The 2009 Ford Glass Roof Mustang will come with an available factory-installed glass roof and will be assembled at the Automotive Alliance International plant in Flat Rock with the glass to be installed at Ford’s adjacent vehicle personalization facility.

The new roof means that Mustang buyers will now get to choose among a coupe, convertible and glass roof. The new option is designed to satisfy consumers’ growing desire for more natural light. The new glass roof will be available as an option on the V6 Mustang and Mustang GT beginning next summer.

At $1,995, the new glass roof option will be less expensive than a convertible, without compromising the coupe’s versatility, headroom or climate control. The new glass roof will be made of tinted privacy glass, which reduces infrared rays and vehicle cool-down time by half. A manual roller blind is built in, allowing owners to further control exposure on sunny days.

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The new Mustang will be based on the current S197 platform and will not be completely redesigned from the ground up. A complete redesign would prove too costly, so Ford intends to make any necessary improvements with the current platform to compete with the Camaro and Challenger.

When it comes to appearance, the 2009 Mustang will not disappoint. While, the wheelbase and overall dimensions of the car probably won’t change much, the 2009 Mustang will be more aggressive and audacious in its styling. With modern body lines, more pronounced front and rear flanks and a proportionally smaller glass area, the 2009 Mustang will have a sleek, yet aggressive appearance. It’s expected that retro styling will continue to dominate the theme of the car, but there are certainly going to be some modern details included, such as projector beam headlights in its newly designed front facia.

The heart of 2009 Mustang GT will most likely beat through Fords new 3-valve 4.6L V8, although there has been some speculation that it could see either the 4-valve 4.6L V-8 or the 3-valve 5.4L V-8. Whichever engine Ford decides to plant under the hood of the 2009 Mustang, one thing is for sure, displacement on demand (DOD) technology will be used.

This feature allows the engine to shut off four of the 8 cylinders to improve fuel economy when the engine is lightly loaded. By using the DOD technology, a more aggressive engine tune may be possible which could give the Mustang a potent 325-340hp. All this power will likely be harnessed through a 5 speed gearbox, unless the competition forces Ford to do drop a six-speed in.

Although it’s expected that the 2009 Mustang will ride on a refined version of the “DEW-lite” chassis which is currently used in the S197 Mustang, one possible change could be an independent rear suspension in place of the solid rear axle. The Camaro and Challenger are both expected to sport an IRS, so Ford may be forced to follow suit.

The interior of the 2009 Mustang will likely be just as bold as the exterior. Look for improvements such as a new steering wheel, instrument cluster and door panels which will continue to give the Mustang a retro look, yet modern feel. One feature that will surely be dropped from the 2009 Mustang is the “My-Color” instruments, which allows the color of the instrument panel to be changed to suit the drivers styling needs. This option has proven costly for Ford and removing it should help keep production costs down.

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Available in fastback coupe or convertible body styles, the Mustang V6 models make nice, stylish cruisers. The GT is an absolute hoot to drive, making all the right sounds, hanging onto corners tenaciously, and delivering thrilling acceleration performance. The Shelby GT500 adds to the fun with its near-Corvette performance. It’s quite tossable, making for good sport on gymkhanas, race tracks or back roads. Its solid rear axle can get bouncy on bad pavement, and you’ll want snow tires (four of them) for Northeastern or Midwestern winters.

It may be retro inspired, but the Mustang is a thoroughly modern car. Redesigned from a clean sheet of paper for 2005, today’s Mustang is faster and more agile than ever. It delivers the bold styling, rear-drive performance and affordability that have been Mustang hallmarks for decades, but it’s smoother and quieter and better built than older models.
The Ford Mustang is an American success story.

It holds true to an idea that still appeals to people of all ages, decades after the original was launched. Forty-three years after it created an automotive niche all its own, Mustang is both true to its roots and better than ever. The Mustang comes in two body styles: coupe and convertible. Each is available with a V6 or a V8. A five-speed manual transmission is standard; a five-speed automatic optional ($995). The 2007 Mustangs come in just two trim levels each for the V6 and for the V8-powered GT.

