The new sixth generation Ford Mustang will be unveiled live tonight in Sydney, along with a few other major cities - Shanghai, Barcelona, Dearborn, LA and New York.
The new global Mustang is codenamed the S550 will go on sale in Q4 2014 as a '2015 model year' car, a continuation of the legendary nameplate that first started in 1964. We call the new Mustang a global car because that's exactly what it is - the new Mustang will be Ford's attempt to bring its Americana icon out into the world market, in both left hand drive and right hand drive form.
The logo of the stallion running west on the front grill will allow you to easily identify it as a Mustang, and it still remains some of its retro-futuristic looks, though it seems to learn slightly towards the futuristic side of things. The side profile has a B pillar that hides behind the door glass in order not to interrupt the silhouette.
The LED tail lamps still have a triple vertical bar type of design, and they still light up sequentially to indicate a turn signal, but this behaviour will be restricted to US market cars. The triple bar design is repeated in the headlamps are daytime running lights.
Ford originally wanted to develop the new Mustang on the existing fifth generation platform, but as development progressed things clearly wasn't quite working out. Development targets weren't being achieved, and the entire project was even said to have been rebooted once.
The sixth generation sits on a new platform that for the first time features independent rear suspension for a regular Mustang, ending a 50 year tradition of live axles for the pony. SVT Cobra 'stangs did come with independent rear suspension in the late 90s to early 2000s. Its global aspirations haven't shrunk the Mustang to fit onto the narrow roads of Europe - it's still as big and muscular as ever. The convertible model will also continue to be available with this generation.
Three engines are available. The baseline engine is a 3.7 litre V6 making about 300 horsepower. Next up is a 2.3 litre turbocharged direct injection Ecoboost four cylinder making 305 horsepower and 405 Nm of torque, which will be more than the normally aspirated V6.
The top of the line is a more traditional muscle car 5.0 litre V8 producing 420 horsepower and 529 Nm of torque. All engines put power to the rear wheels either through a 6-speed manual or 6-speed auto.
The interior sports the latest Ford MyTouch in car infotainment system. It retains a retro-looking steering wheel and a traditional double binnacle design for the instrument cluster. Other features will include a push start system, paddle shifters for the automatic, BLIS blind spot monitoring, and drive mode selection.
We will be back tonight with live photos as well as more information on the right hand drive timeline as well as if Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia will get the car.
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