2014 Ford Mustang won't go retro

It’s hard to believe it, but Ford’s “pony car” darling, the ever eviscerating Mustang, will turn 50 in 2014.  While it may be a few years premature to celebrate, Ford is already hard at work on re-designing the look of their performance pony for the half century milestone.  Currently on it’s fifth generation make-over, the Ford Mustang will once again be overhauled, re-engineered and given a new cosmetic body to sport Ford’s attitude of appreciation.  What the new Mustang wont be is retro.

Automotive News reported on the matter recently, revealing that Ford’s Design Chief, J Mays, admitted that the new generation of Mustangs will not have a keen homage in appearance to the Mustangs of the past.  The current fifth generation had gone back to a more classical look than it’s third and forth gen predecessors.    Those of us hoping that Ford would continue their pursuit of designing Mustangs with a mixture of noir sentimentality and futuristic infusion can use their hope on something else.  It simply is not happening.  ”The challenge or the opportunity for 2014 with a 50th-anniversary car is to not just look back over your shoulder, but to try to win all of the Mustang faithful yet bring the brand forward as well,” told Mays to Automotive News.  

What does this mean for the future of the Stang?  No one other than Mays and his faithful team know.  Mays has admitted that the plot and plans for the new Mustang generation is being kept under lock and key.  It could be almost two years before anyone other than Ford eyes up the new Mustang model (though that is a worst case scenario).  For now, consumers and car enthusiasts will have to play the waiting game.  If history has taught us anything in this particular case, it’s that change can be a dangerous thing.  When Ford revealed their second generation Mustang in 1974, the design spring-boarded off of the plunky Ford Pinto.  The third generation was originally outcast by consumers and harassed into being redesigned in 1987 (with the discarded version becoming the Ford Probe).

If Mays and his team are working on a concept based off another manufacturer's model or another of Ford’s models, this could mean a hiccup case of half sedan/half coup hybrid for the future Mustang or worst, it could come out looking like a PT Cruiser (again, worst case scenario).  For those looking for new places to place their hopes at, why not invest it in hoping the new Mustang will play more off the first and fifth generation; where the Mustang is still a sleek, steel skeletoned stead with finesse and rugged good looks.