2009 model change?

[SLB8SNK]

Does anyone know if the rumors have been confirmed? Will they change the Mustang line for 2009? If so, this could also indicate a last year run of 2008 for the GT500!

[Grabber]

Not confirmed. However it is likely. Ford seems to change things up every 4 years at the max. 2009 would be the 5th year of the same body style. I would bet money on a change.

[07Shelby#6200]

 

You never know?

[SLB8SNK]

I do not care for this one... looks like a GM product and way to girly for a Mustang! Cute but not a guys car.... looks like a cross between a Vet and a Camaro!

[Alloy Dave]

I do not care for this one... looks like a GM product and way to girly for a Mustang! Cute but not a guys car.... looks like a cross between a Vet and a Camaro!

Would that make it a "Covet"?

[sharon]

I do not care for this one... looks like a GM product and way to girly for a Mustang! Cute but not a guys car.... looks like a cross between a Vet and a Camaro!

 

 

I agree I do not like the look of that one.

[nilkilla]

at one point the itallion stallion was said to be the 2012 build of the mustang

from what i've heard of 09, it is supposed to be closer to the original concept

[SLB8SNK]

"Covet? Cute.... and I agree with it being a simple change, but a change none the less, and if so, no 2009 GT500!!!!

[mad103]

I hope they make the 2009 model look like the concept. Years later, I still think it looks incredible! Definitely more forward, but also retro, looking than the present model. PLEASE Ford make it like the 2005 concept. Love the rear lights and hood! M2C

 

Alex

[YZD263]

I know there is a rumor that 2009 will bring a redesigned Mustang, but I am sceptical. This would mean that the current design would have had the shortest lifespan (4 years) of any Mustang in recent memory, even though it has been one of the most successful. The preceding design ran for 6 years ('99 to '04) and was itself a variation on the last major redesign that lasted 5 years ('94 to '98). Before that, the basic shape was essentially the same from '79 to '93, with some minor changes such as different headlights and taillights, different bumpers, etc during the course of a 15 year run. Even the Mustang II had a 5 year lifecycle ('74 to '78). You would have to go to the '71 to '73 version to find a Mustang design that lasted less that 5 years.

 

In my opinion, the only reason for Ford to bring a redesigned version for '09 would be avoid being overshadowed by the Camaro and Challenger that should launch for the '09 model year. 4 year lifecycle is very short by current automotive standards; even Japanese automakers who used to systematically change their models every 4 years during the '80s and '90s now have longer lifecycles. That being said, I may be wrong (that wouldn't be the first time). I would actually prefer if 2009 were a new design, as it would insure that the current GT500 is indeed limited to a 2 year production run only.

[paul_2001_gt_conv]

I hope they make the 2009 model look like the concept.

 

PLEASE Ford make it like the 2005 concept. Love the rear lights and hood! M2C

 

Alex

 

Ditto, the hood, the taillights, and the lower quaterpanel scoop all made that car so cool. It was more angular and I couldn't beleive futuristic it looked while clearly being very retro. That car was awesome. I was disappointed when the actual production was released and it'also why I haven't purchased the new body style yet.

 

Of course there'll be an MCE for 2009. They've been hinting all along that it'll coincide with they when the Camaro and Challenger come out. With that kind of competition they can't afford NOT to do a redesign. If the redesigned car looks anything like the concept then I'll be buying in the fall of 2009.

[ShelbyDude]

I know there is a rumor that 2009 will bring a redesigned Mustang, but I am sceptical. This would mean that the current design would have had the shortest lifespan (4 years) of any Mustang in recent memory, even though it has been one of the most successful. The preceding design ran for 6 years ('99 to '04) and was itself a variation on the last major redesign that lasted 5 years ('94 to '98). Before that, the basic shape was essentially the same from '79 to '93, with some minor changes such as different headlights and taillights, different bumpers, etc during the course of a 15 year run. Even the Mustang II had a 5 year lifecycle ('74 to '78). You would have to go to the '71 to '73 version to find a Mustang design that lasted less that 5 years.

