Burmite

I'm still wondering about why its on the beach. Spy shots are usually disguised cars on the ROADS sicne that's where they all exist. They don't pose at the beach with the owner! It looks awesome I think it still is suspicious. You can see how it matches all the proportions of the Lincoln LS and looks like all the concept drawings in the past few months. It seems like the real deal at least.

2000redSS

To tell the truth, I think that looks sweet. I like the retro look. A fastback version would be badass.

formula79

Actually i am willing to bet that that shot came from Ford. It happens often that an automaker will leak a shot early to see how the public reacts. Notice it isn't watermarked by any of the know spy shot photographers such as Brenda Priddy company.

Darth Xed

The back is.... OK

The side looks a lot like the current stang,


And the front, from what I can see ... is a horrible rendiition on the 64 1/2 - 66 Mustang! Ugh.

Geoff Chadwick

the butt is HUGE, the nose is too angled (almost a cross between a 60's mustang and a 70s-80s BMW) and the side? It looks big and bulbous, not sleek and fast. a 280hp v8 and a 400hp v8. What about a 350hp v8 and then whatever GM does next? Comon. The Nissan altima is faster then the new GT mustangs now, and I hear a new honda accord with 280HP is on the way...

Also I'd like to note that the "retros" in recent history:

Prowler
PT Cruiser
New Beetle
Ford Thunderbird
SSR truck

I notice the prowler, PT cruiser, and beetle sold well. Who designed some of those cars, and the SSR? How well did the "new" thunderbird do? Last I knew, it was a flop.

Ford's retro department isnt quite on target...

A 2007 40th anniv' Camaro with the new Ls2, whatever it will be, would kick the snot out of it... Comon. The ls1's kick the snot out of the GT's now and the great ol 5.0's -- and I'm assuming the Ls2 will be nothing short of even more bad ***, considering they want to use it to slaughter the viper.

muckz

That's what I've been thinking. Probably a shot to see what the opinion is. Just like with GTO, they now decided to tone down the nose (although I'm still surprised they're not putting up hood scoops).

As for the Mustang itself - I think it looks pretty cool. It isn't THAT retro, it's actually pretty modern, with many cues to the past.

muckz

And what rice board do you visit?


14.7 quarter mile versus 14.1. Yes, faster by a whole - 0.6 seconds.

Geoff Chadwick

I wasnt totally serious about the altima being faster then the mustang... but I've driven a new altima, and they are cartainly fun cars.

But I WAS serious in the idea that a 4 door sedan (rather nice size too) with a 6 cylinder engine keeps up to a "sports car v8"

And a N/A 6cyl at that.

Z28Wilson

The T-bird, even though I personally have seen very few of them around Detroit, appears to be a success. They are selling just about every one they build. So unfortunately the retro trend isn't dead yet.

No one knows what is coming in 5 years, how can you comment on the LS2 or its potential when you know nothing about it? A 2007 Camaro "would" kick the snot out of a Mustang? Guess what, I can be fairly sure there will be a Mustang in 2007. Camaro? There's only a handful of people who know its ultimate fate. If you don't like the looks of this new Mustang's styling that's fine, I'm not wild about it either. It looks too plain-jane for me, but whatever. Commenting on a car's performance, let alone a theoretical car's performance 5 years from now is pretty silly.

jg95z28

Not bad IMO. Let's see the fastback!

jrp4uc

As noted, T-Birds are still pretty new and going for a nice price, probably still above sticker. The cars you listed, particularly PT Cruiser and New Beetle, have seen a tremendous drop in sales after the initial, "novelty" surge. That's why their manufactures have big hopes on the Turbo GT Cruiser and New Beetle Convertible. These cars go along way to getting people into show rooms to buy other cars aswell. You also excluded the Mini Cooper, which will probably be met with similar success, then regression. Don't forget Ford's upcoming GT supercar, either.

This Mustang doesn't look like a huge departure from the direction they started moving in '99. It's a safe bet that the Mustang will continue to sell well regardless, and especially with no direct competitor. I think it will be a sharper car in coupe/fastback trim (and likely with faux hood scoops). I really don't know how you can slam Ford about it. Not that I'm saying this is completely the case, but an unoriginal, retro pony car is better than no pony car at all...

I don't know about Altimas, but I know of a certain 4 cyl sedan that can run with the Mustangs and some of the other V8s.

jrp4uc

Now that I think of it, make that two 4 cyl sedans. Forgot about Dodge's upcoming Super Neon.

JasonK94Z

The back end has to go. The one big tail light is the nastiest thing ever!

Geoff Chadwick

Or the DSM crowd.

Yes I know, there is no knowledge of a 5th gen camaro. Sadly though, whatever GM continues to work on, something worth while will come of it. I'm upset because they're still sticking that dumb engine in there. It's a nice motor, but a lower displacement engine SHOULD get better gas milage for testing then a larger displacement. I could understand if it werent normally aspirated... But the 4.6L mustang gets 24/17 rated vs 27/16 rated in the lt1. It should be better then that I would think. It should atleast be better then the lt1! But the motor gets less power and torque, as well as similar if not worse gas milage. For what? They should have atleast kept up with the 5.0 engine.

When they came out with the 5.0 engine, it was a slap in the face to GM. Even into the mid 90's against the Lt1's - the tried and true 5.0 engine held it's weight decently, and with the plethera of aftermarket parts it was more then worthwhile. Then they change so a SOHC 4.6 and a DOHC 4.6... And even now, I'm not impressed. But the cars are apparently more balanced then our cars. The ride is more comfortable (albeit I dont like the seats and the controls arent all within real easy reach) and it's more of a car to enjoy the ride vs go fast. But that's how most people want it these days.

Granted, the thunderbird is selling decently, and the beetles/pt cruisers (speaking of which - Isnt the PT cruiser almost identical in chassis to the 4 door neon??) are more of a fad - as will the SSR and whatever follows, but the sales of the PT cruisers and Beetles, fad or not, are really high. If Ford made more thunderbirds, would they all sell? Good question. But from almost everyone I know, some dont like the PT cruiser, some dont like the beetle, but most agree the prowler is cool, and the pt cruiser and beetle are atleast "nifty" but the thunderbird just looks funny. Like they tried to make it more retro then they should have. I'll agree it was something interesting, sure, but it just dosent have some of the appeal that the pt cruiser or beetle had. I would have thought if ford would go retro, the first to go would be the mustang...

Speaking of which, I still think it looks bulbous and really too big. Now that I think of it, the design is too simple and straight. The hood and trunk line right up and it looks strange. Let me see a fastback though, maybe my mood will change.

Joe K. 96 Zeee!!

I wouldn't say we know nothing. About the smallblock V8 we do know one thing. GM is getting ready to produce a GenIV V8. The LS1 is truly an amazing engine and is only now realizing it's full potential. That said, given the time and money invested into it, GM would not produce a new engine unless it had significant advantages over the LS1. I would argue that we can make a few assumptions here. It will be more powerful, more efficient, cheaper to produce, and weigh less. Maybe it won't have all those attributes over the LS1, but I'd argue you could expect most if not all.

IF a 5th gen came out it would be a good bet this engine would be used in that car. Redplanet tells us a 5th gen would have a V8 and be RWD.

Now...given the Mustang specs in the article it is not a great leap to argue that a 5th gen IF it existed could best a 4.6 V8 powered mustang.