It’s 45 years since the iconic Ford Mustang hit the streets and the latest version of the archetypal all-American muscle car has gone on view at the Los Angeles auto show. It goes on sale in the US next spring continuing to offer coupe (including an optional panoramic glass roof) and convertible variants.
All the sheet metal other than the fastback roof is new.
The front includes reworked headlamps and grille, plus a raised “powerdome” hood. The pony ornament has been revised and enlarged.
Ford has also reworked the GT’s 4.6-litre V8’s air intake to increase output from 300 bhp to 315 bhp while the 4-litre V6 is unchanged.
In updating the Mustang, Ford is looking to revive a model first introduced in 1964 but has seen sales slide 30% this year to 83,557 from 118,959 a year earlier.. It’s an important image car for the company and has been used in films through the years such as ‘Bullitt’ in 1968 and the 1971 Bond film ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ as well as in the current ‘Knight Ride’ television series.
The base GT now outperforms the 2009 Mustang Bullitt, one of Mustang’s performance versions.
Details regarding sales outside the US will be made at a later date.
Headlineauto