 

In my opinion, the only reason for Ford to bring a redesigned version for '09 would be avoid being overshadowed by the Camaro and Challenger that should launch for the '09 model year. 4 year lifecycle is very short by current automotive standards; even Japanese automakers who used to systematically change their models every 4 years during the '80s and '90s now have longer lifecycles. That being said, I may be wrong (that wouldn't be the first time). I would actually prefer if 2009 were a new design, as it would insure that the current GT500 is indeed limited to a 2 year production run only.

 

 

The reason behind Ford doing a redesign sooner is because they realized that they have been going way to long between redesigns and contribute that to part of the reason they have lost a lot of market share. Part of their way forward plan is to bring new designs to market within a few years VS waiting 5 or more years like they have in the past.

 

They claim by bringing out new designs quicker they will keep more interest and increase sales.

[Black Sunshine]

I have no problem with a redesign and halting the GT500 at a 2 year run. So long as they bring on the new Bosses!

[68fastback]

If you go to Evo's website and search on GT500 stuff, the "stage-n" offerings we have come to know and love are listed as: for the "2007-2009 GT500."

 

Hmmm, maybe the Evo team got some insight during their meetings with Ford at the SAE convention this past winter in Dearborn? ;-)

[94gt]

I don't know why everyone wants a body change. The car is awesome and the best Mustang since 1970 in the looks dept. Ford has long stated the change will take place in 2010. That's plenty soon. The GT500 will have another year run in 2009. That's a no brainer as well as more versions in the future going at least till 2011 minimum. Shelby already threatened Dodge and the Camaro they better not try to out horsepower him. Gee, these cars aren't coming out till 2009???? Jay O Connell openly stated in an interview you can watch on youtube they were working on future versions of the GT500! Again Jay works at Ford, not Shelby Autos so the KR and Supersnake don't count. Type in Shelby gt500 media event to watch. Let's see we have seen a gt-h, gt, gt500, gt500kr, gt500ss. The bottom line is this Ford is hurting in the profit dept. so no they are not going to stop making a sure thing!!

[SLB8SNK]

And the debate continues!!!

[68fastback]

I don't know why everyone wants a body change. The car is awesome and the best Mustang since 1970 in the looks dept. Ford has long stated the change will take place in 2010. That's plenty soon. The GT500 will have another year run in 2009. That's a no brainer as well as more versions in the future going at least till 2011 minimum. Shelby already threatened Dodge and the Camaro they better not try to out horsepower him. Gee, these cars aren't coming out till 2009???? Jay O Connell openly stated in an interview you can watch on youtube they were working on future versions of the GT500! Again Jay works at Ford, not Shelby Autos so the KR and Supersnake don't count. Type in Shelby gt500 media event to watch. Let's see we have seen a gt-h, gt, gt500, gt500kr, gt500ss. The bottom line is this Ford is hurting in the profit dept. so no they are not going to stop making a sure thing!!

 

Link referred to above. Vintage approx last June or so ...not much in there, imo, but I did note these Jay O'Connell comments:

• -production: 7,500 or so per year possibly ramping up to 10K/yr ("ramp" seems to imply more than 2 years?)

• -working on other variations... [of the GT500] (likely the KR and SS?)

• -...and working on a truck ...we gotta get another Lightning out there... (recently Ford Media released info stating that SVT presently has one car and one truck [Lightning variant? ...or 450HP S/C Harley F-150 ...or Harley is just a spoiler?] in development)

 

My hunch is the GT500 will run three years in some form, and the motor at least 5 years in some form -- who khows. But that interview should be considered ancient history at this point, I think.

 

My hunch is that the refresh is being pulled in (likely never slipped -- just a tactic, I suspect) but, even if MY'09, it wouldn't preclude a reskinned GT500, imo. Nice to greet Camaro with a fresh face on the 5.4 S/C. But I suspect the real fun is 2010 when one-upsmanship necessarily gets more serious

 

Dan

[JC8]

The reason behind Ford doing a redesign sooner is because they realized that they have been going way to long between redesigns and contribute that to part of the reason they have lost a lot of market share. Part of their way forward plan is to bring new designs to market within a few years VS waiting 5 or more years like they have in the past.

 

They claim by bringing out new designs quicker they will keep more interest and increase sales.

Stay with the winner!

[Son of GT]

Model make over will be in 2010. New car will be released in April 2009 as a 2010 model.

[68fastback]

Model make over will be in 2010. New car will be released in April 2009 as a 2010 model.

