Ford Mustang 2003 News

The iconic Ford Mustang began production in Dearborn, Michigan in 1964 and was first seen by the public on April 17 at New York's World Fair.

The original pony car from the 1960s became a 2010 model today at the opening of the Los Angeles Motor Show with everything you would expect of a Mustang. It has all the familiar keys expected in a Mustang, from the basic shape to a V8 under the bonnet, but has been tweaked and primped for a new edition. It runs on bigger wheels, with a smaller-looking body that is softer around the edges, and also has a new-generation V8 promising more go from less fuel. And to meet a growing band of rivals led by the Aussie-made Chevrolet Camaro. The Camaro and Dodge Challenger have been brought back from the dead, after also starting their lives in the muscle car era of the 1960s, as more and more Americans look for the car they could never afford in their youth. In the case of the Mustang, there are high hopes for a car which is now celebrating its 45th birthday and is the halo car for the whole blue oval brand. "We wanted to take it to the next level. Aggressive, muscular and athletic," says the Mustang's chief engineer, Paul Randle. The Mustang has shared top billing at Ford alongside the F150 truck but, with the recent downturn in demand for pickups and SUVs, the muscle car now sits alone. And Ford knows it has to fire. Chief designer J Mays says the 2010 Mustang is right-sized and done right for the 21st century. "We managed to make it look smaller than Camaro and Challenger," Mays says. The mechanical package includes wheels as big as 19-inch alloys, standard stability control, an optional 4.6-litre V8 and - best of all for Mustang fans - the potential for major upgrades by tuner companies including Shelby. But the basic mechanical package is as basic as always - trailing well behind the FG Falcon in its chassis design and tuning - and there is no chance of the car becoming an official model in Australia. The last Mustang move Down Under was a disaster, once enthusiasts had claimed the first cars, and so the only 2010s likely to hit Australian roads will be private imports which have been converted to right-hand drive by local specialists.  

AS ONE-FIFTH of the upbeat phenomenon Hi-5, Nathan Foley is known around the world. He has sung and danced his way to worldwide acclaim with the multiple Logie and ARIA Award-winning group and children's show. The 28-year-old has been part of the successful Nine Network show, which is aired in 83 countries worldwide, for eight years. And, along with the other four members of Hi-5, he has become a cult star for under-10s. Foley, who has recently written and produced his solo album, Discovery, loves V8 engines, riding motorcycles and karting.What was your first car?I bought a 1983 Mazda RX-7 when I was 16. I started performing when I was 10, so I saved to buy a car when I got my Ls. I bought it secondhand and I still have it. It's bronze-over-brown - sounds disgusting, but it's really funky. I'm trying to sell it.What do you drive now?My main car is a 2003 Ford Explorer. I also have a 2003 Triumph motorcycle, and I've just sold a 1969 Mach 1 Mustang. In 1998 I won a Proton Satria in a singing competition and traded it in for the Mustang. I sold it because I want to renovate my house.Do you have a favourite drive, and who would you take along?I love driving down the south coast of NSW to Coolangatta with my girlfriend Melissa (not Coolangatta in Queensland). It's about a two-hour drive from Sydney.How far would you drive in an average year?Oh boy. We tour a lot and I drive both and in New Zealand. I live on the NSW central coast so I do a lot of driving back and forth to Sydney. I'd average three to four hours a day. What's that over a year? A lot of kilometres.Do you have a favourite motoring memory?I used to visit my dad on weekends at his farm in the central coast area. He bought me a $200 paddock-basher - I think it was a Corona. It was a five-speed manual, so I learned to drive a manual at a young age. I was 10 years old and had my own Dukes of Hazzard course. My mates would come over and we'd go around the paddock-bashing course.What would you buy if money were no object?I'm not a huge fan of new cars - they all look the same to me. But if I had millions of dollars to spend I would buy 50 to 100 classic cars. Get all the muscle cars from the late 1960s and early '70s.What music is playing in your car?I'm a huge Stevie Wonder fan but at the moment I'm really getting into Ben Harper -- Both Sides of the Gun. I always travel with my iPod. I have this huge transmitter that's really strong, so if I'm travelling in convoy with friends in three cars they can all pick up the frequency.How much is too much for a new car?I think car prices are going up ridiculously, especially if it's just to get you from A to B. The only way I would buy an expensive car is if it would hold its value like an investment. That's why I got the Mustang. If you spend $80,000 to $100,000 on a new car - which I haven't, that's way too much money -- in a few years they're down to $40,000. I think $450,000 is too much to pay for a car. If big businessmen have the cash to do it, then do it, but I think it's ridiculous.What should be done to make driving safer?People need to be more aware on the road. I find when I'm on my bike, people just don't look where they're driving. They don't indicate. I think everyone should do a road-rules test and be taken on a course once a year. If they're not up to scratch they should lose their licence. I really believe that. My pet peeve is people going slow in the right-hand lane on the freeway. It bugs the crap out of me.Are you sponsored by a car company?No, but I'm looking.

