% (not including those that fall off of the unemployment benefits which tallied to be another 3-4%) Link the biggest since the great depression. People don't buy new washers and dryers, stoves, refrigerators, watches, and they sure as heck dont buy new 30k cars. You use what you have. You get by. you go back to the basics. There's no steady income, only outgoing. Couple that with upside down mortgages, bills, and other monetary disasters and it's probably the worse economy we've been a part of.

So yea, I stand behind my statement as it was a great year for the mustang in due to the circumstance. For the "general" public readily accepts the design. Not us, enthusiast who stand behind it for 3 hours with a ruler and protractor and then every picture of the previous version and compare and contrast as to why it isn't retro enough to our liking. It's silly.

The 2010+ is accepted.

RedCandy5.0

I think to that if you were in the know about the new drivetrain most were not going to buy a '10. So how many did not buy the '10 because of this? If the drivetrains were not changing any time soon more might have bought the '10.
But again it all come down to personal preference just like in women. Some like a thick, voluptuous, curvy *** while other like a small, tight, flat ***.

zzcoop

:gay:

Coupe Guy

Does anyone have production numbers for Mustangs broke down by year?

windsor202

There, instantly better. More interesting than the 05-09, and cleaner lines than the 2010 & 11. How hard was that?

stangfoeva

That rear looks too tall to me. The tali lights look huge.

see, there will always be some who disagree

windsor202

So you must feel the same way about 05-09 and the 2010 cars. The proportions are almost identical to the pic I presented here.

RedCandy5.0

"Can't We All Just Get Along?"
Were is Eights when you need a good rant?

Novelty goat

People obviously care otherwise this thread wouldn't exist.

stangfoeva

I do about the '05-'09. On the '10+ the tail lights look a little smaller.

I'm just illustrating the point that no matter what design you come up with someone somewhere isn't going to be happy with it. You can't please everyone.

windsor202

I agree you can't please everyone. But as with elections, it's the majority that matters. My humble opinion is the red stang's tail end in these photos is more attractive than the gold. Please share your thoughts.

cdynaco

Well apparently many of us like conversation so we discuss certain topics with our friends ad naseum for mental recreation.

I agree with much of what you said but keep in mind that recessions can be caused by external events, but are typically a self fulfilling prophecy - from the uncertainty, the exaggeration by the media (which started publishing negative hysteria back in 07... for election reasons? ), the stark FEAR that set in during 2008. That FEAR in and of itself was a big reason that 2009 saw the REALITY of mass layoffs and shrinking GDP. Economic psychology. But wait, there's more.

Although the subprime loans fostered by Fannie & Freddie (where private lenders had to reduce their standards to compete with Gov Agencies or lose customers) were just one of a number of dominoes in the economy, most of those loans were current at the beginning of 2008 and the economy was plodding along. The big bankers had diversified their risk by slicing & mixing their mortgage holdings (like a mutual fund diversifies its portfolio of stocks) and selling some of their holdings to yield hungry investors. Plus the estimated loss ratios were already factored in the overall portfolio (just like they've done with credit card portfolios for decades).

What changed that caused subprime borrowers to suddenly fell behind? $147/barrel oil & $4/gallon gas. Every time the greedy producers spike oil, the world economy faulters like '73/74, '79/80, '90, '00. Not being able to pay the bills & loans because suddenly you're upside down at the end of every month inspires fear, so people draw in. Oil affects transportation of everything, heating, packaging, utilities, etc. Gradually increasing is one thing, but to spike from the low $2 range to suddenly over $4/gal cannot be absorbed because it takes time for costs to be passed on and wages to slowly catch up. I certainly changed my driving & spending habits because I had to. And thankfully my Bullitt's Adaptive Spark Ignition allows me to drop to 87 when money is tight.



$4 gas took billions out of people's budget and so they stopped buying the things you mentioned. Fear set in and the stopped buying even more. Then suddenly subprime loans weren't being paid within expected ratios and that spread to quality loans falling behind and then came the implosion.

Where are we today? Oil at $80/barrel? With the global economy at Depression levels? That's ridiculous! Oil companies quietly closing refineries when we didn't have enough in 2008? That's ridiculous! Just being set up for the next oilco screw job. And although we all want affordable health care somehow, if you were a business owner would you be hiring now when you don't know if the Gov is going to hold a gun to your head and force you to pay for health ins for all your employees?? Or how high your taxes are going to be?? Wall Street to Main Street hates uncertainty so the high unemployment and recession are going to continue longer than we would like - and government largesse isn't helping.

Yes Mustang sales were reasonable during 2009 considering the backdrop. And keep in mind, many ordered the '10 because of upgraded interior, upgraded performance that previously was only available in the 08/09 Bullitt, in spite of the unusual (& controversial) looks of the rear end.

RandyW

Nothing keeps me awake at night but often the first thought on my mind in the morning is "One day closer to getting my new Mustang."

stangfoeva

I like the diffuser on the orange one better...but the gt500 rear valance on the '10+ cures it for me