A new California Special package ($1895) spiffs up a Premium GT with 18-inch wheels, side scoops, unique tape stripes, rolled bright exhaust tips, black leather trimmed seats with unique “Cal Special” contrasting Dove or Parchment inserts, a larger air intake, a deeper chin spoiler, and unique front and rear fascias. The name refers to a special limited edition offered to California Ford dealers in 1968, but this Cal Special will be available nationwide. The GT Appearance Package ($245) features rolled exhaust tips, an engine cover with a Pony emblem, and a hood scoop.

Options include a new comfort group ($575) that includes an electrochromic mirror with compass, heated front seats, and six-way power for the front passenger seat. Stand-alone options include an active anti-theft system ($328); 1000-watt audio ($1,295); an interior upgrade package with leather-wrapped steering wheel, satin aluminum trim, and other cool-looking goodies ($460); power-adjustable driver’s seat for the Deluxe Coupe ($365); heated front seats ($250); and 18-inch wheels ($825). Sirius Satellite Radio ($195) joins the option list for ‘07, and DVD-based navigation will be available on later 2007 models.

Safety features on all Mustangs include dual-stage front-impact airbags and three-point belts for all seats. Antilock brakes and traction control are standard on GTs and optional on V6 models. Front passenger side-impact airbags ($380) are optional on all models, so be sure to order them as they are designed to offer torso protection in a side impact.

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Your first question is, of course, “Can I drive it on the street?” The answer: If you live in Hazzard County, maybe. The list of available-to-the-public hot Mustangs, already lengthy with efforts by Ford’s own SVT and tuners such as Shelby, Roush, Steeda, and Saleen, grows by one with the pending addition of the King of All Mustangs, which comes from an unlikely source: Ford’s own racing division, which turned to Multimatic Motorsports, a Canadian performance company, to complete the project. The naturally aspirated engine comes from Roush-Yates, the NASCAR boys. The inspiration and the initial investment come from Dan Davis, director of Ford Racing Technology.

As befits the fastest, most powerful Ford Mustang ever to be sold by the company, almost everything on the car that doesn’t make it go faster has been eliminated. That carbon-fiber and aluminum rear wing 15 possible positions is there for a reason, as is the carbon-fiber front splitter. They help hold the car down at top speed, which, we learned, is 172 mph, engine screaming at the 7200-rpm redline in sixth.

Geared for top speed, this is certainly an over-200-mph car. As it is, performance numbers are pretty respectable for a car built not for acceleration but for road-course racing: 0 to 60 mph comes in 3.9 seconds, the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 123 mph. The skidpad number is 1.15 g, with a full tank of 100 octane.

Typically, an automaker’s motive for building a car like this is slightly masturbatory, conceived, then achieved, with little more of a long-term goal than making yourself feel good while showing off. Not so with the King of All Mustangs: Ford, which is expected to lose upwards of $5 billion this year, really isn’t in a position to engage too much in self-gratification. Dan Davis figures he can build two of these cars a week and already has orders for them, despite minimal publicity.

The car’s formal name is the FR500GT. Insiders refer to it as the “Man Racer.” The $125,000, 420-hp FR500C Mustang, having just wrapped up it its second year racing in the Grand-Am Cup Series, was originally called the Boy Racer by Ford executives. So this new Mustang, with 130 more horses, has been referred to as the Man Racer.

In every sense, it’s a step up from the FR500C, but that program has been an excellent template for what Ford hopes to do with the Man Racer. The Boy Racer won at Daytona in 2005, its first race. The car was delivered to its owners just three days before the 200-mile race. That program, says Davis, “proved that we can build a turn-key race car that can win and not cost a fortune. And it proved we can make money at it.”

The FR500C Boy Racer is plenty fast, but it still feels like a Mustang, due in part to the restrictive Grand-Am Cup rules that dictate, for example, stock rear brakes. Bound by no such limitations, the Man Racer feels, and performs, more like a double-throwdown tube-frame race car. Had you not known, you’d never have guessed that it started life as a production car. The FR500GT begins as a stock Mustang body and chassis from the plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, and moves to Watson Engineering in Dearborn, where 30 hours are spent welding in a roll cage and another 40 stitch-welding seams.

