The Mustang: an iconic American Muscle car with an unmistakable grunt and bold looks. Steve McQueen famously owned a Mustang GT Fastback, lending weight to the car’s prestige. But the Ford Mustang started out from much more humble beginnings. When it was first launched in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair, it was marketed as a ‘pony car’; a new class of vehicles characterised by sporty design and a compact size, and all at an affordable price. It was this affordable price point that helped the Mustang grow rapidly in popularity, and from the mid sixties to the early seventies, the car became ingrained in American culture after being featured in a number of movies like the 1968 classic Bullit, starring the aforementioned Steve McQueen.
Over the years, there have been numerous iterations of the Ford Mustang, such as the Shelby GT350 and GT500, and more recently the Mustang Mach-E (not one of my favourite variants). Thankfully, Ford has put the batteries on charge for this new Dark Horse model and installed its fourth-generation 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine. This finely tuned engine gives you 500bhp and combined with the exquisite exhaust system, it sounds like there are 500 horses rampaging down the road. I’d really like to take a minute to talk about the sound from this car.
If you’re a lover of a deep grunt and low burble, this car will make you smile every single time you get into it. This Mustang is the type of car that will annoy your neighbours every morning as you leave for work (if they don’t love cars). It’s loud, brash and quite beautiful. In this modern age of everything going electric, if the V8 muscle cars are going to die out, they’re going out screaming.
I hadn’t even driven 50 yards down the road and I was already impressed with this car. The sound on startup was sublime. The large infotainment screens were easy to use and very responsive. I love the retro stylings of the speed and rev counter on the digital display in front of you. AppleCar play connects quickly and without a wire. A very convenient charging pad is just under the large centre screen. Ford has done a great job with the ergonomics in the cockpit and the sound system was also very impressive with the rear view mirror shaking vigorously.
As much as I loved the start-up sound and the effortless ease of using and setting up the tech of the car, my smile grew even larger as I saw an array of simple, very easy to use, well-placed buttons.
The joys of making adjustments with a simple button can’t be understated in this day and age. The rear view camera is something hard to get wrong, yet recent vehicles I’ve driven from Ferrari and McLaren seemed to have dropped the ball. The Mustang has the camera appearing on the large screen to your right (or left if the steering wheel is on the other side), not in the middle of the dash where you can’t see it once you turn the wheel — thank you Ford!
I’m happy to report the Ford Mustang Dark Horse hasn’t just got the interior right; that V8 under the bonnet (or hood as our American friends would say) has some serious pull. They say this is a more track-focused car and you can tell. With previous Mustangs I’ve been fortunate to drive, I always felt the cars lacked performance; they made a lot of noise, but had little to show for all that drama. The Dark Horse is different. Those horses want to run, every tap of the accelerator unleashes a sound that’s screaming ‘let me run’, and I so wanted to unleash them. I would of course go up to the speed limit, but when this car gets you to 100km/h in roughly four seconds, the fun is short-lived. But my word, it is fun! I know I keep going on about the noise, but it hits you right in the gut and makes its way to your heart.
The Dark Horse isn’t all drama though. Once you’ve hit the speed limit, this car is extremely comfortable, relatively quiet inside the cabin and with lane assist, it’s a peaceful, effortless drive; perfect for a long trip. I will have to take away a few of the gold stars the car has earned though. While it can seat four, if you’re looking to all go away for the weekend, there’s not a lot of space for luggage, unless you want to leave the spare tyre at home.
Honestly, even though I’ve always enjoyed American muscle cars being around, I’ve never truly wanted to own one. This is something different. As with most things referred to as a dark horse, you don’t really see it coming. I did not expect to love this car as much as I do. It’s not perfect, and I wouldn’t recommend it to people living in Europe as it’s a large car. I’m honestly not sure how it would fit down some of the narrow country lanes in the UK, or the extremely tight city roads across the continent. As a side note, due to rules and regulations the car will be delivered to you with 450bhp in Europe.
That being said, if it fits on the roads where you live, you have the space to park it, and have neighbours you don’t mind upsetting, you’ll love this car.
Ford.com
