On the day that America had a new, let’s just say, more conservative President-Elect, we slipped in behind the wheel of one of the most iconic US cars ever built.
Not his Orange Highness’s most ardent fan and owner of the all-electric Tesla, but a good old fashioned naturally aspirated V8 Ford Mustang GT.
While Elon Musk and a number of other manufacturers continue to espouse the virtues of electric as the future, Ford, the Mustang Mach E notwithstanding, still thinks it good to cater to those of us that hanker for the sound of a good old fashioned muscle car.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Mustang is the most famous of them all, having had a starring role in films, documentaries and pop culture.
And in its 60th anniversary, the best selling sports car globally for the last decade now in its seventh iteration looks set to continue that.
Let’s face it, the future looks bleak for petrolheads when Dodge Chargers and Challengers are being assigned to the fossil fuel scrapheap and turned into silent EVs. So long may the ICE mill under the long bonnet of the Mustang continue to provide thrills and spills.
It may be 60 years old, and for millennials that’s ancient, but this latest version brings it straight into the 21st century without foregoing its heritage like the crossover Mach E did.
When Ford introduced it for the first time locally at the end of 2015, after they started to produce them in right hand drive opening markets in the UK, Japan and Australia, 4082 have managed to put a smile on local owners.
Unlike most SUVs you struggle to identify on the road, there’s no doubt what this is.
It sticks to the sleek fastback look and continues the heritage with the upper grille design as a nod to the original with Tri-Bar LED headlamps. They’ve widened the rear haunches giving it the look of a muscular stallion and if you’ve seen the “Yellowstone” series you know what I mean.
The tri-bar rear lights, a signature from the start, are still there and the front has large grille openings to improve airflow allowing the Coyote V8 to breathe properly.
It stands on 19-inch alloys with nine-inch rubber at the front and 9.5-inches at the rear.
The interior of the previous generation was a bit of a hit and miss affair but Ford has slingshot it into the 21st century with an all glass and digital affair.
There’s a 12.4-inch driver’s display that flows into a 13.2-inch infotainment system connected with Ford's SYNC4 infotainment system that employs the Unreal Engine 3D graphics processing system used in video games when personalising the drive mode settings.
The settings are displayed on the centre stack as real-time graphical rendering and adjusted by swiping the graphic to rotate the car virtually.
The system also allows you to customise the instrument cluster to several different retro gauge designs including the original ‘64 Mustang and the Fox Body.
The flat-bottom steering wheel is heated there’s black Onyx leather trim, the comfortable full leather seats are heated and cooled while the seatbelts are complimented by colour-coordinated, asymmetric accent striping.
There’s a wireless charging pad and USB ports fitted overhead above the cockpit for track cameras and other devices preventing the wires from snaking around the cabin.
Someone at Ford had a great sense of humour by using the key fob to introduce Remote Rev that allows you to stand at a distance to rev the car.
If you tire from the sounds of the V8 the Mustang is fitted with a 12 speaker B&O sound system including a subwoofer.
That V8 is a 5.0-litre naturally aspirated Coyote engine now in its fourth generation incorporating a dual air intake box and dual throttle body design that minimises induction loss with higher air flow rates.
It produces 328kW and 540Nm coupled to Ford’s 10-speed automatic transmission with the software changing its calibration depending on what mode you’re driving, powering the rear wheels, of course.
It’s slightly down on power in South Africa and for that we can thank the government for sitting on their hands about improving our fuel quality.
You can switch to manual transmission by using the paddles and the good thing about that is it allows you to hit the rev limiter without deciding to change on your behalf.
It will get to 0-100km/h in 4.9 seconds and continue till it tops out at 250km/h.
After extensive research Ford ditched bringing in the 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine and instead opted exclusively for the full Performance Pack.
This gives owners track-focused features including a front suspension tower brace, Torsen limited slip differential, MagneRide active suspension, those wider rear wheels and tyres, along with larger 390mm front and 355mm rear Brembo brakes.
It also features brake ducts for enhanced cooling and a standard auxiliary engine oil cooler and an active valve performance exhaust system that allows you to select how quiet or raucous the exhaust sound should be.
Continuing the track focussed theme it has an electronic rear drift brake (that’s also the handbrake) so if you have good contacts in the tyre industry you can lock the front brakes and light up the rear tyres before heading sideways down the track.
The Mustang GT pulls like an angry pull through all the gears especially in Sport and RaceTrack modes, afterall it was its launch and the sweeping Outeniqua and Robinson Pass around George and Oudshoorn cried out for it.
Compared to the previous generation the handling is light years apart. The previous GT had a mean streak everytime you tried to push the envelope and a nasty habit of bringing the back around if you weren’t careful and the steering feel wasn’t great either.
The new iteration has all but buried that with clever MagneRide active suspension, Pirelli Zeros and those extra Performance Pack goodies. So when you’re waiting for it to slide out while exiting a corner the first time you realise that it won't, which provides a great deal of confidence the next time you exit full throttle.
The throttle has a long way to travel to the carpet and with it comes the glorious guttural sound of its V8 on the limit and a thank you to the petrol gods for still being able to experience it.
The gearbox calibration is excellent although we found it did tend to hunt slightly on short twisty sections so opted for manual and the paddles.
As I said, it will get to the rev limiter before you change up and down, but for someone who will be using them regularly, taller paddles (think Alfa Romeo) would be better suited.
But it is a Grand Tourer after all and it gladly gobbles up the long straight sections with two overnight bags and laptop bags comfortably in the boot.
An addition I think passengers would appreciate is a handle in the roof because while the seats are extremely comfortable and supporting, bracing yourself between the centre console and the door is less than ideal.
To keep things safe the new Mustang comes with Speed Sign Recognition, Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop-and-Go, Lane Centring Assist, Evasive Steer Assist, Reverse Brake Assist and Active Pothole Mitigation. Seems we’re not the only country with that problem.
While many sports car-type cars are turbocharged and too perfect and clinical, the Mustang stays true to its roots with a visceral, engaging driving experience that’s almost impossible to find and at R1.3-million you’ll be hard pressed to find something to match.
It comes with a six-year/90 000km Ford Optional Service Plan, four-year/120 000km warranty, four-year/unlimited distance Roadside Assistance and five-year/unlimited distance corrosion warranty.