1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

For many of us, the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is as much a monument to Ford's horsepower wars as the 69 Boss 302. It was also much more available and affordable. In fact, there was a total of 72,458 of these cars in the 1969 model year, compared to just over 2,000 of the 1969 Boss 302 Mustangs produced. With it's sleek sportsroof (fastback) lines, stripes and spoilers, the 1969 Mach 1 had a look that was fast and furious. Just the way we like it! Some of the design cues you find on most Mach 1 cars, are the same as those on the Boss, including, an optional black, textured front lower chin spoiler and rear tail spoiler and distinctive styling stripes. Added to that were realistic looking rear fender ducts and a special Chromed gas cap and chrome exhaust tips. The favorite of some, and the scourge of others, was the availability of flat black rear window louvers or slats. The Mach, however also sported a matte black hood, a distinctive hood scoop and a round trim ring behind each rear window. The interior was also distinctive from both, the regular 1969 Mustang fastbacks and the Boss 302, with it's special colored inserts in specially tufted seats. All cars had the knitted vinyl, high back bucket seats, deluxe interior with simulated teak inserts, extra sound deadening material and a wood grained rim-blow steering wheel. Also available for those seeking even higher performance, were the availability of several optional big block motors, including a 390 cubic inch v8 and two versions of the 428 CobraJet.

A part bin, in car lingo. Often, switches are shared between brands. A switch in Audi could find its way into a Lambo, as both brands are in the VW family. This is done to reduce costs. Why make a different window switch for each brand when a window switch is a window switch? The Model 3 and the Mach-E do not have any physical buttons in their center stacks. A massive screen handles climate control, media playback and more. Instead of making and installing gobs of little switches, Ford, Tesla and other automakers are using a single screen to do the same functions. This makes scaling across brands and markets easier. Suddenly, without buttons, car companies can reduce to a single device the number of parts, working hours and troubleshooting. This also makes building a car for different markets easier. Instead of building in a different language or for driving on the other side of the road, car companies only need to rejigger the software.

This single-screen setup needs the right software, and the Mach-E is the first to demonstrate Ford鈥檚 Sync 4 system. It looks great to me, with persistent controls for climate and a logical layout. I haven鈥檛 used it yet. Thankfully, there鈥檚 still one physical knob: volume control. Volume should always be controlled by a spinning knob instead of a sliding bar. These screens allow car companies to integrate branding into the vehicles further. Expect Lincoln models to use similar software, but with a different design scheme from Ford models. Likewise, Acura software will be similar to Honda鈥檚, but with a more sporty, upscale feel. The Mach-E has several surprises, and that鈥檚 thanks to the electric platform. The majority of the vehicles on the market right now run electric systems based on a decades-old system. It鈥檚 limiting, though carmakers are pushing it as far as it can go. The move to electric opens countless opportunities to designers and engineers. Features and details that were fantasy are now possible.

The Mach-E doesn鈥檛 have traditional door handles. Instead, it has small buttons that release the doors. What happens when the battery dies? For the most part, that鈥檚 highly unlikely, as the Mach-E鈥檚 electrical system doesn鈥檛 rely on a traditional battery and alternator. The Mach-E has a front-based storage area 鈥?a frunk if you will. These are standard features on most electric vehicles. Ford did something novel, though, and made the Mach-E鈥檚 frunk out of plastic and added a drain plug. This lets owners pack it full of ice and store drinks in the frunk. With electric vehicles, carmakers can open their playbooks and implement brand-specific features. Jeeps should get more Jeep-ie. Lexus models should be able to stand apart from their Toyota counterparts, and so on. The electric platforms are fundamentally more simple than internal combustion systems, freeing engineers and designers to be more creative with creature comforts. The downside of these new features based around a new platform will come in a couple of years when repairs have to be made. It鈥檚 unlikely that most owners will be able to diagnose and fix systems, like with current vehicles.