Tuesday 3rd June 2008

New Mustang 'Will Look Smaller'

Ford hopes smaller-looking is greener-looking

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Interior space was now at a premium

Ford will make the new Mustang look smaller than it actually is to give it better green credentials, it has been reported.

The company believes that people associate smaller cars with fuel efficiency so the new Mustang’s true dimensions will be distorted.

The Mustang will soon be taking on the new Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Challenge but the firm is worried this new fascination with muscle cars doesn’t sit well with the current fuel crisis.

To fight any prejudices against the car the designers and engineers will give it the appearance of a small car when it appears in 2010.

However the key word is ‘appearance’ as the likelihood is Ford won’t actually go as far as making the car physically smaller.

‘We have a car which I think is more suitable for the times than the Challenger and the Camaro,’ Peter Horbury, Ford Motor's North American design director, told Automotive News.

‘Especially the Challenger — it is a huge car when you see it on the road.’

The Camaro is aid to be 10.1 inches longer and 1.8 inches wider than the current Mustang.

‘By cleverness in design, we've been able to make it look like the wheels are further out, further forward and further rearward,’ Horbury added.

[flattotheboards]

Why not just make it smaller? Its doesnt have to be a lot smaller, but it would be better than trying to disguise the size. Reduce the weight as well, thats one of the best ways of improving fuel economy without touching the engine.

[photo_ed]

I think this is what my next car is going to have to be if fuel & tax continue to escalate!!

I'd get fit pedaling to work at least - might be quicker on my bike though...

[sniff petrol]

Why not just put it further away? that way it'll look smaller without spoiling the proportions.

[patmahe]

Oh dear - I fear a mustang that doesn't look like a mustang on the horizon. Big powerful muscle thats what a mustang is about - why pander to the greenies who will just say it doesnt go far enough anyway. What about what your actual customers want?

[Harry Flashman]

Current 'stang is a bloated looking thing, IMO, so this style direction is good news.

[Wadeski]

I drove a car from the late 80s the other day and was amazed by:

- how easy it was to see out of! no huge A and C pillars blocking your view. No huge slab of plastic between the instruments and the windshield making it seem as if the front of the car is in another postcode.

- how light it was (and light it felt to drive). actual mechanical-feeling feedback!

why cant we go back to smaller, lighter, thinner framed cars with modern materials i dont know.

[benny.c]

patmahe said:

Oh dear - I fear a mustang that doesn't look like a mustang on the horizon. Big powerful muscle thats what a mustang is about - why pander to the greenies who will just say it doesnt go far enough anyway. What about what your actual customers want?

Ford tried this with the Mustang in the mid 70's, and it didn't go that well....

Edited by benny.c on Tuesday 3rd June 12:37

[Del 203]

I soooooo know who will be getting one of these !!!

[Shadytree]

Del 203 said:

I soooooo know who will be getting one of these !!!

Is it....




?

Edited by Shadytree on Tuesday 3rd June 12:38

[wab172uk]

Was watching Transformers again the other night. Man I really want a new Camaro.

Hell, I'd even take in Yellow with Black racing strips.

[HeavyRightFoot]

sniff petrol said:

Why not just put it further away? that way it'll look smaller without spoiling the proportions.

Seconded!!!!

[Bob_Defly]

Look Dougal, small, far away...

[RB Will]

Bob_Defly said:

Look Dougal, small, far away...

Only works with cows.

[Jasper Gilder]

benny.c said:

patmahe said:

Oh dear - I fear a mustang that doesn't look like a mustang on the horizon. Big powerful muscle thats what a mustang is about - why pander to the greenies who will just say it doesnt go far enough anyway. What about what your actual customers want?

Ford tried this with the Mustang in the mid 70's, and it didn't go that well....

Edited by benny.c on Tuesday 3rd June 12:37

Didn't go that well!!!!- It comprehensively wrecked the brand for years - don't Ford ever learn from their ( in this case monumental) mistakes? Lets face it - would you want one of these?

Edited by Jasper Gilder on Tuesday 3rd June 12:54

[bashful]

Living in Canada, I occasionally see an original Mustang on the road - they're surprisingly delicate little things. Weren't they originally dismissed as 'secretary's cars' by the muscle-car brigade?

[Road_Terrorist]

Wadeski said:

why cant we go back to smaller, lighter, thinner framed cars with modern materials i dont know.

Because you die when you hit something larger than a squirrel as the old car has all the structural rigidity of an empty coke can.

[Motown Junk]

PH'er Shellz has tried making her Mustang smaller without much success already.....

http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?t=21145

Sorry....

[Gun]

Think they'd struggle to make it much bigger than it already is TBH! Saw one lurching round near me a few days ago and it was huge.

[Collaudatore]

Road_Terrorist said:

Wadeski said:

why cant we go back to smaller, lighter, thinner framed cars with modern materials i dont know.

Because you die when you hit something larger than a squirrel as the old car has all the structural rigidity of an empty coke can.

perhaps people would be more inclined to drive with due care and attention then?

[oagent]

Road_Terrorist said:

Wadeski said:

why cant we go back to smaller, lighter, thinner framed cars with modern materials i dont know.

Because you die when you hit something larger than a squirrel as the old car has all the structural rigidity of an empty coke can.

Helps solve the population problem/fuel crisis/food shortage/enengy crisis etc so not all bad. Bring on the squirrels!

On a serious note. A friend hit a cow in a Mk4 cortina and survived better than the cow so its not all doom and gloom. Yes new cars are safer but people drive like bigger knobs partly due to the feeling of being indistructable and remote from the elements.