I'm sure this is not a big deal but I did get to sit in a new Mustang this weekend, one of the local dealers had one at the Frankenmuth auto show in Michigan. The car was a 5sp GT, it was a steel blue color. A nice looking car and I never heard one bad comment all I heard out of every single person was "I have to get one of these".

 

That's just about all I ever hear from anyone I've talked to about the car, save for hardcore Chevy guys. The Chevy guys hate it because it's retro and blah blah blah, but everyone else thinks it's awesome.

I haven't seen this level of excitement for a car in a long time.

 

You should have been trying to get a picture of one at the 40th anniversary show back in April.

My initial read on this car more wrong than any other based on pictures and early images - more than any car in memory. I thought "It's OK, but not a homerun - maybe it will grow on me."
THEN I went and saw a few of them in person - Holy Cows. guionM has tried to say the same thing too - the curves on this car cannot be photographed in a way that does it justice. The depth, curves, and profiles just grab you in person when your depth perception can work on the body. Not possible in a flat sheet of paper or a screen.

The interior improvements were just the coup-de-gras on an otherwise well-thought through execution of a car that was designed in massive proportions by the consumers it is meant to target. I will special-order my SE unit in about another year.

 

I saw one too--in Calgary. There was some International Mustang meet, so I went to check it out. Yeah, I know, Mustang but a car show is a car show.

I walk around a corner and bam! There is an 05 GT. Car looks better in person--I liked it.

Really conservative wheels with kinda wimpy 235/55/17--those got to go!

 

There were two of them this weekend at the NMRA event at US 131 Dragway in Michigan. Very nice cars.

 

I saw a redfire with red and black interior. I fell in love. I would buy one if I had not just bought my Camaro last winter!

 

Red planet once used the "you have to see it in person" line on other vehicles (wasn't refering to Fords), and he's 100% right. There are some cars that actually don't carry as much impact in photos as they do in person. The new Mustang most definately fall in that catagory!

The sheetmetal has a slight crease the length of the body, and the large 300-ish wheel lips and the angles of the body (quite creased) simply can't be photographed. It comes across looking good, or retro, but it's not exactly a show stopper.

Then you see one in person.

You see every crease, angle, and fold. The grill looks sharp. The rear (what I feel is the only weak point in it's design) even looks great. Then that interior simply blows you away. Though it doesn't look it in pictures, the car is just about every bit as angular (except rhe roof) as the last Mustangs were.

Mustang would easily be on my list (and still might) if it wasn't for the fact that these things WILL be everywhere.

Ford's going to discourage Pontiac-GTO type dealer scalping, Bill Ford himself is keeping close tabs on quality issues, Ford is setting up for an advertizing blitz unlike anything in recent memory for a car like this, and there is already something like 50,000 on order.

As for the "It's going to fizzle out" brigade here, there's only 3 things to say:
1. ALL car fizzle out after a few years unless you pay people to buy them.
2. Till 2007, Mustang is going to be the only game in town.
3. Flat Rock can only produce 300,000 cars per year at top capacity, and there's already a car made there. There's going to be a demand for this car for at least a few years.