Mustang feels right at home

bracket grew up watching Mustangs on TV shows and in movies, such as Steve McQueen’s 1968 hit, Bullitt.

Mustang buyers are also at an age when they’re coming into money or have put a dent on their mortgage and have a bit of cash to treat themselves.

The other contributing factor: the end of local production of the Ford Falcon and its V8 derivatives.

When the Mustang was confirmed for Australia, Ford said it was not a replacement for the Falcon. But it turns out that’s what has happened.

Ford, despite spending big over recent years trying to soften its image to focus on women and technology, the blokey Mustang is now the second biggest selling Ford locally after the very blokey Ranger ute.

Mustang sales are now higher than the Falcon’s were in its final years. The four-cyl- inder coupe is about $50,000 drive-away, the V8 coupe manual $60,000 and the V8 auto convertible tops out at about $70,000.

When the Mustang launched here two years ago Ford forecast four-cylinder versions would eventually account for more than half of sales but less than 10 per cent are four potters.

So why did it take so long for the Mustang to get here?

Despite the Mustang’s popularity here, it only represents about 5 per cent of global production – but it costs just as much to engineer a righthand-drive version as it does a left-hand-drive. It’s difficult to recoup development costs from such small volumes.

For decades the Mustang kept getting pushed down the list of priorities until someone at Ford realised it was the company’s only car with global recognition.