http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosins.../A01-37497.htm

 

As long as I have been posting here, I have said that offering options and diversity in a model is a key to it's success. People want to have their car match their personality, traits, and demeanor. I have emphasized this as a key point in 5th gen development MANY times... offer 2 or 3 engine packages, several body styles, numerous colors, numerous trim levels, even sub-models (like LX, GT, GTS, RS, SS etc.). Many have balked my words.

Quote," Many customers are personalizing their Mustang -- even if it means waiting weeks or months for delivery."
Quote," That's why people are waiting. Rather than picking something up off the showroom floor, they're getting exactly what they want."
Quote," There is so much interest in making it 'my vehicle,' " Waitkus said. "In other words, personalizing. It's really more of a pride factor."

Here's the only down side thus far...
QUOTE," Despite their desire to stand out, owners of the 2005 Mustang still can expect to see clones of their cars on the road. Because options are sold as packages, customers have less flexibility to spec out their vehicles than they did years ago, when options were available individually."

None the less, I think Ford has done as good as they could to offer the buyer a chance to customize from the factory.

How about the lady who had the train stopped, separated the railcars, and had her Mustang unloaded on the spot some 550 miles from destination?
Ford is definitely trying to take care of their customers on this one.

 

Hope that lights a fire under GM's butt. If GM does it right, there's no reason why our beloved CAMARO can't see the same kind of success.

 

One other thing...
The article has a terrible error...

At the top of the article, on the right hand side, there is an insert about "Mustang Facts". It says...
Mustang facts
• Named after the P51 Mustang fighter plane from World War II

ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE. Pure hogwash.
I'll take on ANY challenge that says otherwise.

It is well-known and published that the Mustang was named after the wild horses that run free in the western United States. The Mustang was selected from a list of names which included Pinto, Maverick, and Cougar (among over 200 original animal names) which went on to be cars after the Mustang.
Even the first Mustang was made from a car named "Falcon".
Ford was into naming cars after animals back then - not airplanes.

In Iacocca's biography, he explicitly voted his opinion for the "Mustang" name based on the spirit of a wild horse, no boundaries, wild and running free.

Also, the Mustang was to always be running to the left as viewed from the front of the car - it too symbolizes liberal and freely open movement. The only Mustang EVER to run to the right as-viewed are the fender emblems on the right-hand side of the car's front quarterpanels. It was deemed "stupid" to have the horse running towards the rear of the car.

There is actually quite a lot of "deep stuff" that went into the Mustang besides just steel and plastic back then. The guys that developed the car were all passionate about it - they worked off-the-clock for a long time just to be a part of it. Hell, they CARED.
That's something that's hard to find these days.

 

Sounds like if this happens much more the line might get shorter...

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthrea...0&page=1&pp=25

Updated......
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=525461

 

There is no such thing as a perfect car - or one that does not have mechanical issues from time to time. The links above are from one car. Certainly if that were to become commonplace, there would be issues. But for now, I'd hardly get excited about it (unless I were the owner of said car, of course).

 

I agree with the whole customization thing...and I believe that's one reason why 3rd gens were so popular and 4th gens bombed. Think of all the different variations of third gen Camaros...some with ground effects, some without. 4 bangers, 2.8s, 3.1s, LG4s, L03s, TPI 305, TPI 350s, Z28s, IROCs, RSs, base models, base models with F41...I could go on, and on, and on.

4th gens? 2 different V6s, 2 different V8s total...over 9 years. Woo hoo...better cars, but no one cared...

 

The car-brand that offers the best online method which allows you to customize everything on the car directly from the factory is www.miniusa.com . Not only can you pick the cars color but you can pick the roof's (hardtop or convertible) color, the choice of at least 6 different wheels, the choice of what color of dash and if you want chrome interior or not. You also can choose between cloth, leatherette, and leather seating that are available in about 6 different colors and well as optional gauge clusters and etc. When it come to perfromace you can get a supercharger, limited-slip differential, DCS, or a dealer installed JCW (John Cooper Works) performance kit

The coolest thing is that www.miniusa.com offer full online tracking so you can monitor your customized car's progress from the paint-shop, assembly, shipping, and etc.

I hope that Ford and GM take a look at Mini's huge success and try to emulate their ability to customize directly from the factory floor. Currently Mini has reached their factories max capacity and here in Southern California people are still paying $5000 over invoice and waiting 6-12 months for a personalized car even though the Mini was released back in 2002.

