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2014 Ford Mustang To Get All-New, Non-Retro Design

 
5 59,096 views Sep 16, 2011
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2012 Ford Mustang BOSS 302

2012 Ford Mustang BOSS 302

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Ford's Mustang has been an icon for the brand despite its occasional low points over the last 47 years. For the pony car's 50th anniversary, it will get an all-new look without the retro flavor, says Ford design boss J Mays.

The design is still in the process of being finalized, but Mays said the new car will "try to win all of the Mustang faithful yet bring the brand forward as well," in an interview with Automotive News.

That's a tall order to fill, meeting the desires of current Mustang fans and yet expanding to new areas at the same time. The most recent generation of the Mustang, the S197, won many of the Mustang loyalists over with its rather retro-themed design when it was released in 2005.

Given that the Mustang is the only one of the "big three" of muscle cars (Mustang, Camaro, Challenger)  that has been continuously in production since its original debut in 1964, however, Ford may just have what it takes to pull off a completely new look that meets both goals--or at least soldier on with the badge if it misses the mark, as they've done before.

This isn't the first time Mays has talked about the 2014 Mustang's design, however. At the 2010 Paris Auto Show, Mays said the next Mustang would not "lost the Mustang DNA," but would "signal that the Mustang has another 50 years of life left." Mays says the design team is up to it.

As for what to expect of the 2014 Mustang, coming in 2013, check out our previous coverage here.

[Auto News -- sub. req.]



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Comments (5)

  1. MichaelHagerty avatar MichaelHagerty Posted: 9/16/2011 1:32pm PDT

    Good luck to Ford with this. The fact of the matter is that Mustang had to go backwards (retro) with its styling in order to go forward...the design language on the old Fox platform cars had reached a dead end.
     
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  2. USAFANG67 avatar Matt Mann Posted: 9/17/2011 12:07pm PDT

    Given that the Mustang is the only one of the "big three" of muscle cars (Mustang, Camaro, Challenger)

    The "big three"? Last time I checked Chrysler was sold off to Fiat.
    Yes the Challenger exist but only in name of the once descendent of the "big three".
     
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  3. Nelson avatar Nelson Ireson Posted: 9/19/2011 9:23pm PDT

    I meant it as a tongue-in-cheek reference to their respective brands, but these *are* the "big three" of the muscle car world. These are the core that the vast majority of fans revolve around, whichever company or government holds the shares of the company that builds them.
     
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  4. fb_1028677799 avatar Ahkeith Salley Posted: 3/1/2012 11:07am PST

    Anticipation is increadibly high for the Next Gen Mustang, It will asume a non-retro approach but i personally hope it indeed carries some of the design cues that made the current car definitivly mustang, its headlights taillights and side scope. That should not be lost but i certainly agree that the most positive move in its new design would be to first loose the age old Fox body like proportions. Yes the car needs to be a bit smaller, wider longer and certainly lower sleaker sexy. A good touch of aston martin in its over design. more of a 2 seater rather than getting larger to accomodate 4, which is not mustang. It needs to become more of a true sports car like a porsche, which its scale is simular. And about all else.. Lightweight!
     
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  5. Pete0097 avatar Pete0097 Posted: 4/10/2012 5:46am PDT

    They need to design it with a little more leg room. My legs were too long in the last generation as I couldn't activate the clutch because my leg wouldn't fit between the steering wheel and the door. They also need to think of some of the success of the original - seats that kids up to teenagers could use in the back. Mustangs should not be intended to be 2 seaters, but sporty family cars. That is what made them so popular. Not as practical as a minivan, but way more fun.
     
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