Ford dealers have been asked to cease accepting orders for the 2005-model Mustang and switch customers to 2006 models, according to Jim Owens, marketing manager for the Ford Division. The restyled and retro 2005 model enjoys "sold-out" status, a USA Today story reported (June 26) with sales up 47 percent for the January-May period to 81,541 cars - outselling 13 brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Saturn, Scion, and Subaru.

Limited in production by the revamped Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant it shares with Mazda6 compact models, Ford says it's working to satisfy 5500 remaining orders for 2005 models of the Mustang. Mustang fans, many loyal since the first Mustangs arrived in the early 1960s, have been beguiled by the retro look associated with the 2005 models. This includes round headlights and chrome trim inside the cabin, plus the famed pony logo of a four-legged Mustang racing clockwise, as contrasted with the counter-clockwise position of horse races.

Owens said most back orders for the new Mustang are for the GT model, with the 300 horsepower V-8 engine. What's not selling so swiftly are the 210 horsepower V-6 models, but eventually they find buyers, too, most in less than a month's time. Resale values of late-model Mustangs have spiked by up to $1000, even for 2003 and 2004 models, says Kelley Blue Book.

http://www.thecarconnection.com/Indu...173.A8838.html

 

Kudos to Ford. I still don't like it but there is no denying its retro appeal. And the price is decent too. Glad to see that the imports don't have all the fun.

They should drop the V-8 into the Ford 500 with the AWD and make something of it.....

 

Wow, they deserve it though! The new Mustang GT looks so hot.

 

Nice styling, but cheap looking inside & out, it's priced right though.

 

I also think the interior looks cheap. I did see a black on with the upgraded wheels and it looked pretty good though

 

i believe when the sucker first debuted at dealers..


the time between it's arrival at the dealership and it's departure with a customer was 15 minutes.

FIFTEEN MINUTES@#$

 

i think that Ford played the market beautifully. if you think about all the marketing their gunna get for "selling out" the retro 'stang just like the inital 1964 mustang did, it would offset the loss theyd make by cutting the production short a half a model year too early. personally, i think the car looks alright, but cmon, its still a Live rear axle and the 4.6L V8 makes only 300hp. so lets see, we have a heavy(3450lbs), cheap feeling, and obsolete car with a suspension to rival that of an oxcart. im sorry ford, but for ~$24,000, i want more than a rear 3-link beam suspension. oh, and a 6spd would be nice too.

-Annant

 

No kidding. The V6 model, especially, has without question one of the cheapest and flimsiest-feeling interiors I have ever seen. Hyundai did a better job on the first Excels it sold here in the mid-late 1980's.

Now the exterior...yes, also cheap materials, but you can't deny its dynamite looks. This is the Mustang that Ford never should have gotten away from way back in 1971. It took Ford 34 years to see the error of its ways.

 

Fellas:

I dorvew the V6 Mustang when out on business a few months ago and I loved it. I burned rubber numerous times. The 300hp GT V-8 must be much much better anf the car looks sweet.

For $25,000 you get a sweet looking 300hp monster and can drop suspension an inch and put some sweet 19s with a lip on there and you're set.

I've considered it as a toy in a year or 2.

Ted

 

Que?

The speed limit is 65 wpm here!

 

i do see quite a few of them on the roads, pretty popular. don't really like the look of the car, but i think ford is doing a pretty good job on it

 

Yuck, hideous cars.

 

i havnt seen the interior yet,,,, but its a ford so i know how cheap its gonna look already, i love the front, but the back, i cant stand,,,,,,, but then again i saw one that was custom from one of those big shops iwht a supercharger and everything it was hot,,,, they extended the back a tad past the lights,,,,, it look really good, that is how the back should have came out the factory....

 

I must admit new mustang is a pretty good looking car and the price to performance is awesome.

but i will consider a base 350z before i get into a mustang.

 

Two things. First, this car doesn't need a 6-speed with the amount of torque it has....and adding more gears would just mean more shifting, which would hurt its 0-60 and quarter-mile times.

Second, unlike the awful interior quality, that so-called "old-fashioned" live axle was not put in just for cheapness or ease of production. Ford knew that a lot of the Mustang's buyers....even the V6......would be doing burnouts, legal or not. A live axle, if designed correctly, is quite durable and is capable of having large amounts of torque crammed through it instantaneously without placing undue stress on universal joints like on independently-sprung rear-drive cars. That is why live axles are almost universal on large-engine pickups and those designed for heavy towing and why they were universal on the 60's muscle cars with their huge engines and massive torque.

Granted, Ford DID use an IRS on the previous-generation Cobra for better handling, but that car was generally aimed at.........and bought by.........a slightly more mature crowd that placed more emphasis on better handling and not just 0-60 and quarter-mile burnouts.