Originally Posted by steev

The main thing is that they *don't* have to be bad in the corners or at braking anymore, and it feels like a some people feel put out that the chief designer targeted the M3 as his performance benchmark. Hey, us allies have always enjoyed beating the Germans

Originally Posted by JimC

I think that what he means is a retractable HARD top, rather than a traditional convertible.

Originally Posted by Hamidar05

"For those of you who are complaining that it looks like the Fusion, hello, this is extremely common. The Mustang has spent many successful years (far more successful generations than the S197) carrying the current Ford corporate design theme. The Fox body "looks" like a Escort, the SN-95 "looks" like a Taurus or Escort ZX2, the SN-95 New Edge "looks" like the updated Taurus and the Mustang II "looks" like a Pinto. Those cars were all Mustangs and they "looked" like a Mustang because they were a Mustang."

And when you look at the definition of what a Mustang Muscle Car is, none of these are it, it is a fact of Americana. So I guess you are just more of a mustangy guy than me. I liked my 70 Mach 1 because it was a muscle car, I laughed at the SN95 Mach 1, and while the COBRA R was a performer, I could care less. My buddy had and loved his Fox with a built 302 back in the late 80's and it was fast enough, but not a muscle car... in comes the S197 and it ushered in a revival for the what was long ago the big 4 now down to 3 to build the Challenger and the Camaro to compete and you bet it took some sales away from the S197 but it was an awesome time while it lasted. I would wager to say it ushered in the Resto-mod era as well. I can see why some think it's time has passed, as they are obviously much more progressive and with the times as dictated by the designers and marketeers at Ford.

So while you "real" mustang guys want I us fair weather guys to jump on the bandwagon, all I can say is enjoy your Techno-Euro wannabe bimmer Mustang, I will be looking for a 70 Dynacorn shell and build my own monster that may not corner as well as your car, but it will win for style points and be exactly what I want. And in 30 years, what car will be wanted more by a collector, an S550, an S197, SN95, a FOX? We'll just have to see what history judges I guess, in the meantime I will continue to complain of the good ol days gone by and how things just won't be the same with these new fangled contraptions.... I ain't drinking your Kool-Aid

Originally Posted by mongolchuck

This might have been covered as I didn't read every reply but this is a global car now. Ford has had that trapezoid grille for a few years on most of their products here and overseas. It is an identifying feature. People in Europe, Asia, Australia etc aren't as familiar with mustangs. They will see the grille and other features and realize oh that's a ford. In the 80's ford put the oval all over everything, even taking the pony off the mustang, trying to make a stronger corporate identity.
The mustang is a halo car, meaning its not supposed to be a volume seller but attract buyers to the dealership to look at it and then buy other cars. People need to know what dealership to go to, though, so it needs to look ford.