Ford will debut a variant of the growling, retro-styled Mustang this weekend at the Los Angeles Auto Show.The 2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt is an update of the 1968 pony car driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Bullitt.Last year the car chase scene in Bullitt was chosen as the best of all time. The 2008-version goes on sale in January. Ford will produce just 7700 for the American market, with a starting price of $US31,075 ($35,255) .It will be a close replica of the original 1968 Mustang, right down to its stealth-like appearance. For the movie, all the exterior badges and logos from the car were removed.The new car features the same Dark Highland Green paint, lack of badges, scoops and spoilers. Ford will also offer the car in black.The word Bullitt is on a graphic on a fake petrol cap on the boot.The car's chief designer, Doug Gaffka, says: “The 2008 Mustang Bullitt, like the movie car, is ... a wolf in sheep's clothing.”The new car features a 4.6-litre, 3-valve V8 that delivers 235kW at6000 rpm and 440Nm of torque at 4250 rpm. Top speed is 240km/h and it has a 5-speed manual gearbox. It even features a polished aluminium shift ball designed specifically for the car.The book The Greatest Movie Car Chases Of All Time last year awarded Bullitt its prestigious accolade. Author Jesse Crosse voted the Bullitt chase better than other iconic movie chases including the chase through Paris in the 1998 movie Ronin, which came second, the little known 1973 movie The Seven Ups (third) and the famous Mini Cooper S chase in the The Italian Job of 1969 (fourth). Crosse says the Bullitt chase in which McQueen's Mustang chases a black Dodge Charger R/T driven by actor Bill Hickman through San Francisco is without doubt the best.“It's not just the inclusion of the fabulous cars, the fabulous city and King of Cool that makes Bullitt the best chase in the world,” he says.“The engine soundtrack of both cars is simply awesome.“The cinematography broke new ground and in-car footage is raw and gritty, with plenty of opportunity to watch Hickman, McQueen and Bud Edkins ... in action.”Ford is hoping the car re-ignites sales of the new-age Mustang. In the US, Autodata sales figures show Mustang sales are down 18per cent in the first 10 months of this year.Other highlights of the LA show include Chrysler's street-legal version of its Dodge Viper SRT10 race car. Hyundai's Genesis Coupe and Lamborghini's Reventon super car also will be featured.

