"-Amateur" (amateur)
10/09/2013 at 15:34 • Filed to: None
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"-Amateur" (amateur)
10/09/2013 at 15:34 • Filed to: None | 1
| 2 |
While America is still at odds with the shutdown, grab a glass of lemonade, a big ol' slice of American apple pie and let's remember why America is awesome through the SN95 Ford Mustang.
There was danger in the leagues of the Cuban missile crisis happening internally at Ford. Chevrolet just released an all new Camaro in 1993 and the only thing out there to compete is that fossil of a Fox body Mustang dating back to 1979.
The Mustang was the first to the fight in '64, with GM in pursuit 3 years later with their challengers. Now the tables have turned and GM turned up the notch in the ponycar wars 3 decades later.
Ford is at Def Con III but let's Quentin Tarantino it; The SN95 Mustang released in time to celebrate the ponycar's 30th anniversary as well as receiving top honors with Motor Trend's Car of the Year in 1994.
Ford wanted to pour gasoline on the fire that was slowly withering in the Mustang corral. 3 concepts were developed going from mild to batshit crazy. Nobody wanted to do retro but they all wanted to return the the roots that made the Mustang exciting. A Skunk works team took over a warehouse in a Detroit suburb and made it the central command headquarters for the SN95 project. The boss of this project was defined as the Mustang enthusiasts that are holding out for Ford to hit a home run.
The pressure was on as they had a deadline of just 36 months to get from design to production with a small $700 million budget. The clock was ticking. The Jenner concept was the first to be axed for being to soft....Ford already had the Probe for that crowd. Rambo on the other had was a Batmobile on steroids. Focus groups agreed that the car was better left in a cage than the showrooms. Then there was one. The Schwarzenegger concept had it all. It had power styling, good proportions, and screamed American ingenuity. The focus groups literally stood up and applauded at this home run hitter.
The Fox body was made stronger and faster. The old 4 banger is out and the Taurus derived V-6 was in for the base. The infamous 5.0 V-8 was to take the helm once again at the GT level. It was more refined and was dialed in for more understeer to control the beast. The GT hit 60 mph in 6.9 seconds with the quarter at 15.4 seconds @ 88.5 mph. When it rolled out, it was an instant sales success. America fell in love all over again with the Mustang. The Mustang was left for dead and the SN95 brought it back from the ashes to make one hell of a last stand. Ensuring the continued success of the Mustang, now we are looking at the dawn of a new era, with the all new 2015 Mustang.
photo credits go to their respective owners
PRBot II
> -Amateur
10/09/2013 at 15:40 |
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I actually like the Jenner. I can't understand why they axed it because of the Probe. The Probe never should have existed in the first place, while the Mustang is a legacy. I'm sure the Schwartzenegger looked great at the time, but I think the Jenner has aged more gracefully.
Goatsausage
> -Amateur
10/13/2013 at 16:06 |
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Its interesting. sn-95 actually lacked a bit of the older 5.0's grunt. but its the model that re-introduced alota original mustang design cues especially considering the greater majority of mustangs produced after the 1st and 2nd gen. sn95 re-introduced the signature side molding with brake cooling vents (albeit non-functional unless modified) and its interior styling was very similar to the original. In fact in various forms sn95 was one of the most exotic mustangs of them all. considering models by Saleen and Roush. Like the Saleen S351 Speedster.