No, not really. The 3rd gen remained almost totally unchanged for the entire run. I couldn't tell an 83 from a 92, nor could 90% of people. Most people could easily spot the difference between a 93 and a 98 Camaro.

 

You can't tell the difference between this and this .

Seriously If you can't tell the difference I would have my eyes examined. If nothing else the 91-92 Spoiler is a HUGE clue.

 

If you cant tell the difference, you need glasses.

 

Differences can be spotted on the 3rds, but they're not as obvious as the earlier and later 4th gens, which from the front look like very different cars.

Personally, i could tell the earlier 3d gens apart from the later 3rd gens, but the average joe probably can't.

 

You can tell all Third Gens apart, usually year for year and model for model. You can look for bumpers, taillights, headlight pocket color, stripes, rims, tire sizes, GFX, (styling and color) interior, hoods, spoilers, 3rd brake light placement, emblems, and on and on. There were a good number of refreshenings, even with interiors. With 4th Gens, forget about it. All you know is its either the LT1 years or LS1 years, and for that you can't be too far away. If you want to tell base model from top model apart, you need to be even closer and sometimes have to look for an emblem. That was terrible.

 

Ok, all of you third gen superfans can tell the years apart. A body kit, spoiler and badge does not a new body style make. By your reasoning, the Mach 1 and the Cobra are completely seperate bodystyles from the regular Mustang.

 

park a mustang next to a cobra, and any yahoo off the street can tell the diff.

same with a 82 next to a 92. the whole nose, fenders hood, Gfx, spoiler, rims, ect are diffrent.

 

Yup, exactly.

 

this could be a huge problem....it wasn't that long ago that Ford with the toast of the automotive world when they came out with the current Thunderbird, which really created a HUGE impression (high critical praise, MT COY, 15-20K markups at the dealers)....

Retro was really the 'in' thing then, and the T-Bird's styling made it incredibly distinctive compared to what the rest of the world was driving in 1998...So with very little exterior changes six model years later, how fresh, cool, and cutting-edge does it look now?? I know that Ford (for reasons known only to them) has let the car languish with little to no improvements to performance or style (where was the SVT version?) but the bottom line is you need to be continually refreshing and updating your product ESPECIALLY one that has overly retro styling, which usually has a short shelf life...

 

Even when people said it was doing badly, it was still the 3rd best selling convertible in America. Ford really dropped the ball on the T-Bird though. The styling was fine, but the gouging was too much and the usability too low. PT Cruiser shows that a lower price with greater usability will let a "retro" car do well in the market place. Mustang will do this with no problems.