Ford Mustang The Legend

Ford Mustang The Legend

As early as 1989 it is determined that Mustang cannot continue much longer in its present form. Due to the fortitude of Mustang Business Planning Manager, O.J. Coletti, along with Mustang Program Manager, Mike Zevalkink, and their after-hours "skunk team," a new Mustang is built around existing powertrain and chassis hardware. The platform, called Fox-4, is structurally more solid, owing mainly to larger rocker panels, roof rails and stronger joints. These changes go a long way toward preventing NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) and providing enhanced handling characteristics. 1994 marked the much-anticipated debut of Ford's fourth major Mustang redesign. The new pony car had plenty of power and more panache than ever, with styling cues picked up from 1964. The grille pony returned in 1994 after a 16-year absence. Designers said it was one of the best decisions they'd ever made. Borrowing in part from the two-seater Mach III concept, the look of SN95 captures the earliest Mustang, yet is considerably more aerodynamic.

Cat-like wrap-around headlights surround the grille and galloping pony emblem to create a face that is distinctly reminiscent of vintage Mustangs. A muscular, ridged hood sweeps effortlessly into a sharply raked windshield and short rear deck. Retro hood vents and side scoops and layered tri-bar taillights complete the major styling themes of the new Mustang. A revamped interior is equally inspired. Instruments are surrounded by separate spheres for driver and passenger that originate in the dash and curve downward into the shifter bezel. Engines include the 215-horsepower 5.0L V8 with silicone-alloy pistons, roller-cam valvetrain, 65 mm throttle body and tubular exhaust headers and a 145-horsepower 3.8-liter V6, which, like the 5.0L, features sequential electronic fuel injection. Like its first-generation cousin, the 1994 Cobra convertible was selected as the pace car for the Indy 500. All 1994 Cobra convertibles were Indy 500 Pace Car editions. Just over 5000 other 1994 Cobra coupes were produced, and were available in only red, white, or black. The spoiler on Cobras were different than on other models, and included a built-in LED stop lamp. The Mustang convertible, like all 1994 models, was well received by Mustang fans and sold well. The 1994 production Mustang sold a total of 123,198 vehicles, almost 10,000 units more than the previous year.

The character and performance won鈥檛 come to light until the car arrives next year. But the Mach-E鈥檚 journey from non-existence to Sunday鈥檚 stage (with 鈥渂rand ambassador鈥?Idris Elba in tow), in just over two years, is an impressive start. Want the latest news on electric cars in your inbox? Minus a brief foray into fully electric propulsion in the first half of this decade with the Focus Electric, Ford has put its energy into hybrids. Meanwhile, Tesla, Nissan, Jaguar, BMW, General Motors, Porsche, Audi, Hyundai, and others built up the battery-powered market, rolling out zero emissions products in earnest. So it went until 2017, when the Ford higher-ups decided that EV tech, consumer interest, and regulatory reality had reached the point where it was time to do away with gasoline. They launched an internal effort called Team Edison, charged with producing the company鈥檚 first ground-up battery-electric vehicle. Ford had already committed to dropping sedans from its lineup, so making an SUV鈥攕pecifically the kind of crossover that flies off Ford lots鈥攚as a natural choice. Figuring out who would buy such a thing was trickier.

鈥淲e decided to focus on the technology, and how it has really changed their world,鈥?says Jason Castriota, Ford鈥檚 brand director for battery EVs. So Ford focused on catering to the kind of driver who expects new tech to deliver more of what they like and less of what they don鈥檛. When it came to designing the thing, Team Edison gravitated to the Mustang, seeing in its enthusiast fanbase parallels to the EV crowd: People who want something exciting and different. After an internal 鈥渞eality check鈥?with market and customer research, they decided to brand the car as something inspired by the Mustang, giving it the Mach-E designation. So while it鈥檚 not an official Mustang, the SUV shares some of the pony car鈥檚 looks, including the low 鈥渟hark鈥?nose, longer dash-to-front-axle distance, big haunches, tri-bar tail lights, and the galloping pony logo. Time was at a premium, so the design team relied on CAD tools that let them change the car鈥檚 look and shape on a screen, focusing less on clay. 鈥淲e鈥檇 pop in sketches on a Monday, choose the one we wanted on Tuesday, build the CAD model on Wednesday, mill it on Thursday, then present it on Friday,鈥?says design manager Chris Walter. When we closed in there was kind of the eureka moment. We saw the theme, the fluidity and sensuality that we knew this younger customer wants, and the visual strength that the Mustang needs. None of that would be worth much, though, if Ford couldn鈥檛 make the Mach-E a respectable, appealing electric vehicle. Ford has limited experience with fully electric cars, but applied plenty of hybrid know-how. And it鈥檚 no stranger to designing cars and eking more range out of svelte aerodynamics. Though the team hasn鈥檛 disclosed the final drag coefficient, it says it鈥檚 鈥渁bsolutely thrilled鈥?with the final product.