Which include the engine. He knows it will be a Ford V-8, naturally aspirated, 550 horsepower, but the rest, he says, may be negotiable. “We have a lot of sources for engines, but I’m leaning toward Roush-Yates because we have a great relationship with them and because they build good stuff. Plus, I think customers would like having that NASCAR pedigree.”

Known for making horsepower, team owner and engine builder Robert Yates, who won the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup championship with driver Dale Jarrett, combined engine shops with the better-known Jack Roush in 2004, and Roush-Yates now supplies engines for eight Nextel Cup teams.

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Insiders who’ve seen styling mockups report the 2007 Bullitt features a plain grille without galloping pony badge or spotlights and a black-painted panel between the taillights, just like McQueen’s ‘68. Naturally, the car will be available in Highland Green. More significant, though, will be the new Boss, which will introduce Ford’s all-new 5.0-liter Hurricane V-8.

Due late in the year, the limited-edition Boss will get a tuned 425- to 435-horsepower version of the Hurricane, a stripped-down interior (though air-conditioning will be available), and less sound deadening. The idea is to replicate the original Boss Mustang’s race-special feel. Only 1000 cars will be built.

Slightly detuned from Boss spec, the Hurricane will become the regular GT’s engine in 2008, when the Mustang will get a major face-lift. Insiders report every exterior panel is to be changed and updated, with the base cars getting a more aggressive look similar to that of the current Shelby GT500. The GT500, meantime, will become even more extreme looking. An all-new Mustang is due 2010, a year after the new Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger launch.

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Of course, the debate about how good it could be has raged in the enthusiast media since the GT500 show car was first revealed. We are here to announce that it’s damn good. Is it worth paying $20,000 over sticker to get one? Of course not. Ford will be, relatively speaking, flooding the market with them 8,000 or so per year for five years so it’s not like they will be rare. In other words, there will be more produced in the first two years alone than the sum total of all previous Shelby Mustangs.

We’ve spent considerable seat time in the first Mustang to be branded a Shelby since 1970. We’ve flogged it on the infield road course at California Speedway in Fontana, on some challenging twisty roads outside of Berkley, California, then finally, two weeks later, in Michigan at Milan Dragway. Everything about it is worlds better than the current Mustang GT, from the seats and interior, to the appearance and the powertrain, to the tires and the handling.

Let’s start with the engine since, frankly, that’s why most people will want this vehicle. There are two main differences between the dual-overhead cam 5.4-liter V-8 in the GT500 and the Ford GT. First, the former utilizes an Eaton Roots-style supercharger instead of a twin-screw design, thus reducing horsepower by a good 10 percent.

Second, the version that goes in the Mustang has a cast-iron block with wet-sump oiling, while the GT uses an expensive aluminum block with dry-sump oiling. According to Hau Thai-Tang, Director, Advanced Product Creation and Ford Special Vehicle Team, the four-valve-per-cylinder heads and cams are identical. The aluminum block was never considered for production because the cost to reengineer it solely for use in the Mustang would have been prohibitive and too much to pass along to the consumer, according to Thai-Tang.

The blower itself is an Eaton M122, which flows 10 ci more air than the M112 that was used on the ‘03-’04 “Terminator” Cobras. The M112 was simply too small to fulfill the needs of the hungry 330ci DOHC monster in the GT500. It is fed by a dual 60mm electronic throttle body, which draws air through what looks like the world’s most restrictive airbox. As this story was being written, the final horsepower and torque numbers were unveiled. It makes 500 hp at 6,000 rpm and 480 lb-ft of torque at 4,500.

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Next year will see the Mustang get a big redesign. In light of this, it’s not surprising to find that there aren’t too many new features offered for 2004. The 2004 Ford Mustang is offered in the following trims: Base Standard, Deluxe and Premium; GT Deluxe and Premium; Mach 1; and Cobra. The 2004 Ford Mustang continues to be offered as a two-door coupe and a two-door convertible. Not the biggest cars out there, Mustangs seat four.

