Say it ain't so : Mustang Wagon

[ramirami]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/12/14/...ons/index.html

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Would Mustang Sally drive a station wagon? Maybe she'll get the chance.

The next generation of the Ford Mustang could include some previously unthinkable variants including a four-door sedan and a station wagon, according to a report in the magazine AutoWeek.

"To a Mustang purist, this is blasphemy," said Bob Gritzinger, AutoWeek's senior editor for news.

Mustang has become a strong brand name, perhaps even stronger than Ford's famous Blue Oval, the magazine story says.

You can measure that by price. Introduced for the 2005 model year, the current version of the Mustang still sells for close to full sticker price, according to Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com Website.

AutoWeek attributes its story to a "prominent automotive industry consultant familiar with the Ford plan."

"It's a case of reaching out to the men or women who keenly identify with the Mustang, but for various reasons - whether it be family, recreational or other - need a more versatile car than a coupe," the source is quoted as saying.

The planned 4-door Mustang may be foreshadowed by a Lincoln sedan to be shown at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show.

The 4-door Lincoln uses much of the current Mustang's engineering, according to the magazine. The Lincoln car will have independent rear suspension originally developed for the Mustang but scrapped as too expensive.

The current Mustang has a solid rear axle. But Ford plans for the next-generation Mustang to have a sophisticated independent rear suspension.

The next-generation Mustang is due to come 2011, according to AutoWeek. It could come out as early as 2009, however, Gritzinger said in an interview.

That would allow the Mustang to compete more effectively against the new Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger coupes, expected to arrive in late 2008 as 2009 models.

"It's going to be muscle car heaven in 2008," said Gritzinger.

The story, including illustrations of what the Mustang sedan might look like, is in the Dec. 18 issue of AutoWeek and on-line at AutoWeek.com.

Ford executives were not available for comment on the report.

Other performance coupes have successfully spun off four-door variants despite fans' protests.

Most recently, the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler reintroduced the Charger name on a four-door sedan in 2005. Despite grumbling from fans of the original 1960s and '70s muscle car, the Charger sedan has sold well.

The next generation of General Motors' Chevrolet Impala sedan will share its engineering and some design cues with the new Chevrolet Camaro, various industry news media have reported. That would allow the Impala to benefit from the "family relationship" without actually taking the Camaro name.

In this case, the two-door coupe and convertible Mustang would continue to be produced, according to the report.

Brad Bowling, a Mustang expert who has written several books on the car including the Standard Catalog of Mustang, told CNNMoney.com he was not particularly bothered by the idea.

"For years people have occasionally made their own custom Mustang wagons and that sort of thing," he said.

Bowling himself recently parted with one of his Mustangs, a 2001 model, because he needed something with more room, he said. He bought a Hemi-powered Dodge Magnum wagon.

He recognized that not everyone would share his attitude toward the idea of four-door Mustangs.

"There are going to be two really strong-minded schools of thought on this," Bowling said.

In the past, attempts to fundamentally alter the Mustang, an iconic American performance car, have been blocked because of outrage by Mustang owners.

In the 1980s, a plan to bring out a front-wheel-drive Mustang met with so much resistance that the company instead introduced the car as the Ford Probe while keeping the Mustang rear-wheel-drive.

[N_Jay]

How do companies screw up so bad?

Let's watch and see!

[waynerd]

DOUH!

I can JUST see them try it, too.

[humanoid]

Trying to compete with the Dodge Magnum would be my guess. Why mess with a good thing, Ford?

[jl_ss]

I can't wait for the revival of the Pinto.....

[Ferdball]

Jay: Don't even THINK about it!

[rocky]

There seems to be no end to the crazy ideas coming out of Ford these days. The whole company at least in the USA seems to be in total disarray and turmoil.

This one is as crazy as a five legged camel
Other looney stories recently include the Freelander/LR2 V8.

But importing the Smax with its Volvo engine isn't as crazy if exchange rates get better.

[jay]

Originally posted by Ferdball
Jay: Don't even THINK about it!

When it comes to the Mustang, I'm a purist. My brother just got an '07 GT in black with black leather interior and a 500 watt sound system. SCHWEET!

[tsmltd]

Looks like it would be a Fords not so better idea.

[sski]

If they want to leverage off the Mustang platform or styling queue's that's fine. It probably even makes some sense from a cost perspective. BUT, don't call it a Mustang!! Call it a Falcon or a Galaxie or revive some other old Ford name. Pontiac did that with the GTO name.

My 66yr old father just bought a convertible 'Stang. Would I buy one...No...is it fun to drive around with the top down...absolutely!!

[tim.s]

Originally posted by N_Jay
How do companies screw up so bad?

Let's watch and see!

Looks like they are trying to copy the Dodge Magnum - which is another vehicle and poorly designed.

[rocky]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/12/15/...dan/index.html

[xGS]

Originally posted by N_Jay

How do companies screw up so bad?

Here's how:

[krygny]

Originally posted by N_Jay
How do companies screw up so bad?
...

In a "brainstorming" session, someone in the organization with more juice than sense "floats" the idea. But nobody has the guts to tell that person to their face the "it's a monumentally stupid idea; please don't ever repeat it again". Something like that.

But then again, what the hell is so sacrosanct about the Ford Mustang? Other than the Baby Boomers' emotional attachment to the first "poor man's sports car", it was never that great a car and it just got bad, then worse over the years. Remember the Mustang II?


Oh, and the nostalgia that Baby Boomers supposedly have for the '65 mustang - it's mostly a recent fabrication/exaggeration by Hollywood and Madison Ave. I don't remember young people in the '60s buying or even coveting the Mustang. They were mostly bought by middle-age family men as a second car. If you bought new at all, and could afford it, you bought a 'vette. If not, you wanted a real muscle car like a GTO or Charger. But it seemed like everybody was buying '57 Chevys and souping them up.

[robrecht]

Originally posted by krygny

In a "brainstorming" session, someone in the organization with more juice than sense "floats" the idea. But nobody has the guts to tell that person to their face the "it's a monumentally stupid idea; please don't ever repeat it again". Something like that.

But then again, what the hell is so sacrosanct about the Ford Mustang? Other than the Baby Boomers' emotional attachment to the first "poor man's sports car", it was never that great a car and it just got bad, then worse over the years. Remember the Mustang II?


Oh, and the nostalgia that Baby Boomers supposedly have for the '65 mustang - it's mostly a recent fabrication/exaggeration by Hollywood and Madison Ave. I don't remember young people in the '60s buying or even coveting the Mustang. They were mostly bought by middle-age family men as a second car. If you bought new at all, and could afford it, you bought a 'vette. If not, you wanted a real muscle car like a GTO or Charger. But it seemed like everybody was buying '57 Chevys and souping them up.

It's certainly true that the original Mustangs were not performance cars, but they were immensely popular, with a million cars being sold in the first couple of years plus a few months. It's been said that it was the first car that demonstrably appealed to women buyers, hence the name 'secretary's car'. But all that being said, when my Dad went out and bought a '67 Mustang, my two brothers and I thought it was just about the coolest car in the entire world.