I read on another Forum something about a Ford rep mentioning a few little things "might not be final" and "could change slightly", including the badges, specifically the GT badge and or pony on the back (which I LOVE). I am afraid Ford will remove these and put the faux gas gap back on there . I am afraid the final car might not be sitting as low, might not have as tight gaps etc. In other words how many think the prototypes we've seen will be about 99.9-100% what we get, vs we end up with the same car but not as tight of a build and with minor tweaks (95%)? Someone ease my nerves, I want the car we've seen going around in all the press photos!

 

That would seem to be a decent-sized change to make at this point, given the part tooling that would have to be redone.


Since they worked to get this stance with the platform and suspension changes, and are likely doing a lot of validation of the suspension settings, I also doubt there would be any visually dramatic change in the ride height. I also would expect the panel gaps to be as good if not better by the time they get to the full production process.

If you look back one generation when the 2005s were first introduced, the main things we saw different between the prototypes and the production cars were things like this - no pony cover on the V8 engine, black plastic trim in the lower front grille, no tungsten color, no yellow-lettered tire sidewalls, no "fanblade" wheels. Of all those, only the yellow-lettered tires didn't make it to production, and the rest came later.

It is my opinion that this 98.5% of what you will see. My only big hope is that some of the wheel styles that right now on the cars shown are available with all-season tires, not just summer performance.

 

I've always liked the faux gas cap... if for no other reason that it provided a somewhat inconspicuous place to put 'Ford' on the car. Don't want them trying to sneak on a blue oval somewhere, like the bowties on the Camaro.

 

If (and that's a big if) something changes, it'll be small like badging, finishes on certain specific components like wheels or the rear diffuser. Don't expect anything radical from what we've seen.

 

Tony is exactly spot on ! As I also don't see much, if any changes at all other than perhaps just a few minor cosmetic changes, such as grille inserts, trim and so forth..

At any rate, we all know there was very little difference between the 2005 pre-production prototype over the final production model and I also feel pretty confident about the 2015 in which we saw introduced as the final production model as well

 

I think that would be the most likely, the lower rear valance hasn't received a lot of positive feedback.


Personally I find the wing to be needlessly complex and I hope they tone that down a bit.

 

Nope.

Why worry about something that I have no control over.

 

I'd expect some minor changes, just like in 05. The majority of consumers won't notice, again just like in 05. We are already seeing differences in the cars, and I hope Ford is not only reading forums like this, but taking notes.

 

I would think Ford was ready to show the new Mustang and do not think they are going to second guess what they have developed. Having said that, I am sure they must have options that they may add by production time.

 

I bet they change the rear diffuser to all black.

Question and change I would like: Why is the third brake light stuck on the outside top of rear window....couldn't it be placed inside window for a cleaner look?

 

I think like most others here that Ford will keep the final production car mostly as we see it now because of the tremendous favorable public opinion of the car. Seems to me that most of the critical comments are about the front grill and lights area. That might be slightly changed however, I wouldn't count on it.

 

Good replies. I'm surprised by so many people hating on the painted diffuser. I think it looks higher quality and matches with the rest of the vehicle better. I liken it to back just a few years ago when they still refused to paint the side mirrors and door handles. Only economy cars don't color match those parts. Same thing more often then not with the diffuser, the nicer cars usually match body color. I do like the matte black finish on there outside edges of the diffuser though as it keeps in consistency with the rest of the lower trim around car. Hopefully that 100% painted one in LA was either a mistake or an option.