This semi-regular column is written (in his own blood) by an automotive sage and noted malcontent, known as The Mechanic. Mercilessly beaten as a child with rolled-up back issues of old car magazines, our free-spoken hero developed a unique "for your own good" take on cars and the auto industry, along with an unfortunate habit of setting himself ablaze. Later, after a distinguished career as an automotive journalist and magazine editor, he cast off the reins of his musty oppressors, carved out his superego with a plastic spork and became The Mechanic.
I'm bummed out about the new Mustang. After all the teaser shots, after all the hype and the secrecy, it hit my eyes with a thud. I stood there at the Los Angeles auto show staring at it, wondering, "That's the new 2010 Ford Mustang. That? What's so new?"
Of course, I was surrounded by hundreds of members of the easily impressed media, a throng that sings for any car revealed alongside a free buffet, and few had anything but praise for the new design. They couldn't even put down the free chicken fingers long enough to call Ford on the new Mustang's carryover powertrains, including a 4.0 V6 rated at a limp 210 horsepower. That's 90 ponies less than the Camaro's 3.6-liter V6.
Maybe I'm to blame. Maybe my expectations were too high. I was expecting something great. An inspired answer to the Dodge Challenger and coming Chevy Camaro. But Ford, strapped for cash as it is, punted, choosing instead to toss a few new body panels and a revised dashboard on the existing Mustang, a car that made Bill Ford, Mark Fields and gang look pretty smart when they unveiled it five years ago.
In other words, they decided to shelf the Mustang's needed redesign, instead giving it a midcycle refresh. That means the Mustang is on a 10-year life cycle. A 10-YEAR LIFE CYCLE!!!! Think about that. It means this car will be around until 2015.
It's hard to blame them. Without question, the 2005-'09 Mustang has been a rare highlight during a dark time in Ford's history. It not only kicked off the retro muscle car trend Chevy and Dodge are just now catching up on, it has had the segment all to itself for essentially half a decade. No, it wasn't the perfect car, not even close, but when you're the only game in town, it's hard to look bad.
And the Mustang looked good. So good, it again became Ford's signature product, an example of the company's ability to do something right, just as it had in the 1960s with the original and again in the 1980s with the 5.0. For the past five years, the Ford Mustang, from the lowly V6 all the way up to the GT500 KR, has been a Ford to desire. The Ford to desire.
While Bill, Mark and, more recently, Alan have been in The Glass House screwing up the rest of the Ford lineup (OK, the Edge is pretty good), enthusiasts like us and car lovers all over the world have given them a chance to turn it around. A real chance. Why? Partly because of the Mustang. We all figure that if they can get that so right, well then, they're not so far gone. They can get it. They do get it. They can do this.
Trouble is, the 2010 Ford Mustang squashes all that. It's not that it doesn't look better, it just doesn't look better enough. Soon the hot coupe market will be flooded with new product: the Challenger, the Camaro, the BMW 1 Series, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the new Nissan 370Z. And the sad fact is that the 2010 Ford Mustang is not equipped to handle the coming flood of competition.
This game is cutthroat, and the new Mustang is about to be put down like a quarter-horse with a torn hammy and I'm not happy about it.
But why did this happen? Has five years of having the rear-wheel-drive coupe market all to itself lulled the giant Blue Oval to sleep? I don't think so. The lack of zip in the 2010 Ford Mustang is simply a result of Mulally and Company having other fish to fry. Things like a $2 stock price, a collapse of the profitable SUV market, developing a decent small car, begging the Washington democrats for cash, trying to get Ecoboost to market without looking foolish, launching the new F-150 cash cow, saving Lincoln, saving Mercury, and of course flying the company jet to Florida every week to visit family. Sorry, Mark. I couldn't resist.
My point is that the disappointing Mustang is much more a result of Ford's present economic state and not the incompetence of its management team. Then again, Ford's present economic state is certainly a result of the incompetence of its management team, so....
I just hope Ford and its iconic pony car are around long enough for the lackluster 2010 Mustang to have a successor. Maybe it will be great. -- The Mechanic, Inside Line Contributor
Posted by: The Mechanic December 1, 2008, 3:29 PM
