How to you view your Mustang?

[S550 HPP]

I seriously wanted a Mustang since '79. Came THIS CLOSE to buying a manual, V6, blue hatchback Ghia back then.

I'm 66 and don't know how much more time I have on this planet, therefore, I drive my HPP daily and love it.

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[Fingers]

My 22 GT-CS is driven most days, and in any weather.
I regard it as a modern equivalent to the XA Falcon hardtop that I had in my 20's.
It has 11000 km (about 7000 miles) on it since December, and I plan to keep driving it as often as I can.

 

[CRS77]

Mine is not a daily driver, I store it in winter. There were many options when I was looking. Could have went Vette or picked one of the euro options. I wanted a 2 door, manual with a V8 and the mustang met my criteria.
I park it in the garage, wash it regularly, try and choose parking spots wisely. I actually do that with all my vehicles.

 

[Fingers]

I also do the park carefully, in pretty much anything I drive.
Though it seems you can park out the far end of a carpark, with a dozen vacant spots either side, and some numpty will park beside you and hit you with their door

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I’ve been coming here for a few years now and I’m curious about the different philosophies people have about their Mustang. Some treat their car like it’s a exotic that should never see a drop of rain or a gravel driveway. Others, like me, believe it’s a car that was built to be enjoyed and while I hope it stays looking as good as new I accept there’s going to be a few war wounds that are unavoidable.

I understand if you have a Shelby or very limited edition car there may be some merit to try to preserve it, but not mine. My GT could have just as easily ended up at Budget rent a car instead of my driveway. Truly there is nothing special about mine over the thousands and thousands of other ones on the road, no need for me to limit how I use the car because I somehow think it’s anything other than a mass produced car.

Curious what others think?

That’s an interesting question….

My Mustang is in my garage with a cover on it. I drive it when I want to, the majority of my driving is with my commuter car. I’ve put a lot of aftermarket parts on my car and installed them all myself. Barring the paint job on my hood, no one touches my car. I am upset when I get a rock chip, but life goes on.

My dad owns a ‘68 Barracuda and a ‘68 Charger that I will inherit one day. I cannot tell you what that will mean to me and I can’t help but think when he’s gone the cars will be a way for me to still feel connected to him. He’s a great man and had a huge impact on every part of who I am.

I custom ordered my Mustang exactly how I wanted it and plan to keep it until one of my boys inherit it from me. That alone gives the car a lot of value to me, well beyond its MSRP. It’s just a GT, nothing about it says, “collector”.

To add to it, I grew up poor. When I say poor, I mean, I grew up properly poor. I have great parents, they raised me well, I’m not some poster child you watch sitting in an alley with Sarah McLachlan playing in the background, but I grew up with very little. I have worked very hard to be successful my whole life. I now have a wife and three kids, for which I am the sole provider. I bought a house with 20% down, I bought my wife a family car, my kids are (by my standards) spoiled. Once everyone else was taken care of I bought my Mustang. It’s the first majorly selfish purchase of my life, and I paid it off in a little over a year. The point of all that is, it’s not just a car. It’s way more than that to me. It’s something to leave my kids to remember me by. It’s a reminder of all the hard work I put into my life. It’s a little something that says, I can take a breath and relax, if I can afford this I am in a position where I don’t need to stress about money for the first time in my life.

This isn’t just a car. There are times I look at it and think of what it took for me to get it, and the work I’ve put into it. I’m very proud of my Mustang. I don’t care if people see it or not, I don’t care if someone else brags about how many miles they put on theirs. Enjoy your car in the way that you enjoy your car.

 

[luca1290]

Mine stays in the garage unless I have some place I will be going I know I'm enjoying the route AND I have a safe place to park her.
For less enthusiastic cruises (but still safe place to park) I have the A250 4Matic and for everyday drive I have the Lancia Ypsilon.
Let's say I try to use any of my car for what it was built.
The Sport Car does the Sport Car.
The Premium and the beater do their things, respectively.

I put a reasonable amount of care and love into all of the three cars (manual washing and detailing, do my maintenance and repairs myself... granddad is a mechanic so the blood is there).

But the Mustang is a keeper, and mind you, thanks to the times we live in I guess anybody who cares about cars already realized that the time to stockpile the cars you love is now.
I plan to add the S650 in 4 to 5 years to the garage.

 

[MCS]

How do you guys deal with door ding anxiety when leaving it parked?

Park far away from the peasants and get those extra steps in. Literally, I will park at the BACK of the lot in the places I go.

