WILD HORSES COULDN’T DRAG ME AWAY
...but the waiting list just might. This musclebound new Ford Mustang is everything a thoroughbred should be – if you could only get hold of one
Ford Mustang 5.0 V8 GT
★★★★ ★
I’ve worked out that on average I need to encounter and overcome at least 15 minutes of sticky congestion to justify the time it takes me to wrap up warm for my motorcycle commute. Anything less and I’m looking at a net loss of life as opposed to a net gain. This was a thought I had while in a queue this week. Waiting in line to try to spend your money – I’ve always thought this a bizarre business model. I feel the same when it comes to waiting lists for cars. Why don’t manufacturers just hit the production line go-faster button?
I’m hearing there is already a 12-month waiting list for this week’s test car, the all-new, first-ever, right-hand-drive Ford Mustang 5.0-litre V8. A situation that has seen nearly new used examples already exchanging hands for a staggering £10k over list price.
So what’s the big deal? Are Mustangs really so desirable this time around? Can this car really be that good? The short answer is, too bloody right. I actually couldn’t believe my eyes when one landed at our place a week ago.
For a start, there is just so much of the damn thing. It’s big and brutish and built like a tank. Yet it also has a real air of style and quality about it.
After I’d finished drooling over the redesigned bonnet and sexy new rear-light clusters, I fired up the ignition for the first time and waited to be disappointed. Surely this beast couldn’t possibly sound as good as it looked, as good as I wanted it to. It did.
I selected first gear and booted the throttle. Surely it wouldn’t pull as well as I hoped it might. Yes, again. In fact, to be honest, I only semi-booted it as I was merely pulling out of my drive but still the car yearned to go sideways. And this was in Normal drive mode, never mind Sport or Race.
A few hundred yards later we encountered our first roundabout. Mustangs hate corners. Not any more. This car just gets better and better by the moment.
This Mustang is easily as excit- ing as 99.9% of any of the cars I’ve ever driven but nowhere near as demanding or needy. It’s like an Airbus with a hidden penchant for aerobatics. You can either cruise, gurgle and smile your way along the high street or roll up your sleeves, put the pedal to the metal and feel the burn.
The only downside to the second option is that you might want to close your eyes when it comes to checking your petrol receipts – 20mpg was the best average I could achieve on a week of anti-polar bear hedonism.
The big new onboard gimmick is the electronic line lock system that spins the rear wheels shamelessly for a holy tyre-smokin’ 15 seconds. This is fantastically childish and totally ridiculous, exactly the kind of option a panel of kids would invent if given the chance to run a car company. Line Lock is ‘for track use only’ according to the manual. Yeah, all right Henry, we won’t tell anyone if you don’t.
The interior was another welcome surprise. The front doors are massive and close with that reassuring clunk of luxurious authority. The finishes, elegantly trimmed, generally look a lot more expensive than they probably are. And the sumptuous and hard-wearing seats are supportive as well as being comprehensively adjustable, as is the steering wheel.
Two things are undeniably rubbish. First, the central location of the drinks holders. Put any beverage whatsoever in there and it will render changing gear nighon impossible – even a mobile phone throws a spanner in the works. How on earth this went unnoticed I have no idea. Second, boot space is very tight for a car that otherwise appears huge. My kids would also argue that rear leg room is approaching child cruelty status, depending on how selfish Mum and Dad are with their seat backs.
But really, if this is the kind of tin top that turns you on, there is very little not to like.
I have to say, on the eve of my half-century, I am genuinely tempted to order one myself. I’ve always been a Mustang fan. However, there is talk of the new Mustang GT350 and 350R also being made available in righthand drive for the UK market, in which case maybe I’ll hang on. By which time the moment will probably have passed anyway.
Sort those waiting lists out Ford, otherwise... ‘Save 100% Off The Purchase Price – Imagining Is The New Buying.’ © C Evans 2016!