To the "Purists"

[stangray11]

It's interesting that you say that a lot of S197 owners are young. I've heard people mostly say that S197 owners were mostly in their fifties and that we need to appeal to the young generation.

It's been my POV that early S197 buyers were older and that they stopped buying S197s around 2010. And that younger buyers have only started purchasing S197s with the increase in HP.

Anyway my first Mustang was a '67 FB. I then skipped a few generations. I liked the SN95s but not enough to buy one. Now I have a '12 and so far I like what I've seen from the recent front end reveal of the S550.

As far as S197 owners wanting to see the S550 look a certain way, I have no problem with that. Not a dimes worth of difference between that and SN95 owners and Fox owners wanting to see it NOT look a certain way...like a S197.

I have heard people say that about the Mustang in general. It would stand to reason that most young Mustang drivers are driving S197s.

Sure there is a difference. I am not going to generalize the entire group so I'll just say that some S197 owners want them to constantly remake the 1965 and think that anything that strays from the '65 diecast is not worthy of the pony emblem. I do NOT want to see it look like one not because I think it is ugly or that the design is not worthy of a Mustang (obviously since it WAS the original), but because I want to see variety and because at the heart of the Mustangs has always been that it is many things to many people, not just to constantly iterate. Broad appeal is #1 on the list for this next one. It's a much more narrow minded approach IMO.

Two things about 2009. It was a short model year and we were in the beginning of a deep recession. Two door sports cars weren't high on anyone's list then. I grew up with the Fox and SN95 Mustangs but my heart was always with the styling of the classics. I still like the Stangs I grew up with though.

And there was a recession after 9/11/01. Also, in the 7th year of the platform, the SN95 sold the same number of Mustangs as the first year of the S197. We can do this all day, but as I have already admitted, it is apples to oranges comparison so it is not fair. You would be better off explaining the numbers with competitive factors.

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[design1stcode2nd]

That was a great read, thanks! I've never owned a Mustang but this is the feeling that comes through on an enthusiast forum. Always a a population that will bemoan change to something they hold dear.

 

[Tempus]

Welcome to the enthusiast world, Mark Phelan.

Complaining about the shape of headlights is what we do. Who else is going to cry bloody murder when our companies screw up?

 

[ARS]

I have owned a gen 1, Fox body, Sn95 and now a S197 so I think I have a good idea what the Mustang should be about. These were all V8 cars by the way. Things evolve and we resist change by nature. But nobody was resisting the S197s. The new Mustangs will be mechanically superior I hope but yes it matters what it looks like and if it has its own identity. From what little we know and what little I have seen it does not have the latter. Its too early to make a final judgement of course and I hope Ford will surprise us all.

You can screw up the Fiesta, you can screw up the Focus, and you can screw up the Ford Escape but you dont *&^% up the Mustangs or F150's or you will never hear the end of it. Its a low volume car but the passion runs about as deep as you can get.

 

[Maestro5.0]

This thread is about "purists" and I get the sense from the other threads that a bunch of purists here think the Mustang will not have its own identity based on what we've seen so far.

Everyone is so concerned with what the Mustang should NOT be (a Fusion knock off, a parts bin Ford clone) but I haven't heard any real details about what is actually missing that would make it look unique.

- Different shaped grille?
- Rounder headlights?

That's as far as I could get in my list since I can't quite figure out what else it could be that is making so many people this.

 

[HTownStang]

I am one of the guys that think it doesnt look unique enough.

A different grille shape would be top on my list. I will admit that the deep set grille we are seeing in the test car does make it stand out different than the Fusion one. I just don't see them leaving it like that. I think for the production version once that honeycomb grille is set in place it should be much closer to the edge of the nose and the shine will make it look even more like the Evos/Fusion.

Changing the grille shape up is a minor change, but one that would make a big difference in my eyes. The lower grille openings are also too similar. Just a different shape here and there would do it. Otherwise the hood and fenders look good and most importantly, look unique.

 

[Diesel]

This thread is about "purists" and I get the sense from the other threads that a bunch of purists here think the Mustang will not have its own identity based on what we've seen so far.

Everyone is so concerned with what the Mustang should NOT be (a Fusion knock off, a parts bin Ford clone) but I haven't heard any real details about what is actually missing that would make it look unique.

- Different shaped grille?
- Rounder headlights?

That's as far as I could get in my list since I can't quite figure out what else it could be that is making so many people this.

It is sad that so many cars have to look the same in this day and age. I understand that retro has run its course but look at the 80's and 90's Mustangs that were every bit as modern for their times as they are trying to be now. There is many ways to do modern design and making the grill and headlights totally different than other Ford should be priority. I just think it is lazy to give the Fusion a little nip and tuck (or in this case stretching it) and call it a day.

I know for some periods of time Mustangs shared a corporate image, but the Mustang started its first 50 years as totally unique in Ford's line up and if it wants to repeat that it should start off the next 50 years with another totally unique design.

 

[StangFX]

Every time I see these discussions I think of the question, how many different ways can you design a circle?

After a while the design is bound to look like something Ford has made before. I would rather they invest their time and energy on making it look good (whether that shares styling with other Ford cars or not) than focusing their time worrying about making it look like no other Ford car ever made.

Also for the record as others have repeated many times, it looks similar to a Fusion not identical.

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