Ford mustang, the iconic pony car launched in 1964, is set to have its biggest revisions to date in the upcoming 2015 model. Straying away from the retro designs of past years, adding newly developed, highly efficient engines and constructed predominantly of aluminium and high-strength steel, it is to be the furthest removed model from its 60’s counterpart to date.
Ford Australia, more specifically the Broadmeadows design centre, has already submitted styling ideas for the car, hinting that the future Mustang could have an air of Aussie about it. Adding to that, there is also the potential of Australian engineering input into the car, given Australia’s development of a sophisticated independent rear end for the Falcon also possibly being shared with the future Mustang.
Sinead Phipps, spokeswoman for Ford has stated that, “All we can tell you is that it (Ford Mustang) has been confirmed for Europe. I can’t comment on any other potential markets”. This European market, predominantly the UK, will incur the development of a right-hand-drive vehicle, easily adaptable to the Australian market and design regulations.
Powering the 2015 Mustang is a choice between a direct injection 5.0-litre V8, a 3.7-litre EcoBoost turbo V6 and a 2.0-litre four-cylinder. Sound familiar? You need only look at the current Falcon models to see the close relation.
Major concerns for the local market lie in the fact that the last Ford Mustang to cross homeland borders held a ridiculously high price tag of around $85,000 and was vastly inferior in terms of build quality, comfort and performance in relation to its home grown counterparts, coming in at almost half the price (Falcon XR6 Turbo and XR8). Will the 2015 Ford Mustang share a similar fate?