“When I saw the first one come into the workshop I sat in it all day. My boss had to come get me out to do some work,” he says. Monk had fallen for the American muscle cars, in particular the Ford Mustangs. While he was used to heavy and underpowered British cars such as the Hillman his father drove, Monk says the new American thoroughbred was a welcome breath of fresh air. More than 40 years on and Monk's garage features not just one but three shiny Mustangs. His pride and joy is the 1967 Fastback he paid $30,000 for six years ago. “I had a 1965 but I always wanted a Fastback. I preferred the shape and when this one came up I bought it,” the 59-year-old says. Monk has since sold his 1965 model, but his wife, who shares his Mustang passion, has a 1967 convertible and he's also got a more modern version with a 1994 convertible. Monk says the 1967 Fastback was in good condition when he bought it, but he has carried out some work on the engine and the trim, and lowered it. “It was a little bit too high, they used to call it the four-wheel-drive Mustang because it was so high off the ground,” he says. The Mustangs weren't officially released in Australia in the 1960s and '70s, but some enthusiasts did import them into the country. Monk says Ford imported some models for sale. But in America, they instantly became a hit. “There were countdowns to when the Mustang was released,” Monk says. “When they were released people queued up to buy them, they slept in dealerships. That was in America.” Ford didn't build any right-hand-drive versions of the Mustangs, so the ones that came into Australia had to be converted. “Up until 1998, you couldn't drive a left-hand-drive car in Australia, so you had the added cost of conversion,” Monk says. “You could in South Australia and Canberra but not NSW.” This made them quite expensive for the average Australian, making it much cheaper to opt for a locally manufactured car. The cars originally sold in the US for about $US2500, but according to Monk, they were more expensive here because of the conversion costs. Monk says when these cars were first released, they were ahead of their time, offering a five-page list of options such as cruise control. “It's automatic. The rear seat folds up and down giving access to the boot. It's a lovely car, it's just unusual and it's candy apple red in colour, it's a known fact that red Mustangs go faster,” he says. Monk says there are now a lot of them in Australia as many people have imported them over the years. The Mustang Owners Club of NSW alone has 600 members with about 800 cars. Monk's 1967 Fastback spent most of its life in the US, coming to settle Down Under at the beginning of this century. “It was born on August 1, 1967, that's the day it was manufactured, all this has been verified by Ford and the compliance plate on the car,” he says. “It came into Australia in 2000 when a father and son brought it in and did it up. They sold it to the guy I bought it off, who had it for a while. But he needed some money so he sold it to me and it will be a dark day before I sell it.” The classic Mustangs are now selling for about $50,000 for an average model. But many Mustang fans are happy just to get a look. Last year, Monk and 24 fellow Mustang owners took their vehicles more than 3000km on a club trip to Tasmania. One local found out about the team of Mustangs hitting town, so frantically rang all the motels in the area to find out where they were staying, in a hope of getting some happy snaps. But this sort of attention isn't new to Monk. “When you stop at traffic lights people offer to swap Commodores for the Mustang,” he laughs. “We meet a lot of people. At a car show this bloke came up to me and said he was the bloke who brought it into Australia, he used to own it.” Many people in particular have come to recognise the Mustang muscle car from its role in the hit film Gone In 60 Seconds, which introduced a new generation to the classic. Monk says his model is the same shape and same kind of Mustang as Eleanor, the one Nicolas Cage drove, but is just a different variant. While Monk is satisfied with his current Mustang collection, like most car enthusiasts he would like to see it grow in size. “There are always plans for more Mustangs, it's only the bank account that prohibits any more,” he says. “I'd like to get a current model, but I'd have to sell the house and live in a caravan to do that.” Although he likes the new modernised version, Monk says his true passion lies with the classic Mustang models. But in his books, you can have any Mustang to be considered a real car owner. “There's only one car, a Mustang, all Fords come second ... then there's the rest,” he says laughing. “If you don't own a Mustang we say you've gone to the dark side.”   Snapshot 1967 FORD MUSTANG FASTBACK Value when new: $US2500, about $5000 in Australia after conversion Value six years ago: $30,000 Value now: Between $50,000 and $75,000 Verdict: It's not hard to fall in love with the classic shape and looks of this American muscle car, well-known for its role in the action film Gone In 60 Seconds.  

The two Fastback coupes, a 1967 right-hand-drive GT500 and a 1968 left-hand-drive GT350H will be up for grabs in the Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour on the last day of the show, November 5.The auctioneers, Shannons, say the GT500 (build number 500) is one of just 2048 Shelbys built with Ford's big block Police Interceptor 428 V8 engine in 1967. It has a fully documented history.The Le Mans Blue GT500 up for auction was delivered new in California in March 1967 and has a four-speed manual gearbox. It came to Australia in 1969 and was totally restored in 1999.The left-hand-drive red 1968 GT350H (build number 01140) was originally delivered to the Hertz Car Rental Company in Detroit in 1968.It came to Australia in the late 1990s.Shannons expect the Shelby GT500 to attract bids in the $170,000-$200,000 range and the GT350H to sell for $150,000-plus.