Today's Mustang

 In 2014 I was at the Fabulous Fords Forever show at Knotts Berry Farm showing my 69 Boss when I stopped to admire the new 2015 S550 Mustang GT that was on display at the Ford pavilion as part of the "50 years" display.  Wow, I thought, this is what I believed the Mustang should be! I loved every curve, every nuance, every angle.  I wasn't considering a new car back then but the idea was percolating.  Also at the show was a Ioccoa, a special 45th anniversary edition, also in silver.  Certainly nice bookends to the Fabulous Fords Forever celebration that year.

I sold the 69 Boss in December of that year, 2014, so I was without a Mustang in my garage for the first time in 20 years.  I did have my 1969 TR6, which by that time was fully restored and fun to drive and take to shows.  Honestly, I thought that was enough.  But by 2018 I was researching a new GT type car. I made out a little description of what I wanted:

"What I want in my next car

I want it to carry two passengers with comfort and two more if needed (2+2) but in a coupe roofline and two doors.  I want a hatchback with pleanty of room for a long trip.  I want a fold-down rear seat.  I want the ride to be supple, neither stiff (athletic) or cushy.  I want to be able to tune the ride to fit my mood or intentions.  I want the steering to be responive and direct, with some feedback, but with enough boost to keep big tires from feeling big.  I want it to fall into corners and favor the natural camber like a guide.  I want to be able to control the transition between understeer and oversteer without jabbing at the throttle.  I want the chassis balance and turn-in to repond to my speed, to reward me for driving well.

I don't want an over powered car.  I want good throttle response.  I don't need power-happy tail slides or drifts.  I want to bend through corners, not slide through them.  I want to power out of corner and control the tail with counter steer.  I'd rather upshift and downshift with a sequential stick than with flappy paddles.  Of course I want rear wheel drive with independent suspension.  But mostly I want the linear, progressive power curve of a normally aspirated V-configured engine.  I want double over-head cam shafts with variable intake tuning.  I want the engine to look right, like a mechanical artwork without covers to hide it.  I want it to rev willingly and pull to redline with just a hint of topping out.  

I want an automatic transmission because there's just not enough highway without stop & go traffic.  The transmission must have a sport-manual mode and a means of not upshifting on a drop throttle "breathe" corner at higher RPMs.  I want highway RPMs to be around 2500-3000.  The closer I can get to balancing the transmission to the wider power curve of the engine the more I will enjoy it.  Like pulling smoothly from the bottom of the power curve with a little more throttle without downhifts causing the engine to jump into a higher range.  I want power curve to favor torque over switching gears.

I want analog gauges for RPM and speed, temperature.  Secondary digital indication of other engine and mileage.  I want a digital indication of the current transmission gear selection regardless of whether I have a manual or automatic mode selected.  I want the on-board computer to interface with my smart phone with custom app for engine data and tuning and diagnostics.  I want it to interface on my home wi-fi to both the dealership and my home PC to maintain all information and updates.  Of course it should hae both smart phone and on-board entertainment, including satellite radio.  The smart phone navigation app should interface seamlessly with the audio and visual functions of the car computer.  Cooling as well as power should be provided in a specialized smart phone cubby.  Satellite wi-fi would be nice.  Txt-to-audio and voice commandsshould be seamles.

I would like the car to have a timeless style that is not too overt.  I don't want a flashy color.  I would like some kind of tasteful graphic or badge to indicate that it is an upper level model or special series.  I want heated leather seats and steering wheel and control over ambient lighting and color. I would like memory selections for the driving position. I would like some head-up projection of Google Earth type visual references and cues.  I want an answer to "what's that mountain peak?"

I want a good owner/enthusiast forum.  I want good, current and active dealer support.    

I really made a point of looking at many possabilities; Aston Martin, Jaguar, Toyota Supra, Infiniti, Cadillac CTS, even the Hyundai Genesis Coupe.  I made a few test drives but the equation just spelled out MUSTANG.  So I made a special order for the 2018 in Royal Crimson with the option wheels and Magnaride suspension.  I picked up the car on the 14th of April 2018 and the very next day I drove it to the Fabulous Fords Forever - which ended up being the last show in the Knotts parking lot.

That's my car. I recreated the Ford advertisement at the same point of the same road, which I had recognized at Lake Hughes Road. 

   

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