Taking a hint from Ferrari and its California GT Countdown, and not wanting the Camaro and Challenger to get all the attention, Ford has launched its own 2010 Mustang countdown. While the new 'Stang won't hit the streets until next spring, 96 days separate us from its official unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show.In the run-up to the launch, Ford has invited fans of the original Pony Car to recount related stories on its new website, the2010mustang.com. Starting August 27, the site will give visitors the opportunity to share their tales, with the most compelling story winning the writer his very own 2010 Mustang, along with a trip to LA to see the wraps come off. In the meantime, you can sign up for email updates as Ford continues to tease us for the next three months.
Comedian extraordinaire Dave Chappelle theorized on his Comedy Central show that everything looks better in slow motion. We'd be inclined to agree, especially after watching this video of a Ford Mustang doing a burnout. No doubt there are burnout videos with better cars or more smoke, but the slow motion effect combined with a soundtrack from Smashing Pumpkins makes this one of the coolest burnout videos we've ever seen.
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Auctioning off a Ford Mustang seems to be a pretty effective way to raise money for charity. The very first Shelby GT was auctioned for $600,000 at Barrett-Jackson in 2007, and the first GT500KR sold for $550,000, both raising money for charity. The latest 'Stang to raise money for a worthy cause is the one-off AV8R Mustang that crossed the block last week at the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) Gathering Eagles charity auction and brought down the gavel with a final bid of $500,000. The unique Mustang features a 400-hp supercharged V8, Ford Racing suspension upgrades, and an aviation-inspired paint scheme plus much more. Worth half a million? Maybe not, but definitely a great way to donate money to charity. Thanks for the tip, anonimo!
You read that right folks. The 2010 Ford Mustang will make its official debut at the LA Auto Show on November 19th. According to a source speaking with InsideLine, the new 'Stang won't be shown in Detroit as originally rumored, conceivably as a response to the Camaro hype-machine we've had to endure over the last two weeks.
When the wraps are pulled off the 2010 Mustang, expect all-new front and rear fascias, including a new grille, headlamps and taillights, along with a tweaked hood and a few cues rumored to be pulled of the Guigiaro Mustang concept.
Speculation about powertrains has been running rampant for months, but a reworked V8 and V6 is part of the package, and possibly a new turbocharged, EcoBoost bent-six further down the line. Sales will begin late early next year.
Just as photos of the production version of the Camaro popped up on the web last week ahead of tomorrow's unveiling, Ford decided to trot out the 2010 Mustang this weekend. Unlike the fully-revealed Camaro, the '10 Mustang remained heavily camouflaged as it acted as the pace car for the Kohler International Challenge vintage race at Road America. The prototype 'Stang lead a plethora of ponies from throughout the nameplate's lineage around the natural terrain course at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Saturday Mustang Corral also was treated as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Mustang GTP that won in its debut race at Road America. We won't be seeing the updated Mustang in its birthday suit until Ford drives it onstage at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.
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If you've noticed that there are more than a handful of Mustang variations out there, then consider Steve Saleen a trend setter. He's been tweaking Mustangs for 25 years now, and even though he and Saleen, Inc. parted ways last year, Steve has continued to work on Ford's ponycar with his new company, SMS Limited. While SMS released a rendering of an upcoming Challenger back in May, this 25th Anniversary Mustang Concept is the first actual vehicle the company has built. It features a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 with 720 horsepower, carbon fiber bodywork, 15-inch brakes, carbon fiber exterior trim, and a custom leather interior with two-tone seats. The SMS Mustang also has a unique Red Butterfly induction system and a pretty trick Light Blade taillight system. Follow the jump for a history of Steve Saleen's career and a complete list of features of the SMS 25th Anniversary Mustang Concept.
Can you believe we've assembled five galleries so far of 2010 Ford Mustang spy shots? This is our sixth, and the pics contained show the pony car's derriere largely uncovered. Spy photographers caught the convertible with its pants down just long enough to capture an uncluttered view of the Mustang's new taillights. They contain three large vertical rectangular elements separated by two long, thin white elements. Modern Mustang taillights have always incorporated "threes", which harkens back to the original Mustang that first sported three long taillights per side. We also learn from these spy pics that the Mustang 'vert will be dropping its raised spoiler in favor of a decklid spoiler that's more integrated with the rear trunk lid rather than sitting above it. Finally, the large, round rear Mustang badge that's notched on current models appears to have met a belt sander and now features smooth edges all the way around. Can't wait for the seventh gallery of Mustang spy shots!
It seems to be getting easier to take spy shots of the 2010 Ford Mustang, as reader Chris F. chatted up the drivers of these two prototype 'Stangs in Lake Zurich, IL who told him they were both base models with the 4.0L V6. The coupe also features a glass top, which suggests this relatively new feature will carryover to the redesigned '10 Mustang and be available on all models. Unfortunately, the fact that both base models were still powered by the same old 4.0L V6 suggests that, at least when it debuts, the '10 Mustang will not feature the 3.5L V6 that can currently be found in nearly every other Ford product.
We can see all the tell-tale signs of the redesigned Mustangs in these pics, including its new headlights, new grille, new front fascia, new wheels and new taillights. Out back there's only one tailpipe, confirming their base modelness. Unfortunately, the cool drivers Chris met up with asked him not to photograph the interior and weren't willing to give up any other juicy tidbits, but we'll take what we can get.
What's this? News about less Mustangs? Mustang guru Brad Barnett has learned that Mustang marketing manager Fritz Wilke estimates only 45,000 Mustangs will be produced for the 2009 model year. We don't know if the 45 is symbolic of the 45th anniversary of Ford's pony car, but it's significantly less than any other year the Mustang has been produced. In fact, it's only about half that of the 79,280 Mustangs produced in 1992, the current lowest tally, and far below the 134,626 'Stangs sold last year. We can see it now... Ford dealers marking up the rare 2009 Mustang. The most likely situation is that dealers will have trouble selling the remaining Mustangs as customers wait for the updated model in 2010, hopefully with a 5.0-liter V8.
Hot on the heels of our own reader-submitted spy shots of the 2010 Ford Mustang comes this new batch of images taken by professionals. Here we see for the first time the next Mustang's redesigned interior, and while it doesn't appear that the instrument panel and dash will stray too far from the current car's design, there are many notable differences. First and foremost is the new three-spoke steering wheel with redundant controls for cruise control on the left and multimedia buttons, no doubt designed to help operate Ford's SYNC system, on the right. Spy photographers also noticed that while the gauges look the same as those in the current Mustang, they are now white-faced and the speedometer and tachometer have switched places. We can also make out new rectangular vents sitting atop the center stack, though a familiar round vent remains to the left of the steering wheel. The basic shape of the center stack appears to be tweaked somehow, but we can't say for sure what the switchgear for the stereo and HVAC controls will look like since they were well covered in this prototype. Also included in the gallery below are new shots of the 2010 Ford Mustang's front and rear with exposed views of the 1970-inspired headlamps as well as the updated taillights. We expect to see plenty more spy photos between now and the car's official introduction at this year's Los Angeles Auto Show.
