It's a Mustang thang

For 48 years now, the Ford Mustang has been an American icon of horsepower, speed, and tough lines. Featured in countless movies, it’s the muscle car that other muscle cars wanna be when they grow up.

And now it’s here in Manila.

Ford launched the classic muscle car in two new models — the V8 GT Premium (5 liter/420 horsepower) and V6 Premium (3.7 liter/305 horsepower) — in a special rollout last month where media guests were invited for a backseat drive in closed streets of Laguna, at speeds of 140 KPH.

“We kind of did it as a ‘chase scene’ with one Mustang following another,” says Prudz Castillo, Ford Philippine’s AVP for marketing. He says there were lots of beaming faces when the ride was over.

Just looking at the V8 in the Fort Bonifacio showroom, you can see why people are drooling over it.

“Ford fans have been clamoring for this for several years,” says Prudz. “We hear it from our dealers, from customers, every time we have shows, even e-mails. The big question was always: ‘When are you going to bring in the Mustang?’”

Looks-wise, it’s a classic muscle car: 19-inch wheels, strong shoulders, short rear bed and a long hood with a power dome — big lines and prominent heat extractors. Powerful.

Yes, the Ford Mustang is racing its way onto Manila streets.

For nearly a half century, people have done a lot of crazy things in Mustangs. Partying, making out at the drive-in, heading cross-country, breaking speed limits. It’s an iconic ride that’s tied to many a man’s youth and aspirations. It even crosses over into popular culture. Who can forget:

• Steve McQueen chasing up and down the streets of San Francisco, in Bullitt, his tooled-up GT390 ‘Stang gunning like a pack of broncos? (“Punch it! Punch it!”)

• Nicolas Cage, on a mission to steal 50 cars in two nights, using his ’68 Shelby GT500 as the go-to ride?

• Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) tooling around in a futuristic 2015 Mustang in Back to the Future II?

• Will Smith gunning don the zombie-infested streets of New York City in his 2007 Shelby GT500?

There’s horsepower. And then there’s Mustang power.

“Our customers are very savvy,” notes Castillo. “They research online, they read magazines, reviews, they watch movies.”

Ah, yes. The movies. Do they ever try to recreate those movie moments here in Manila?

“Actually we also get those kinds of requests. When we hinted we were bringing in the Mustang, they were already asking for top of the line GT500.” That’s the model that gets the most close-ups in classic car chase movies.

So who’s the typical Mustang customer?

“The Mustang buyer is someone who’s not timid or quiet, not someone on the sidelines,” Castillo notes, “He wants to be heard. You’ll notice that when you start it up.”

Yes, we get a few minutes behind the wheel of the GT Premium, and a few things are new: a lot of “smart” features, like how the windows go down a little to reduce air pressure when you step inside, so your ears don’t pop; or the six-speed Manual or SelectShift automatic transmission (you can drive manual if you prefer the feel of shifting, or, with the flick of a thumb, switch to automatic); a feature called SYNC developed by Microsoft lets you pair any phone via Bluetooth for voice-activated calls and music play; the multimedia screen near the shift shows A/C and sound controls (no GPS yet), while the eight-speaker Shaker Sound system is probably an improvement over the eight-track tape deck your old man had years ago.

Yet the dashboard features that old Mustang design — dials and such — for purists. No worries: there’s also the computerized Track Apps feature to give instant performance information, acceleration readings and such; plus Automatic Start or Countdown (in Countdown, two “Christmas tree” levels are displayed — like you’d see in a drag race — dropping down to red).

“What they did with the new Mustang is to bring back the old styling, but modernize it as well,” Castillo says. I note Mustangs in recent years had junked the classic look for a more modern interpretation. “There have been some corrections,” he says. “Now they’ve got it right.”

Castillo lets me gun the engine in the showroom — for about two seconds — before he turns it off. “There… just a taste.”

Shucks.

I ask what the top speed is for the V8 (260 KPH seems to be max on the dashboard). “We don’t have a top speed,” says Anika Salceda, AVP of Corporate Communications for Ford Philippines, with a straight face.

We both laugh.

With more stock coming to Ford showrooms in September, Manila fans can finally pick their own classic muscle car in Black, Sterling Gray, Performance White, Race Red or Deep Impact Blue.

And the pricing should get your motor running, too: P2.89 million for the top-end V8, and P2.49 million for the V6.

No wonder Wilson Pickett sang a song about it.