The Ford Mustang really is just a one-trick pony. And that trick is impression.

It won’t matter if you don’t like coupes or you don’t like North American cars in general, or Ford specifically or even if you think sports cars are supposed to have more supposed to have more substance than just raw power. You’re going to be impressed.

Impressed by the Mustang presentation, the legacy and the very car’s persona.

The Mustang is an impressive car.

Just about everybody knows the history of the Mustang and the indelible hoof-print it has left on the annals of automotibe history and even if you’ve never seen the original versin, you get a really good image of if from the present car.

The Mustang doesn’t pretend to be a sports car. Ford tried that in the early 80s and ended up with a Probe. Sports cars are nimble little creatures that can thrill drivers with acceptable power and quick, stable changes in direction.

The Mustang has more than acceptable power, especially in out test GT version, and though it can handle stable changes in direction, it is far more comfortable when it can put down its power while not deviating too far from a staight line. It is too big and bulky to offer any real competition to the likes of a Mazda MX-5 or Mercedes SLK in tight parking lot slaloms, but is will blow the doors off the like of a BMW M3 or Porsche Cayman on the wide pavement of a Motorsport or Road America.

And it will grab attention just as easily on the track as it does burbling down the neighbourhood boulevard, thanks to a sleeker more muscular sculpting for 2010.

Even before you jolt the Mustang to life, it broadcasts it power. The bulging hood reminiscent of a heart beating out of a muscleman’s chest and the broad muscular hauches pumpned for action combined to convey the image of an athlete primed for competition.

The GT for 2010 has become closer to the previous year’s Bullitt version, galloping along on the power 315 ponies. So, when you do fire it up, those ponies awake and ready themselves for stampede. Reigning them in is fairly easy with the standard five-speed manual transmission that offers enough elasticity to get the best sound out of the engine exhaust, without having to jump any jurisdictinal speed fences.

And the mechanical sounds of the Mustang just add to the ambience created by the semi-retro interior. Yes, you’re surrounded by all the technological trappings of the modern car, but by and large it’s presented in a comfortable, homey Mustang fashion. There probably should be some design flexibility with the centre control display to make it more Mustang and less 1990s Mercury Sablee (think Mini and how it Minimizes all switches and controls without losing the technological functionality.)

As with most coupes (even large ones such as the Mustang has become), rear seat room and access are directly tied to front-seat compromise, so smaller occupants will find it better back there than taller ones. And although the trunk is large, access is challenging due to a smaller opening (though Ford has done good job of geting the lid up and out of the way in order to facilitate access), but that’s just part of the style the Mustang mapped out in 1964.

If the pony car is all about style, then there is no doubt that the Mustang, inside and out, is still the king of the pony cars.

Guest Blogging Websites
Winnipeg Manitoba Ford Auto Truck Service
Furnasman’s Winnipeg One Hour Heating
www.winnipegusedautos.com