Stang o’clock approaches

Nearly

half of Australia’s new Mustangs will be delivered as Fastback GT V8 automatics. As more than 3000 customers wait for delivery details, and the early adopters who confirmed in March are expecting their cars from November, Ford Australia has reported on the latest details.

“All the Australian suspension tuning and testing has been completed and is incorporated into the cars. There are no hold-ups with production in the States so we are on track to deliver the cars in December,” says Ford spokesman, Neil McDonald.

However, he confirmed that the controversial ‘burnout’ system in the car, which uses a line locker to the front wheels, will not be activated for Australia. “It was decided it is not appropriate with the current anti-hooning focus.” Other details are much as expected, and demanded, by Mustang fans. “Customers are particularly interested in the fact that the Performance Pack is standard in the Australian cars, both on EcoBoost and GT models. This includes a strut K-brace, unique chassis tuning, larger rear anti-roll bar on the fastback and heavy-duty front springs,” says McDonald.

“There is also a choice of limited-slip differential ratios – 3.55 on the EcoBoost auto and 3.31 on EcoBoost manual, and 3.55 on the V8.”

Ford has also been tracking the history of the Mustang in Australia, and early conversion work in the 1960s.

The first Mustangs to arrive through official channels in Australia in 1965 were 48 left-hand drive cars with 289 V8 engines. They were converted in Sydney at the Homebush plant with the help of sub-contractors and were joined by another 161 cars in 1966.