The manufacturers at Ford improved the 2004 Mustang’s cabin noise by using expandable foam in key areas. Standard comfort and convenience features across the board include air conditioning, power windows and door locks, tilt steering column, full-length center floor console, remote keyless entry and interval windshield wipers.

Inside the 40th Anniversary Package you’ll find a four-way head restraint, a painted center console, a shifter bezel in metallic gray and brushed aluminum door lock knobs, shift boot trim ring and pedals. The special interior also includes unique floormats with an embroidered 40th Anniversary logo and a matching badge on the center console.

Four different engines drive the 2004 Ford Mustang: one V6 and three variations of a V8. Base models use a 3.8-liter V6 with 193 horsepower and 225 lb-ft of torque. With the GT duo, the versatile 4.6-liter V8 delivers 260 horsepower and 302 lb-ft of torque. Like GT models, Mach 1 Mustangs have specialized suspension. They too use the 4.6-liter V8, upgraded to 310 horsepower and 335 lb-ft of torque.

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As a follow up to the Mustang GT burnout “how to” featuring the father and son in a parking garage and the GT500 “couldn’t find a suitable speed limit’ spot, we hope to see this one on TV as well. We’re a little curious as to why they used the rental-only Shelby GT-H in the video instead of the available-to-everybody Shelby GT, but it’s not like it diminishes the fun in any way.

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Of course, this is no regular Mustang. Bow to stern, not a single body panel is left stock. This is not a modified Mustang, it is an “interpreted” Mustang. In Fabrizio’s words, “We still believe it’s important to show the automotive world pure exercises in style that interpret key models reflecting the history and image of important brands.” There is far more freedom in interpretation; just ask a dancer.

The car is wider by 30 mm up front and 80 mm in the rear, with aggressive fender flares front and rear capped by a sharp body line that peaks over the rear wheel in a salute to the rear fins so commonplace on American cars in the late fifties. That’s odd considering that the Mustang didn’t appear until five years after fins reached their peak and flattened out.

Regular Mustangs can be had with sunroofs, but this one has a single panel reaching all the way from bonnet to boot for uninterrupted views of the canyons you could scorch if you could get your hands on it. And that single panel isn’t even plain glass. Ford says it is a “special type of crystal that filters out 100 percent of UVA rays.

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The 2002 Ford Mustang boasts a phenomenal sound system including an optional six-disc, in-dash CD changer that pumps out the tunes via six amplifiers, four subwoofers, four tweeters, and two trunk-mounted subwoofer enclosures. You may also choose an MP3 CD player.

As for creature comforts, the interior sports cloth bucket seats, air conditioning, power windows, and power door locks. New for 2002, all coupe models feature an overhead storage net. Genuine leather upholstery is available as an option, along with a six-way power adjustable driver’s seat.

The V6 GT models feature a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and both models may be upgraded with optional leather seating. The convertible models headline a power retractable fabric top that is raised and lowered rapidly and features a scratch-resistant rear window.

The exterior is marked with aerodynamic halogen headlights and dual power outside mirrors, and the Ford Mustang GT models are equipped with sixteen-inch bright aluminum wheels with exposed lugs. A rear spoiler is also available on the GT models.

The 2002 Ford Mustang Coupe and Convertible check in with a 3.8-litre OHV V6 engine that spits out 193 horsepower and 228 lbs-ft of torque. Meanwhile, the Mustang GT Coupe and Convertible is equipped with a 4.6-litre, SOHC V8 that whips down the roads with 260 horsepower and 302 lbs-ft of torque.

Each rear-wheel drive Mustang features a modified MacPherson Strut front suspension and four-bar link rear suspension, along with power rack-and-pinion steering. The GT headlines a traction-lock rear axle for superior handling on slippery road surfaces or while accelerating rapidly.

The Ford Mustang is built with three-point seatbelts, four-wheel anti-lock brakes, and all-speed traction control. The list of safety features continues with a driver depowered air bag and a passenger depowered air bag.

Each vehicle comes with an interior emergency trunk release handle, and is armed with the SecuriLock theft deterrent system that prevents the ignition from being started without an appropriate key. The Ford Mustang Coupe has the honor of receiving a five-star front crash test rating for driver and front passenger.

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