Ford Finally Brings the Mustang Into the 21st Century

12-06-2013 • http://www.wired.com, By Damon Lavrinc

The Mustang lit the pony car fuse 50 years ago, and today, Ford has managed to blend its heritage with a range of technologies that makes it faster, more fuel efficient, and most importantly, more fun.

The exterior is a handsome mixture of classic styling and Ford’s modern design language, particularly up front, where they’ve incorporated the trapezoid grille into the upright nose and swept the headlamps back into the fenders. But the real party is in the rear, with its swooping fastback that ends in a slanted rear fascia that retains the Mustang’s classic trio of tail lamps, now with LEDs.

The interior is unremarkable, subtly evolving the current car’s styling and ergonomics, but the real revolution is underneath the skin.

For the first time in the Mustang’s history (save one Cobra model in 1999), Ford has ditched the archaic, straight-line friendly solid rear axle for an independent rear suspension — something fitted to almost every modern car for decades. That means a better ride and even better handling. It’s something sports car aficionados have been begging for Ford to adopt, and they’ve finally delivered.