Ford Mustang
Tom Ford: It’s a good one! this" Two legendary badges both sold in the UK to people who like fast! blue things" Although other colours are available" But mine is better" Because it’s! y’know! a Mustang" Legendary" You can’t really say that about the Focus" It might be RS#mighty and very quick! but it’s a jumped#up shopping car! really" The Mustang has a $"%#litre V&! a long bonnet! a chunky manual and virtually unusable rear seats" It also doesn’t have a drift mode! because it is drift mode" On the Sottozero winter tyres we’ve fitted! it basically lives life at a quarter#to the straight ahead" It makes you feel like Bo Duke and Steve McQueen at the same time" Except that I like to think I’m a bit Steven Seagal…
Jack Rix: What! a washed#up weirdo with dodgy hair?
TF: But have you seen Seagal in Under Siege? He’s such a powerful artiste that he doesn’t have to even move his face to act" He has a secret! magical power to him ' something charming that draws you in! even though you know it’s a bit… cheesy" Yes! like a Mustang" I know that a $"%#litre pushrod isn’t the cutting edge of downsized! forced#induction efficiency! but I don’t care" I suppose you either get the inherent brutal beauty of the V&! RWD manual! or you don’t" I’m not sure there’s any particular rhyme or reason to it"
JR: I see your point! but you’re wrong about the RS" The Mustang is a wonderfully evocative thing! I’ll grant you that! and is huge fun in the right situation! but would you actually want to own one? I think not" I mean! wearing fancy dress is fun now and then! but you wouldn’t go to work in Bo Peep costume! would you? In the US! the Mustang is a pop icon! a slice of freedom and just cool! full stop" Here it’s a posing pouch that drinks too much fuel! and makes you look like a tit"
TF: The weird thing is! I sometimes wonder about the kind of guy that buys a Focus RS" Young men can’t afford them *or more to the point! insure them+! and they have the slight whiff of the midlife crisis to anyone ,$#plus" I get that the Focus RS is kind of an everyday supercar ' especially braving the back roads in a UK winter ' but is it really special? The Mustang is an event every time" It’s the kind of car you can’t help but look back at every time you park it" It gets under your skin" And it’s not because it’s super#expensive! either ' our TG Garage one is only -,.k"
JR: So what you’re saying is the Mustang is cheap? Agreed" That interior is particularly scratchy" Our Focus RS is affordable! too! at around -,$k but doesn’t feel like it’s pretending to be a -/%k car" It’s honest ' a practical $dr family hatch that happens to have a ridiculous turn of pace" It feels like the money has been spent on the engineering!