Ford says its long-running Mustang is the soul of the corporate. Very like Porsche’s 911, this pony automobile is a bonafide model icon.
The mannequin stays enduringly in style, and this helps clarify why the Mustang stays the one non-SUV passenger mannequin nonetheless in Ford’s American lineup.
An icon typically brings with it distinct design traits, which presents Ford with a lot the identical dilemma as Porsche faces with the 911.
Straying too removed from the mannequin’s roots dangers compromising the integrity of the Mustang model, whereas not offering sufficient change dangers a notion that the mannequin is old style and out of contact with new tastes.
With the seventh-generation Mustang, Ford determined to stroll this line with an evolutionary strategy, aiming to modernise the automobile with the most recent know-how and a brand new exterior that preserves the general silhouette and traditional profile of its predecessors.
MORE: 2024 Ford Mustang revealed, right here late 2023
Entrance profile
A distinction that is still area of interest, however essential to protect, is the distinction between ‘sports activities vehicles’ and American ‘pony vehicles’.
Within the conventional sense, sports activities automobile balances energy with management and implies a modern front-end that emphasises the automobile’s aerodynamic effectivity.
In distinction, pony vehicles such because the Mustang and Camaro, in addition to muscle vehicles such because the traditional Dodge Charger, have extra of a concentrate on outright energy and an aggressive perspective that hints on the energy lurking beneath.
Similar to this distinction, the brand new seventh technology Mustang presents a extra monolithic, bluff front-end that harks again extra intently to conventional pony automobile design beliefs than the outgoing mannequin.
Key to that is the bonnet which encompasses a near-clamshell design. Not like its predecessor, the brand new Mustang incorporates a single, robust horizontal line that acts as a monobrow, stretching throughout the headlights and neatly framing the entrance grille.
This creates a wider, bluffer entrance finish in comparison with the extra targeted look of the sixth technology automobile, whereas additionally seamlessly integrating Mustang type logos such because the distinctive tri-bar LED daytime working lights, now with a horizontal orientation to match the bonnet line.
Fairly than a litany of over-designed mesh items, the decrease entrance bumper continues this horizontal theme with a easy, elegant design for the air intakes, divided into three distinct areas.
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New Mustang -
Previous Mustang
Aspect profile: A Ford Camaro?
The brand new Mustang’s facet profile is likely one of the extra controversial features of the automobile’s general exterior design, as a result of its interpretation of archetypal Mustang design parts.
Fastback Mustangs, particularly the traditional fashions from the mid-Nineteen Sixties, have been outlined by three key design parts.
The primary is a glasshouse that’s steeply raked on the rear however flows seamlessly right into a separate boot, which can additionally incorporate a small rear quarter-light or shark-fin sort graphic or design aspect.
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New Mustang -
Previous Mustang
An accentuated however flat shoulder then serves to optically widen the automobile and additional emphasise the raked roofline. Lastly, the facet profile encompasses a distinct upwards kick, or hockey stick graphic, flowing from behind the entrance door via to the entrance wings.
Whereas the brand new Mustang continues to function a steeply raked fastback roofline, it largely dispenses with the robust character strains such because the hockey-stick graphic current on the traditional ’60s Mustang, in addition to the sharp crease flowing via the door deal with and rear three-quarter panel of the outgoing Mustang.
As an alternative, extra emphasis is positioned on the rear haunches, with an extended, wider character line that flows into the tail.
This has the impact of bringing the rear three-quarter side of the brand new Mustang nearer to the design tropes espoused by rivals such because the Chevrolet Camaro.
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New Mustang -
Previous Mustang
Rear profile
The tail of the brand new Mustang has seen maybe the least change in comparison with its predecessor.
Retaining the enduring tri-bar design, the brand new Mustang presents a revised interpretation of this trait in comparison with its predecessors, now that includes a barely compressed, however extra angular ‘bent’ form to every vertical gentle bar.
The fake diffuser and rear bumper have additionally been up to date with a extra aggressive, sportier look that virtually interprets into a bigger, extra protruding design.
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New Mustang -
Previous Mustang
Inside
The inside presents maybe the clearest proof of the place Ford has tried to modernise the automobile and produce it in step with present, screen-heavy design tendencies.
The outgoing Mustang was well-known for a novel, if not notably luxurious, inside with differentiated parts similar to turned aluminium trim, traditional spherical air-vents framed by a dual-cowl dashboard, and plane type plasti-chrome toggle switches for air-conditioning and heating controls.
The most recent Mustang, in distinction, options a much more technologically subtle dashboard, but additionally one that might not be misplaced in any sporting SUV or different passenger automobile.
Ford claims the design was impressed by youthful individuals who grew up taking part in racing video video games.
Consequently, the centrepiece of the brand new Mustang is a freestanding 12.4 inch digital instrument cluster and 13.4 inch infotainment system (virtually aping the iDrive 8 shows used within the newest BMWs) lined by a single pane of glass and angled in direction of the driving force.
To facilitate this, the extra intricate double cowl design and bulls-eye A/C vents have been ditched for standard replacements, whereas the aluminium trim has additionally been changed by a less expensive plastic fake carbon-fibre materials.
Different enhancements embrace a flat-bottomed steering wheel which will assist optimise knee-room for drivers, in addition to an digital parking brake that features a drift perform.
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