I had a '73 Capri (I?) back in the day, with a 2.6 V6, factory dual exhaust with a nice snort. I think the Capri was a much better rendition of a down-sized Mustang than the actual down-sized Mustang, the Mustang II, which was essentially a fat Pinto with Disco-Dan mini plush car styling. Yeah, it kept the name alive but that's about all the credit I'd give it.

The Euro Capris were actually sharp, fun to drive, cleanly styled and pretty quick for the day whereas the Mustang II just seem bloated and soft, aspiring more to be a downsized luxo barge than a real performance car.

As for a "Euro" influence in the Mustang, yes, the original had a very distinct Euro influence to it, though certainly executed with a distinctly American flavor too, successfully combining many of the best elements of both continents. Hopefully, the NextStang will do the same, combine the best elements of both continents to make a better car than either continent alone would likely come up with.

As for the success of a good Euro/American melding, one need look no further than the truly original Mustang, the P-51, which was a reasonably decent fighter with its original (American) Allison engine but became the best overall fighter in WWII when some enterprising engineers had the brainstorm to stick in the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. The rest, as they say, was history.

 

Whats funny is a lot of the nay sayers in 6 mos. after the introduction of the new Stang we will start seeing posts: "traded in the S197 for the new one", "I hated it at first but it grew on me", etc.

Ford already sells the Mustang in other markets than the US. In fact you can get a current 5.0L GT in Japan, as there is a pretty good following in Japan for the Mustang. Also, the American market also wants a more modern Mustang. Look at the sales numbers of the current Stang, I think this reflects this. They are waiting for something new.

I so far like what I am seeing in these renditions, accurate or not. Just please give me a normally aspirated car. I'm bailing from the M3 as the next F3X car is going to be a twin turbo 3.2L making 450hp. Or I'm just keeping my V8 equipped M3.

Dave

 

Mustang just had its best sales month in nearly 4 years

http://mustangsdaily.com/blog/2012/0...ly-four-years/


With the world economy in the toilet, that's not bad.

That being said, Ford knows they can't afford to screw up their halo car, so I have faith it's going to be seriously desirable. Probably not what I would have designed, but seriously desirable all the same

I wouldn't say no to a concept car though, just to whet the appetite!

 

That's a good point, does anyone know for sure if there will be a concept car? It seems like each other major redesign was preceded by a concept car about 1-2 years prior... if that's the case we could hopefully see something next years auto shows maybe?

 

Twin Turbo said: " I wouldn't say no to a concept car though, just to whet the appetite!"

I think Ford will wait until the last minute to show us anything that even resembles the next gen. Why? They don't want people putting off a purchase, after seeing a concept or even a disguised car. They want people buying this gen until production stops. And, not having any idea what the new car will look like keeps speculation alive and well. It keeps the feeding frenzy in the news.