In full disclosure, I have been a Mustang owner and enthusiast for over 30 years. I bought my first Mustang, a 1967 when I was 14 and restored it in time for getting my driver’s license at 16.
Since then my automotive world has been ever shaped through the perspective of this American icon, having owned well over a dozen of them both new and old, mild and wild. And in my professional life, the Mustang is at the center of much of my work.
Thus the arrival of the Mustang’s 50th Anniversary and the new 2015 Mustang is a very special time for me. This all-new Mustang arrives on the heels of many years of rumor and speculation, as well as anticipation and debate about what it would be.
And now, these days of rumor and spy photos are over. Ford pulled the cover off the new 2015 Mustang in six cities around the globe as part of a world-wide reveal. These included New York, NY Dearborn, MI, Sydney, Australia, Barcelona, Spain, Shanghai in China and at Hollywood in Los Angeles, CA where I attended the reveal.
These events were attended by thousands of media personalities and writers as well as Mustang owners alike. The energy and excitement felt around the globe was important. The all-new 2015 Mustang will for the first time be sold around the world as a true global model, available in Ford showrooms next year in markets never seen before.
The new 2015 Mustang is all-new from the ground up. A new chassis platform, all new sheet-metal, suspension, and interior. Ford says that the new Mustang is not only the most technologically advanced Mustang to date, but the most pure.
The look of course is unmistakably Mustang, but despite much of the rumor in the past few years it still retains a touch of retro design to go along with its all new Ford design language. The front face has a healthy dose of new age Ford DNA with just enough Mustang in it to make it right.
The grille shares some of the high-performance Ford styling touches shared with the Fiesta and Focus ST, a nod toward owners and enthusiasts in Europe. Headlamps on the other hand have a pure Mustang soul with LED lighted rib lines or gills that harken back to the very first Mustang’s details.
The side profile offers up a return to the fastback silhouette but with an all new quarter window design which is contemporary and especially artful if viewed from the rear ¾ angle. The look is muscular and tied down well.
At the rear of the Mustang is a more daring than expected concave tail light panel with a cantilevered top edge. In North America the Mustang will have sequential LED tail lamps which have become expected. In other countries the light effect will be static due to local regulations.
The 2015 Mustang color palette starts out simple with ten colors. Some are expected and standard fare but welcome is genuine shade yellow and orange without the burden of complicated pearls. Just good clean shades of bright.
The new chassis brings with it many good things, notable from the styling is that the tires and wheels fill the openings much tighter than ever before. This car wont need to be lowered the moment you bring it home to look right.
The 2015 Mustang is slightly shorter, a little wider, and the roof line lower overall but it shares the same 107” wheelbase as before. A convertible body style will be available which has a standard multilayer insulated cloth top. Ford says the new top lowers twice as fast as before, and has a sleeker profile when folded.
The interior is an evolution of the current design, at least in soul. The materials and hardware are all new but retain the dual-cowl theme. Ford boasts the quality of materials and craftsmanship is the highest ever for Mustang.
The design Ford says is aircraft inspired and comes with a host of new features to offer including both heated and cooled seats as well as paddle shifters for all models equipped with an automatic transmission. Push-button start comes on all Mustangs and available will be a suite of Track Apps, MyColor gauges and new Shaker Pro audio system.
The interior will prove to be more livable than the current Mustang, with improved packaging in the console and cup holders, door map pockets and rear seat room afforded by the new compact independent rear suspension.
Under the hood are a couple familiar engines as well as an all-new one. The 3.7 liter V6 carries over as the base engine for the time being, but in North American only. The Mustang GT’s fire-breathing 5.0 liter V8 continue on for 2015, but gets some healthy massaging to increase horsepower and efficiency.
It gets a number of upgrades including a new intake tract and heads with larger valves. While specs were not provided, Ford promises the 5.0 V8 will exceed its previous benchmark of 420 horsepower.
All-new is the optional 2.3 liter EcoBoost direct-injected four-cylinder engine. Said to produce 305 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque, this engine is unique to Mustang. Positioned above the V6 on the option sheet, the engine has a number of unique technologies which will enable its power output as well as what Ford bills as segment-leading fuel economy.
Both the 2.3 liter four and the 5.0 V8 will be available world-wide and the only engines you can option the Performance Packages with which will include larger brakes, wheel and tire combinations, a 3.55:1 rear axle and more.
Transmissions for 2015 include a refined Getrag 6-speed manual which Ford says has been improved in the area of shifting action. A revised 6-speed automatic transmission features new steering wheel-mounted shift paddles for all engines.
The chassis gets not only a clean-sheet design independent rear suspension but also a new dual ball-joint front suspension with MacPherson struts which enables the use of larger and more powerful brakes. This is expected to be the best stopping Mustang yet, with three available brake packages.
At the rear is an all-new integral-link independent rear suspension which promises to bring the Mustang’s chassis dynamics into the current century. Finally gone to the dust bin of history is the archaic old live axle. Good riddance.
The all-new Mustang will be built at the Flat Rock, MI plant and is due to arrive in North American showrooms by this time next year. The launch in other global markets will follow shortly afterward. It’s going to be a new era for Mustang, which now belongs to the world, not just us Yanks.
This Mustang enthusiast gives a solid thumbs up to the new Mustang. Ford has said that they didn’t compromise our American pony car to appeal to the world at large, a worry of many in the years leading up to this reveal. And having seen and touched this new Mustang, I believe it.
As we head into April of 2014 in celebration of the Mustang’s 50th Birthday we expect much more Mustang news about other feature models and high-performance engines to come. It’s going to be a very exciting time for Mustang enthusiasts.
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