Lay those minds at ease- http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/12/15/...dan/index.html

 

On the local radio show this morning, there was a whole segment about the 4 door Mustang and people were all calling in and complaining about it. I guess everyone can breathe a sigh of relief now.

 

This story began to disintergrate when Ford of Australia denied ever having something to do with the next Ford Mustang, and the info that the next Mustang is already pretty much designed (there's a peak at it in the background of a Bold Moves video on the production "Fairmount").


Personally, I think that some car magazine writer who knows little about the workings of a automotive development process got word of an option that was brought up in a brainstorming session, and instead of treating it as such treated like Ford was actually considering this, making big news, selling more magazines, and making a name for himself.

You MUST have some sort of mental filter or at least a bit of common sense when you write for a major publication, especially when you are posting news of that magnatude.

GM has brainstormed a Camaro and Firebird wagon. GM also brainstormed creating a Corvette division. But both of these at least got to the "Study" phase.

15 years ago, Ford got raked over the coals by thousands and thousands of letters by people who were shocked, angry, and mad enough to actually sit down, pick up a pen, buy a stamp, and mail a letter to the Ford Motor Company over plans to put the Mustang name of a Front Wheel Drive performance car. Just a couple of years ago, Ford Mustang's 40th anniversary celebration in Nashville brought out hundreds of thousands of people from around the world. Ford is still riding the wave from it's new Mustang introduction. Does anyone with half a brain and room tempreature IQ actually think Ford is seriously considering putting the Mustang name on a sedan, let alone a Station Wagon??

Let me tell you as a guy who was part of the Mustang culture for 10 years... there are far more people willing to actually storm Ford Headquarters in Dearborn for screwing up the Mustang than there are Camaro fans who vented on websites over the demise of the 4th gen. And Ford management is very aware of this.

Ford is more than capable of screwing up the entire company and nearly running it into the ground by vengefully ripping up every single project Jac Nasser started. But there's 2 things it's safe to say Ford won't do.

Screw up the F-series truck & screw up the Mustang's heritage. Toy with either and you may as well kiss that 3rd rail.

Autoweek's editor should have known better.

 

As the legend goes......

The very first letter that Donald Petersen, (Ford's Chairman), got on the subject had the salutation:

Dear A$$hole, ......

He apparently got the message.

 

Maybe this was AutoWeek's attempt to play the Winding Road game of publishing false information for the sake of getting others to bite.

Really, I'm sure the idea of a sedan/wagon based off the Mustang platform is being tossed around. That doesn't mean it'll be called Mustang, but of course that idea doesn't make for as good of a headline.

 

Didn't that FWD Mustang concept become the Probe?

 

Just as I thought.

 

Well, I saw a big freakout on the GM websites about the rumored "4 Door GTO" (meaning a 4 door car that shares a platform with the GTO). Some people have trouble reading between the lines.

 

The Germans really have it easy.

No one cares if the 3 series or the C-class is a 2 door or 4 door. The domestics have to run the gauntlet with their new car names/ideas....

Good thing Cadillac has gone to alphanumerics -- no one will get upset if there is a CTS coupe.

 

90s Catera was the first so I doubt feelings toward it are all that strong. But as I posted in the other thread, Mustang is the most recognized car name in the country.

Start slapping it on everything people are going to be at best confused, and at worst... murderous..

 

It wasn't a concept. Probe was planned from the start as the new Mustang.

 

I bet what happened is that a couple of guys came out of Ford's town hall meetings having seen some future product and... either didn't understand what they saw, or Autoweek was on the other end of a game of "telephone".

 

The thing about the FWD Mustang, in retrospect it's easy to say it was an outlandish idea. But recall at the time that we'd just went through a couple of energy crises, every car was getting downsized (including Cadillacs, at a time when Cadillacs were meant to be big), and the imports were making huge inroads with their sporty FWD coupes. Despite 20 years of Mustang history, all indications seemed to point to a changing automotive landscape and Ford logically wanted its pony car to be competitive in that 'modern' environment. Recall that GM too was planning the FWD GM80 Camaro. I think we're all glad the pony cars eventually stayed true to their heritage, but at the time it was by no means an easy decision.

 

Actually, enthusiasts would freak if there was a 4-door 6 series.

But the nice thing about numbers is that there's absolutely no reason to do that.

 

Only because they'd be concerned that BMW's longstanding nomenclature had lost its meaning. A 6er is just a coupe on a 5er platform, after all. They'd might accept a coupe-styled two-plus-two-suicide-doors 6-series, for example, especially if BMW made some effort to race it, give it a performance pedigree, etc. It's not quite the same thing as a four-door Mustang -- or even a four-door Charger, for that matter.