2006 auto show... Camaro, Challenger are back...

[Unit 5302]

I'm not sure all this retro throwback impresses me a lot. The originals are so much more than looks or performance. I think the real Mustangs died with the fox body. My 2002GT got a lot of compliments. It looked sweet, but it had maintanence problems up the yin-yang, and quite frankly, it had no personality. Oh, and it sounded like a school bus at low rpm.

Personality is what's important to me. If the car is going to portray itself as a modern day musclecar or throwback to the originals, it should act like the originals. At least to some extent. These cars they release today appease magazine editors that want their car to look like it could rip a hole through the pavement, but behave like grandma's station wagon going down the road.

To me, it's all exciting on the outside, bland on the inside. But, then again, that's what most people these days want. Just an object they can point to in the driveway. An image that doesn't need to do anything more than impress the neighbors and get from point A to point B as uneventfully as possible.

Leave the legends to the past or the people that still truly want them because the cars today aren't up to par with what those old cars had.

[Phillyfanfrombirth]

Originally Posted by Unit 5302

To me, it's all exciting on the outside, bland on the inside. But, then again, that's what most people these days want. Just an object they can point to in the driveway. An image that doesn't need to do anything more than impress the neighbors and get from point A to point B as uneventfully as possible.

Your synopsis got it right... its all about the styling.

That is what SELLS cars, which is exactly what Ford and GM haven't been doing...

We can talk about pure enthusiasts all day long, but they are a niche that can't support the industry, at least not at modern capacity...

Image, now THAT is marketable to the masses.

[Unit 5302]

The Mustang survives partially on the enthusiast crowd. If not for the enthusiasts, the Mustang would have been a front wheel drive 4 banger in 1989 (Probe).

Quite frankly, marketing may be easier with a good looking car, but if your lineup frequently changes names because the old car has created such an ominous name for itself that people won't even consider buying it, mere looks alone will not sustain excitement. i.e. I'm in the market for a new car at this very moment, and I can't bring myself to consider the Mustang.

I sold my 2002 GT at 17k, just after the transmission was repaired because the 3rd gear syncros failed. I was the original owner and I babied that car from 26mi on up. Problems started developing well before 10,000 miles. Compared to my 88GT, 87GT or even my 2 - 88 LX's, the 02 was a pile.