 

Regarding this one car and his issues...
Did you notice this post by the owner of said car?

"One word of good news about the forums and posting. A Ford representative from Michigan called my dealer today based on my post in these forums! I try and celebrate the small victories because this still sucks. I don't know what that means or what he will do, but the Ford people do see the forums. Keep posting."

Think Ford isn't trying to pull off a great launch?
Think they don't care about the customer or cummunity?
And Stangnet isn't even the hottest Mustang board these days either.

Also from the car owner...
"The dealer has been good on this... they are paying for the rental. Ford of course. It is an 05 Explorer. Yes, it is my daily driver. It just sucks that Ford will not give any on this. Why should a customer have to wait for a repair just because Ford does not know why my engine died?"

This one guy got a dud I guess, but I'll bet you he will end up happy before it's all over. Gotta remember too, the dealerships haven't had much experience with these yet, and the parts shelves aren't exactly crammed full either. I'd expect some difficulty getting analysis, work, and repair data and parts for a short while. The plant is pumping out parts as fast as they can and still can't keep up with demand.
There CAN be drawbacks to having the first of something new...

I hate it for the guy, but I don't think this will slow the frenzy.

 

Speaking of Fire, maybe someone will mention the Bird someday for those of us who will not take a 'maro over one. Unfortunately, I have to root for the Camaro and hope someone thinks about bringing both back. Unfortunately, again, I can't help but wish death on the GTO, despite how nice it is.

Anyway, back on topic, Ford is doing something right, as I just saw a brand new mustang. I managed to pull up to one at a light. Too bad I was in the left turn lane. I wasn't sure if it was the GT or not, but I don't think I would have cared. I probably wouldn't have launched, I was too busy staring at it. I hated the Mustang design for so long, that's why I've got a bird, but I really like that new Mustang. Seeing it from the front isn't so great, those damn foglights, but from the side...

 

[QUOTE=ProudPony]One other thing...
The article has a terrible error...

At the top of the article, on the right hand side, there is an insert about "Mustang Facts". It says...
Mustang facts
• Named after the P51 Mustang fighter plane from World War II

ABSOLUTELY UNTRUE. Pure hogwash.
I'll take on ANY challenge that says otherwise.
[\QUOTE]

OK, I challenge you. This is not hogwash. It is true. Ford engineering named the Mustang I show car after the fighter plane, which initiated the "Mustang" name. It was marketing that went with the horse and running pony emblem after the car had already been named "Mustang."

 

Every article I have ever read about the 1962 Mustang 1 concept says it was initally named after the P51 Mustang WWII airplane. Somewhere I had read an interview with the original concept designer and made mentioned that he name it after the P51 Mustang.

That's my take on it. I'm not going to argue about it, just stating what I've heard.

 

Lee Iacocca is quoted in his own biography as stating it is named for the horse.
The same is quoted in "The History of Ford", along with the other names considered for the car.
And the coup de gras is actually on an interview done with Iacocca, some of which is shown in the extra "bonus material" on the old 1974 version of "Gone in 60 Seconds".

Mark this thread, and when I get a chance over the holidays (at home), I will scan in the entire text and link to it for you.

Any of you bold enough to make a wager on this at this point... I need some web-bucks for Christmas shopping...

 

http://media.ford.com/article_displa...ticle_id=18036

"The first Mustang – the 1962 Mustang I concept – is a two-seat, mid-engine sports car named after the legendary P51 Mustang fighter plane from World War II. It made its debut in October at the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, New York where race driver Dan Gurney drove it around the circuit"

The concept was named after the P51.

 

Now that I think about it, I do recall one (and I mean ONE) instance where one of the original engine/drivetrain engineers working on the original 2-seat concept car harkened to the "P-51 Mustang" in related performance, and wanted to name the project to develop the car "Project Mustang". It never stuck though.

I think in one of my collectible books it refers to him as an aviation buff, and he often reffered cars to planes. But this was in 1961 or 1962 at best.

The initial project was code-named "Special Falcon" from the onset and the project guidelines were a 2500 lb car selling for $2500, or $1/pound.

This is the only link I am aware of to anybody officially naming the car after the plane, and it isn't even close to the name of the car as it is to the name of the two-seat concept project (and it wasn't that either).