Go ahead, wave a flag / Ford Mustang GT convertible
Japanese and European carmakers may cut as many stars from the automotive firmament as they like, but they can’t build a pony car, never mind the pony car. You will look in vain for a direct competitor to the Mustang -- redesigned from the treads up for the 2005 model year -- but there are no other V6- or V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive coupes out there between 20 and 30 grand. Cross-shoppers might consider the $32,000 Pontiac GTO, a rear-geared V8 built by GM’s Holden in Australia, but it’s hard to imagine anybody choosing the abstinence-based styling of the GTO over the weaponized cool of the Mustang.
I thought of the Mustang while reading Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, “Blink,” which describes the human experience of what he calls “rapid cognition,” the power to tell at a glance if something is right or wrong. If ever there was an example in car styling, it’s the Mustang, which looks perfect and definitive at a glance. Those impressions only deepen and season over time. What a great-looking car.
Now, you may contend that the credit for this retro-mobile belongs not to Ford circa 2005 but Ford circa 1968, with a nod to a certain tall Texan named Carroll. And it’s true, the Mustang is rather a pastiche of designs of the late 1960s and early 1970s. But that’s the beauty of the Mustang program: At a time when American companies are struggling to compete on value and technology, their one unchallenged advantage is history: their portfolio of iconic designs that have their own pop-culture gravity. After all, nobody’s writing songs about the Nissan 350Z.
As expected, Ford rolled out the convertible Mustang for the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show in January. The car sheds the distinctive hardtop in favor of a “z-fold” power ragtop that retracts with the weather-side out, dispensing with the need for a tonneau cover. I have to say I like the hardtop look better because it picks up a little more of the fastback styling of old Mustang Mach 1s. Also, the convertible top doesn’t have the triangular side windows of the coupe, which I like.
The convertible top is a nice bit of work that fits like Tupperware onto the windshield header. The car is surprisingly quiet and tranquil even at interstate speeds, which can cause other tops to bellow. To lower the top you pull two levers detaching the leading edge from the windshield and hold a switch in the console until the top lands behind the seats. A single switch lowers both rear-quarter windows. To make room for the top, trunk space is cannibalized a bit but it’s still quite large by sport coupe standards.
The body structure has been reinforced to compensate for the loss of the roof’s rigidity, adding 120 pounds to the curb weight of the car (3,500 pounds). The car doesn’t have a vault-like solidity, exactly, but it is very stiff and very tensile, so that even over the whoop-de-do’s of the Glendale Freeway the Mustang never judders or shimmies. One of the striking things about the new ‘Stang is its refined ride: The suspension tuning is fairly firm overall but nicely compliant in the first few inches of suspension travel, so day-to-day driving has an easy, gliding quality; as body motions increase with harder driving, the suspension finds some oak under the willow.
The suspension design is traditional, and then some: MacPherson struts in front and a solid axle in the rear, with coil springs outboard and a Panhard rod inboard. This is a compromise layout, for sure, and yet most people, even hard-chargers used to independent rear suspensions, will find little to complain about. The car skates through corners with an overachieving grace. Steering is slop-free, quick and well weighted; the brakes are firm and muscular. And all of these qualities will be raised in exponential fashion when Ford and an army of aftermarket manufacturers finish amping up the Mustang.
Our test car was the maxed-out GT premium convertible with the 300-horsepower, 4.6-liter V8 under the hood and a five-speed shifter in the transom. You could not ask for a smoother, more tractable powertrain than this: The shifting is effortless and slick, the clutch is light and progressive, and the power -- when called upon -- comes on like a high school football team defensive line. The variable-valve timing helps flatten out the torque (maximum 320 pound-feet at 4,500 rpm) for good power anywhere north of about 3,000 rpm.
This is not the fastest car in the world. Zero-60 mph is a matter of five seconds or so. But what it lacks in intensity it makes up for in aural immensity. The dual exhaust note is spectacular, a gutty growl that would make the Sphinx crack a smile.
Complaints? As enamored as I am with the outside, I don’t think the Mustang interior wears very well. While it’s the very model of retro specificity -- with the deep-dish gauges inside chrome bezels and textured aluminum all over the dash -- the plastic and rubbery bits look and feel pretty cheap. Maybe not a problem in a $20,000 Mustang, but in the $30,000 convertible, it all feels like a lost opportunity for a premium experience.
Small stuff. This is a terrific car, worthy of the beer blessings of Mustang club enthusiasts from L.A. to Latrobe (please don’t drink and drive). The Mustang convertible means that, for now, and in at least one part of gloomy Detroit, the sun is shining.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
2005 Mustang GT convertible
Price, as tested: $34,080
Powertrain: 4.6-liter, overhead-cam V8, with variable valve timing; five-speed manual transmission; rear-wheel drive
Horsepower: 300 at 5,750 rpm
Torque: 320 pound-feet at 4,500 rpm
Curb weight: 3,500 (est.)
0-60: 5.5 seconds (est.)
EPA fuel economy: 17 miles per gallon city, 25 highway
Wheelbase: 107 inches
Overall length: 188 inches
Final thoughts: See Biscuit