A couple of weeks ago I took my girlfriend out to celebrate a new job opportunity that was presented to me. A nice fancy restaurant in my city. I parked on the street rather than in the parking lot where everyone who wants to go to look at the water and the restaurant parks. $6 for piece of mind.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

...Our neighbor used to have a 1986 corvette convertible and in five years it was only out of the garage less than 50 times (some of those were for state inspections, etc).

I have a friend like that. He loves his 1996 Corvette for the brief moments he drives it, but dreads the day it will have a whole 1,000 miles on it. And, yes, I typed the right number of zeros.

 

[ShadesOfBloo]

I buy cars to drive them. Not to polish them, not to brag about having them…

It’s almost a 4 hour drive to visit my sister, niece and nephew, and driving the Evo at 3500rpm for that length of time was getting old.
I bought my Mustang GT because it has highway gears and the torque to turn them. From now on, the Mustang is my car of choice for that trip. I also like to drive it on winding rural roads, and I’d like to drive it on a mountain pass one day. If an EcoBoost rental with the clueless A10 transmission can do that, my GT-PP with a stick and proper alignment can do it better.

I only ever meet other Mustang owners at autocross or track events. I feel like I know the right Mustang owners.

I’ve taken my 150hp Nissan to run laps at an HPDE, I’ve taken my 320hp Evo, and I might take my 400+ hp Mustang one day (after the warranty expires).

My cars all have a lot of miles on them – on the original engines – so maybe I’m lucky or maybe I’m actually doing something right. The 1992 Nissan had 160,000 miles or so when I bought it, and is up to 245,000 or so now. My 2008 Evo has 159,000 miles on it. Each of those cars have some autocross miles, some HPDE miles, and some country-road-with-nobody-looking miles.
(edit: Damn somebody on the Evo X forum is showing 262,000 miles on their odometer.)
They both have peeling paint and look bad up close. They both run better than new. I guess I find maintenance and tuning more important and less tedious than waxing.

Make no mistake, none of my cars are “just a car” to me. I’m attached to every single one of them, mostly because they’re fun to drive.

I expect my Mustang to last at least as many years and miles as the Mitsubishi, and some of them will be HPDE miles, and parts should be much easier to come by 15 years down the road because it’s a Mustang.

 

[coz0502]

The chant goes ‘This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for killing, this is for fun.’ Recruits would ask, when are we going to get our guns. Drill Instructor would have them do 50 push ups repeating chant.

Now, I always liked the fact that mustangs are unique designs. Especially the fastbacks. Closest other design was the original AMX. I have owned 5 mustangs beginning with my new (March) 1965 2+2. Been retired for 18 years and still enjoy the rush of acceleration. Have had fast bikes, cars and boats, but my 2018 A10 is a kick ass machine for the price point. Very impressed with a ‘mild mannered’ 307 cu. In engine that purrs around town, but will easily run a 12.1 quarter at the drop of your foot. Yes this ole Texan likes his Mustang.

The picture is from the movie, but the quote was pulled from the Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed. Confusing? Yes! But that's how I roll

 

[Ole Texan]

The picture is from the movie, but the quote was pulled from the Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed. Confusing? Yes! But that's how I roll

Army version Fort Lewis Wa. Basic Training Sept. 1970.

 

[joe603]

For me, it wouldn't matter if it was a GT, GT350, or GT500...I'd drive them all the same. Cars are meant to be driven.

 

[dnstommy]

In my teens and 20's I owned and raced a lot of Mustangs. 67, 69, 83 GT Turbo, and a ton of 90-93 Fox Bodies. When I had kids, I put all that on the shelf and raised the kids, 6 of them. Now I am 51 and this is my first Mustang since 1998. Its a 2019 GT350 and she is really special to me. She is a connection to all the fun we had back then.

 

[Frank]

I brought my car as my retirement present to me its a 2019 GT PP1 A10 I love it. Now I know its not a Shelby and I had the opportunity to get a GT350 but I wanted the A10. I put my touches on it and made it what I wanted. I don't drive it everyday but then there are days I do not drive anything at all but also love driving my truck.
I"ve had a Mustang most of my life I'm 66 and got my first one @ 17. So to me if you want to drive your car do it. What's special to me may not be to someone else. For me I still love to modify a vehicle to my liking and done right it is special. The Whipple me and the A10 have a thing going on.

 

[JB2017V8]

Mine is a daily driver as well, as too think a car is meant to be driven and not only be polished.
I wanted a car that puts a smile on my face from the moment I see her.
The usual European sporty cars just don't do it for me, but once I drove that GT I was sold.
So I take every opportunity to drive her and hear that lovely V8 purr.

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