Is this the future???

Magazine reports that Ford could make four-door versions of its next-generation Mustang.
By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNNMoney.com staff writer
POSTED: 11:57 a.m. EST, December 14, 2006



NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Would Mustang Sally drive a station wagon? Maybe she'll get the chance.

The next generation of the Ford Mustang could include some previously unthinkable variants including a four-door sedan and a station wagon, according to a report in the magazine AutoWeek.

"To a Mustang purist, this is blasphemy," said Bob Gritzinger, AutoWeek's senior editor for news.

Mustang has become a strong brand name, perhaps even stronger than Ford's famous Blue Oval, the magazine story says.

Key Ford's of the future

You can measure that by price. Introduced for the 2005 model year, the current version of the Mustang still sells for close to full sticker price, according to Kelley Blue Book's KBB.com Website.

AutoWeek attributes its story to a "prominent automotive industry consultant familiar with the Ford plan."

"It's a case of reaching out to the men or women who keenly identify with the Mustang, but for various reasons - whether it be family, recreational or other - need a more versatile car than a coupe," the source is quoted as saying.

The planned 4-door Mustang may be foreshadowed by a Lincoln sedan to be shown at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show.

The 4-door Lincoln uses much of the current Mustang's engineering, according to the magazine. The Lincoln car will have independent rear suspension originally developed for the Mustang but scrapped as too expensive.

The current Mustang has a solid rear axle. But Ford plans for the next-generation Mustang to have a sophisticated independent rear suspension.

The next-generation Mustang is due to come 2011, according to AutoWeek. It could come out as early as 2009, however, Gritzinger said in an interview.

That would allow the Mustang to compete more effectively against the new Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger coupes, expected to arrive in late 2008 as 2009 models.

"It's going to be muscle car heaven in 2008," said Gritzinger.

The story, including illustrations of what the Mustang sedan might look like, is in the Dec. 18 issue of AutoWeek and on-line at AutoWeek.com.

Ford executives were not immediately available for comment on the report.

Other performance coupes have successfully spun off four-door variants despite fans' protests.

Most recently, the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler reintroduced the Charger name on a four-door sedan in 2005. Despite grumbling from fans of the original 1960s and '70s muscle car, the Charger sedan has sold well.

The next generation of General Motors' Chevrolet Impala sedan will share its engineering and some design cues with the new Chevrolet Camaro, various industry news media have reported. That would allow the Impala to benefit from the "family relationship" without actually taking the Camaro name.

In this case, the two-door coupe and convertible Mustang would continue to be produced, according to the report.

Brad Bowling, a Mustang expert who has written several books on the car including the Standard Catalog of Mustang, told CNNMoney.com he was not particularly bothered by the idea.

"For years people have occasionally made their own custom Mustang wagons and that sort of thing," he said.

Bowling himself recently parted with one of his Mustangs, a 2001 model, because he needed something with more room, he said. He bought a Hemi-powered Dodge Magnum wagon.

He recognized that not everyone would share his attitude toward the idea of four-door Mustangs.

"There are going to be two really strong-minded schools of thought on this," Bowling said.

In the past, attempts to fundamentally alter the Mustang, an iconic American performance car, have been blocked because of outrage by Mustang owners.

In the 1980s, a plan to bring out a front-wheel-drive Mustang met with so much resistance that the company instead introduced the car as the Ford Probe while keeping the Mustang rear-wheel-drive.

 

Saw it today from autoweek as well ...
Hope they would not do the same to C7 or I'll go with Viper

 

One of the top Chevy execs were pushing for a four seater Corvette back in the 60's to compete with Ford's larger T-Bird, thinking it would sell better. There are some pics in my Corvette book, and it sure is funny looking. Thank goodness the Corvette designers talked GM off of that ledge! It's an interesting history with the Corvette, with the many times the designers had to battle with stupid corporate ideas or even had to covertly go ahead with their own plans without the execs knowing. I hope they keep on fighhting tooth & nail to keep the Corvette what it is supposed to be, and not what the front office people think it should be.

 

Nnnnnnnnoooooooooo!!!

 

 

Since when did GM take Corvette's direction from the Mustang?

This is interesting news, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with the Corvette.

 

hell yeah!! who's that playa?

 

I hope not!

 

If I wanted 4 doors I'd get an SUV.

 

Ford changes its icons too much. The original Thunderbird was excellent. Then Ford lost focus and made it a bigger car. They brought it back a couple of years ago, but it's gone...again.

 

For the Mustang, a 2-door station wagon, on the 55 Chevy Nomad theme, would be OK for them. NO NO NO to a four-door version. The last good T-Bird was the '66 (think Thelma and Louise). The four-door version ruined the franchise, and Ford never got it back after that.

If GM wants to do a modern-day Nomad, do it with the Camaro, NOT the Corvette. And GM should leave all 4-door versions under the Impala nameplate.

 

Ford screwed themselves when they tried to make the TBird into something it was not. They already had a Lincoln. The Mustang saved them, but then all their guys went to Chrysler and they screwed that up to. At one time they had Lee Iococa, John Delorean, Larry Shinoda and others. Now they are too busy trying to promote LOGO the Gay-Lesbian agenda. Even their stock is tanking and 38000 employees took the buy out.

 

Ford = Fix or repair daily.

 

wont happen.. id dump my vette in a heartbeat...

 

Chevy could use a car to compete with the SRT-8 four doors. Besides the Vette and a $52k CTS-V, GM has no car I would be interested in. Chevy could use another 4 door RWD Impy SS type car with a Vette motor in it.

 

I don't think so (hopefully not)

 

.... I'd be next in line........

 

No way will we see it happen to Corvette. I think the odds of the Mustang going that direct are pretty slim as well. The American manufacturers have made plenty of stupid moves, but that would really be a bad one.

 

The new one was beautiful. Ford never marketed it properly. If I'm not mistaken, the only option was a six, with an auto. Interior was straight from the parts bin. I have a buddy who drives one in light metallic blue and he loves it. That car would have been a monster seller with a bit of creativity put into it's development.

 

I hope that don't do this. I think the new Jeep Wrangler 4 door looks like a POS too.