9 THINGS WE WANT FROM THE FORD MUSTANG SEDAN

Ford CEO Jim Farley has said that he wants to expand the Ford Mustang lineup without watering the brand down. We can argue over the best way to go about that, but we can mostly agree that the idea of a four-door Mustang sedan isn't the worst way forward, if Ford does it right. As it turns out, Ford isn't just considering one fleetingly and it's shown off potential designs to dealers to gauge interest.

The recent reveal to an inner circle of dealers, involving CGI renderings, photos, and even a physical mockup, hasn't produced any verifiable leaks or images as Ford wisely confiscated everyone's phones before the event. But that hasn't stopped us from contemplating what we'd want from a Mustang Sedan.

Make Sure It Looks Like A Mustang

We hope Ford gets that no major changes need to be made to the overall look of the Mustang in order to make it a four-door. Just stretch out the wheelbase and add two extra doors. That's it. Same front end, same back end, same basic profile, just longer. The less you do to restyle the Mustang into a sedan, the better, especially since the S650 generation's design perfectly blends the concept of modern and retro muscle car design.

We're sure Ford will make some changes, especially if it intends on spinning off the Mustang name as a sub-brand rather than just making a sedan variant of the existing coupe, but we'd be happy to keep much of it as is, as previewed by exclusive renderings from HotCars.

Keep It Rear-Wheel Drive

Along with a Mustang Sedan, Ford's allegedly toying with the idea of a Mustang Raptor, and while that sounds like a great opportunity to explore the possibility of an all-wheel drive pony car, we don't really want that for a Mustang that makes its home on the highway. There's an argument to be made that all-wheel drive provides more surefootedness in a family sedan, and given the weight we're likely to see added with the extra size, AWD would help improve base performance metrics.

But this is a Mustang, which means it's a muscle car and should be fully entitled to pulling lurid slides, and with the help of the Mustang's line lock feature, create plumes of smoke in a straight line. The number of RWD performance sedans is dwindling, so the Mustang should be the one to keep that torch lit.

A V8 Engine Is Non-Negotiable

Can a muscle car have anything other than a V8? That's a debate we'll never hear the end of, but for so long as a Mustang has gas power, a V8 is something it can't do without, and the Mustang Sedan should be no different. The 5.0-liter Coyote is incredibly versatile, and we've seen it in the Mustang as well as the Ford F-150. But we also know how versatile it can be just within the Mustang itself; it's currently available in two states of tune, one for the GT and another for the Mustang Dark Horse with 500 horsepower.

We're not saying the 2.3-liter EcoBoost shouldn't feature here, either, and an entry-level Mustang Sedan with a sharp chassis and a punchy turbo four-cylinder would make great business sense. Plus, while Ford's considering using existing engines, there's an 800+ horsepower supercharged monster under the hood of the forthcoming Mustang GTD that would be perfect for turning the 'Stang into a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing rival.

Don't Drop The Manual

The number of manual-equipped performance sedans is dwindling. Narrow down the criteria to just sedans with a manual gearbox, RWD, and a V8, and you're left with only one contender: the aforementioned CT5-V Blackwing. So wouldn't it be great if Ford could steal a slice of that pie and give us a powerful V8 with only two driven wheels and the ability to put the driver in control of every single horsepower? We think so.

Sure, you can have an automatic as an option, and Ford would be wise to consider that, but the manual needs to be there as the standard option. After all, if Ford wants to release an automatic-only V8 sedan, it might be wiser to revive the Thunderbird nameplate.

A Pursuit-Spec Model

If you've got money to burn, you can get any car you like and outfit it with some BFGoodrich Elite-force tires, performance suspension, and some upgraded fuel lines, reinforced seats, and high-end brakes. Or, you can wait a few years and pick up a pursuit-spec car at a police auction for cheap. We're pretty sure police departments across the country are already calling Ford to see what kind of deal they can get on a fleet of Mustang sedans, so we're just saying, hey Ford, answer the call so we can reap the benefits in a few years and pick up our own Mustang Bluesmobiles.

We know Dodge is cooking up a cop-spec Charger Daytona, so we think the Mustang should answer the call.

Bring Back The Twister Special

Remember the Twister Specials? These were rare variants of the Ford Torino and the Mustang featuring Grabber Orange paint jobs with a cool cartoon tornado on the side, like the Plymouth Roadrunner logo. The Mustang Twister Special was a 1970 model packed with a Super Cobra Jet Ram Air engine, or a 351 CID Cleveland V8, with just 96 models produced for the Kansas City sales region, and only 60 or so thought to exist today. We'll never get our hands on one of those, but a race-spec Mustang sedan is as good an excuse as any to revive the orange tornado.

Made In America, Baby

It might surprise you to hear that your American muscle car isn't as all-American as you think. With the Camaro now out of production, there's only one muscle car still built in the good ol' US of A: the Mustang. That's right, the Dodge muscle cars are built in Canada.

So, in light of this, Ford should leverage its US production facilities to the fullest, create American jobs, and sell the Mustang Sedan as a true American muscle sedan. The heart of Mustang production currently centers around the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan, and even the GTD, which is finished by Multimatic in Markham, Canada, starts its life in Flat Rock. We'd like to see any iteration of the Mustang retain that trait.

Lots Of Clicky Buttons, Levers, And Switches

An all-analog interface might be too much to ask, but driving a Ford Mustang should be a very tactile experience. So let's get some buttons, switches, and levers in there, stuff that clicks and snaps into place and offers a nice sense of feedback. We're on record saying that we just don't want to operate everything from a touchscreen, even in high-tech cars like Teslas. This goes double for an American classic like the Mustang. We want to be able to adjust the radio volume or flip the windshield wipers on and off with a click, and without having to take our eyes off the road.

Deep Customization

High-end luxury sedans like the Flying Spur offer such deep customization that you can spend hours on the website tweaking your dream car. Why should you have to spend a quarter million dollars to have that kind of fun? We'd love to see the Ford Mustang Sedan hit the market with a wide range of interior color and trim options, and all kinds of metal flake and pearlescent exterior colors; if we can't get the Mystichrome paint Ford refuses to put on the GTD, maybe the Dark Horse's Blue Ember paint.

The S650 Mustang family already has loads of customization already, especially in Dark Horse form where you can spec carbon fiber wheels among loads of other cool options, so we'd like to see that continue in the Mustang Sedan.

2024-08-31T05:15:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd