I've got a confession, I'm not that keen on . . .

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05-09 Mustangs. I spotted this vert below last week and I thought it looked a bit sad. I liked them when they came out new, but recently I've thought something doesn't look right, maybe the big front lights?

Is it just me? Am I wrong and the next 05-09 I'm going to see will look great?

I recon our car's look much better than these.

What are your thoughts?

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Personally I think the 05-09 are the only "new" Mustangs that look right. The newest models are pretty cars, but they don't look like Mustangs imo.

 
I guess if you compare them to the 2015 Mustangs then yes, they look more like Mustangs. But pretty? Hmm . . .

And I like the 2010 to 2014 facelift Mustang, that seems to work better.

Maybe it's just me then...

 
I like the '05-'09 Mustangs look better than the new-new ones. Here's a pic of my '07 that I just sold a month ago. I don't think it looks sad, at least not as much as I did when it rolled down the road without me.

Steve

lf.jpg

 
I'm not that fond of them either. I don't care for the looks and I really don't like the interior.

 
05-09 Mustangs. I spotted this vert below last week and I thought it looked a bit sad.
While I do have my quips with certain design elements of the S197 (and the S550 - even though I'm partial to it), the dark blue and black combination doesn't pop, and the center license plate adds clutter to an already busy front end.

Try this by comparison. Lousy camera angle, but the tan top makes it pop:

2009_mustang_convertible_45th_anniversary_edition_v6_1_lgw.jpg


Same combo as the original image (sans black wheels), much better camera angle:

48246d1190590046-2006-vista-blue-ford-mustang-gt-convertible-29308-clean1.jpg


Granted, the more aggressive front ends of the later S197 models may make the original seem a bit dull, but I prefer the flatness of the original '05-09 bumper and it's proper headlights.

Incidentally - one thing I can't get used to is the S197 convertible roof side profile. It honestly looks as if the designers plopped the SN95 roof on top of the new bodystyle (until you get to that beautiful wide rear window, which is purely S197). It also emphasizes the one huge problem of this bodystyle: Just like the SN95s, the beltline is a wedge. A hidden, very straight wedge, but still a straight-from-Japan-4-door-sedan-hell wedge. The rockers also look like a cheap bodykit - wish someone would make a kit to roll them under the body rather than that hovercraft look.

The S550 convertible roof does look more unique, but it takes too much out of the rear deck when paired with the sharply angled tailight panel (honestly, it looks Gremlinish from some angles) - and the fact that the S550 does have a hidden, fat beltline becomes very obvious with the lower roofline.

-Kurt

 
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They did a good job with the retro look. Think of what was before and after them. They are good looking cars. I mostly like the new Mustangs but they don't look like Mustangs to me.

 
I like the 05-09 mustangs better then any body style since 1973. The 2015s are very cool cars but the design is not Mustang enough for me. I hate the taillight panel and grill on the 2010-14s. But to each they're own.

 
It's not just you.

I think it's kind of like when the '79s came out, and they tweaked things as they went along. For instance, which looks more refined, cooler, sportier, etc.?

1979-82:

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1983-84:

8CFE9F03-9EF9-4744-9C32-8CBCD9C21553_1.jpg


1985-86:

DSCN0178.jpg


I know that not everybody likes the Fox bodies, but these are pretty much the same red cars with similar 5-spoke rims, but the grilles are different from year to year.

The similar things happened with the later models as happened with the Fox bodies - Ford ditched the 'cheese grater' grille and re-shaped the headlight buckets, which is essentially what happened with the '05-'09s when the '10s came out (which were heavily influenced by the Shelby nose treatments).

Personally, when I bought my '82, I had the pipe dream of swapping the nose and hood with the '85-'86 models, but later came to prefer the '83-'84s (but traded-in the car before I got to a point I could do that). Of the 3 above, I actually like the '85-'86 the best, thinking that the nose looks much sportier than the others (that, an I like those SVT rims better than the others).

Just an observation.

 
My kids call the 80s Mustangs the non-mustang Mustangs. "There is no horse on them dad". I like them but it is like hearing the same song too much, you get tired of it after a while.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 
Actually, mine had 5 "metal horses" on it. The hood coin, the one smack in the middle of the steering wheel, the two fender badges I added (given to me by a friend from a '66 coupe), and an Avon Mustang necklace medallion my Mom had bought for me as a kid. I had a bunch of "sticker horses" on it (key lock guards, door handle trim, floor mat embroidery, center cap coins on the rims, etc.) - Hey, it was the '80s... you plastered that stuff all over your car.

Mustang1.jpg


My wife found my Mustang necklace (in my toolbox of all places) when we were putting the car back together and said I should put it in the Mach 1. So, here it is hanging from the rear view mirror. One of those odd "circle of life" things, I suppose.

HPIM1055.JPG

 
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