BY JUSTIN HILLIARD | 22nd Feb 2019
Overview
FEW vehicles are so recognisable that they don’t have a badge spelling out their model nameplate, but Ford’s Mustang isn’t like many others.
Spanning across six generations since its inception in April 1964, the Mustang has been a cult classic since day one, joining a very short list of vehicles that can be easily identified by the average punter.
Part of the Mustang’s success has been its eye-catching style, with signature elements retained over the years and evident in the facelifted sixth-generation model currently in showrooms.
While we weren’t initially a fan of the minor tweaks to its front and rear fascias, the facelift has quickly won us over, proving to be every little bit the attention-grabber that its predecessors are.
However, the Mustang’s lineage is relatively easy to maintain from a styling perspective but no so when it comes to its international-combustion engines, which are increasingly under threat by the automotive industry’s ever-tightening emissions standards.
Ford, of course, acknowledged this with confirmation of the latest model’s turbocharged EcoBoost four-cylinder powertrain in December 2013, although the hairy-chested naturally aspirated V8 continues to live on today.
While electrification is likely for its future iterations, the Mustang gained more power and torque, and a rowdier exhaust, in facelifted bent-eight GT form, keeping the muscle car alive for enthusiasts that have long cherished it.
Manual transmissions are also facing the chop, thanks to the inevitability of autonomy, meaning the only purist-friendly way to test the Mustang is with its three-pedal set-up.
It’s no surprise, then, that we tackled the 2018/2019 holiday break with a manual Mustang GT Fastback coupe to see if the Pony car is still worth riding in. Spoiler alert: It sure as hell is.