06-02-08: While real meat and bone information about the upcoming 2010 refresh of the Mustang is scant these days, we have some more insight from the team that is hard at work on it. The redesigned Mustang is due to hit showrooms early next year and will be facing off against both the new Dodge Challenger and the Chevrolet Camaro.
It seems however that Ford has read the tea leaves a bit with the current trends in the market that have been driven by high gas prices and more stringent fuel economy standards. At a recent event, Ford design chief Peter Horbury has said that the 2010 Mustang will have a smaller look than the current car. While it will be identical in size, clever design tricks are said to make the car appear less bulky and heavy.
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"We have a car which I think is more suitable for the times than the Challenger and the Camaro," Horbury, Ford Motor's North American design director, told the Automotive News. "Especially the Challenger--it is a huge car when you see it on the road."
The Dodge Challenger of course is a huge heavy car by comparison to the Mustang, being 10 inches longer and over 500lbs more on average. The Camaro specs are not known at this time but it is likely it will be much heavier than the Mustang.
While the dimensions of the 2010 Mustang are said to be the same as the current car, the smaller look was targeted to appeal to buyers in a more gas mileage conscious market. "By cleverness in design, we've been able to make it look like the wheels are further out, further forward and further rearward," Horbury said. "The center line is the longest part" of the next Mustang, he said, "and the widest part of the car is the middle. From there on, you can tuck it in and bring the apparent size down."
Essentially what this means is what we have believed for a while, that is a Mustang with more muscular and tapered proportions. So while it may look smaller, from what Horbury says, it may also look more athletic. It also adds to the case that has been made that the 2010 Mustang will have many of the cues shown in the Guigiaro Concept Mustang above.
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