Can the 2015 Mustang Possibly Equal This?

 

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Mustang has never been more popular to discuss than it has of late. With all the talk of the Son-Of-SVO turbo four appearing in the new car, and lots of emphasis on Boss models, Ford can be assured of column inches stretching out from here to infinity. Tricked out ‘Stangs is what the people dig.

But what about the stripper models? What about where Mustang came from? Well lets take a look at this mellow yellow beauty seen at a local car show to get a few ideas.

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I’m going to say that this is ’67 and the age related registration number would agree with me. That puts this car just after the first model refresh, where they played around with the styling subtly but enough to spoil it make a difference. It’s still a mark 1, anyway. As far as Mustangs go, so this one is right up my street.

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It’s a two-door, too. Convertibles are fine, but I like the idea of the Mustang as a simple, unpretentious machine, and the moment you lop the roof off and replace it with canvas, you’re rounding the headland and heading into the bay of showing-off.

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The colour, though tending towards the feline attraction end of the spectrum, still avoids excess gloss and gaudiness. Let’s call it American Racing Margarine.

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The detailing. The first generation of Mustang, though the one that had evolved the least from the “granny car” Falcom that sat behind all the cosmetics, had a lot of beautiful design touches which would evaporate from future Mustang generations as time took hold. At the rear end in particular; those six little inset chrome taillamps are classic features that are often referenced but have never been equalled.

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The interior. Oh, that interior. That, my friends, is how a Mustang interior should look.  Two beautiful main dials, exactly the right amount of chrome and absolutely acres of black vinyl. This interior couldn’t be more manly if it belched loudly and sniffed its own farts.

The radio, incidentally, is worth a special mention for its sheer simplicity, but then there was no other choice in the mid-60’s anyway. It’s just a radio. I’d love the new Mustang to have Just A Radio, too, but odds are that you’ll end up staring at a big obnoxious sat-nav display all the time. It’s the way of things.

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But you almost certainly won’t get your hands on a set of chrome dog-dish hubcaps on a ’15 Mustang. These are absolutely delicious and a rare sight on a ‘Stang of any vintage. There is nothing less pretentious than a set of these on conventional painted pressed-steel wheels, and a car thus-equipped is usually an example of the entry-level spec; either that or a highly-tuned dragstrip special just trying to speak softly but carry a big stick.

But which is this? Joe Sensible or Quiet Ruffian? Well, in common with most of the cars I find at shows the owner was absolutely nowhere to be seen, so I ran the plates on the magical UK car licensing website to discover, well, nothing. Unfortunately the reg number isn’t recognised so I shouldn’t really even make a stab at what lurks under that hood.

What are your guesses? Thrifty six or awesome eight?

[Images: Copyright 2014 Hooniverse/Chris Haining]

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