 

Thanks, SoGT -- I should have known that all I had to do was ask you you da man! ;-)

 

Btw, how's your white Shelby GT/SC? That has got to be one of the least known Shelbys out there... or may be it just slipped under my radar) ...just curious if you've dyno'd her and what the 3V Paxton curves look like

 

Oooops, I see I'm a bit off topic here -- my bad ;-)

[BAD SNAKE]

The reason behind Ford doing a redesign sooner is because they realized that they have been going way to long between redesigns and contribute that to part of the reason they have lost a lot of market share. Part of their way forward plan is to bring new designs to market within a few years VS waiting 5 or more years like they have in the past.

 

They claim by bringing out new designs quicker they will keep more interest and increase sales.

 

Shelby Dude do you think Ford will build a bigger badder GT500 for the new redesign?

Or will they drop the GT500 after the current body style?

I read somewhere a bigger engine is in the works.

Thanks for the great posts.

[Son of GT]

Thanks, SoGT -- I should have known that all I had to do was ask you you da man! ;-)

 

Btw, how's your white Shelby GT/SC? That has got to be one of the least known Shelbys out there... or may be it just slipped under my radar) ...just curious if you've dyno'd her and what the 3V Paxton curves look like

 

Oooops, I see I'm a bit off topic here -- my bad ;-)

68 FB,

The car is FAN-F'in-TASTIC! Really. 486 H.P. on the rollers (dyno), but that's after I changed the tune. The car was delivered to me at 462 Emmisions legal H.P., but you are also given the Diablo Tuner to make any changes that you want as the owner.

 

I just installed the louder cat-back Borlas on the car last Saturday and I definately feel a difference in the H.P. If I had to guess, I would say that the car is now putting out somewhere around 495 H.P. Now I'm considering installing a set of shorty headers to get the H.P. up to 500 or better.

 

Sorry to all for the temporrary thread derail, but you can blame 68 FB for it.

 

NOTE, and getting back to topic: The GT500 will die with the current body style, BUT I SUSPECT there is a good reason for that. Look for a GT350 to come out in year two (2011) of the new body style.

 

Why do I think that will happen?

 

1. The SGT and the 500 will be completed.

2. SAI has not permitted or installed any Blue stripes on their package cars or their ship through cars (sgt's get silver, GTH only comes in Hertz gold, SS will be black, etc, etc.) I asked Amy if she would put blue stripes on my SGT, and she politely told me no way. I asked for a stripe delite instead, and she again said no. BTW, I'm very happy with the silver stripes, but you can guess why I wanted a white and blue Shelby.

3. Sales strategy. Ford and SAI will build a Shelby nitche car for the new body style. What's more perfect than coming out with the long absent and long desired GT350?

4. With the exception of another Super Car like the Ford GT or a two seat Shelby, Ford will not produce any engine with more than 500 H.P. (don't forget that the KR is being modded by SAI with a tune and CAI to get the additional 40 H.P., not FoMoCo itself.

4a. So I suspect that the GT350 will have the 5.0 Mod motor or perhaps that Aussie motor that will put out 400 H.P. 100 H.P. less than the 500.

 

JMO combined with a small amount of future insight as to what's coming down the line. How much is opinion and how much is insight? Can't tell you that.

[crispy23c]

Ba-da-BING!

 

BTW, thanks for the feedback, Big E. Love your S-GT. Cannot hold still for the '350. :hyper: :hyper: :hyper: It's a sickness, you know...

 

On the '350, I am betting 425 HP. I want 450 with around 500 lbs less than a '500. Like I said, it's a sickness!

[68fastback]

68 FB,

The car is FAN-F'in-TASTIC! Really. 486 H.P. on the rollers (dyno), but that's after I changed the tune. The car was delivered to me at 462 Emmisions legal H.P., but you are also given the Diablo Tuner to make any changes that you want as the owner.

 

I just installed the louder cat-back Borlas on the car last Saturday and I definately feel a difference in the H.P. If I had to guess, I would say that the car is now putting out somewhere around 495 H.P. Now I'm considering installing a set of shorty headers to get the H.P. up to 500 or better.

 

Sorry to all for the temporrary thread derail, but you can blame 68 FB for it.

 

NOTE, and getting back to topic: The GT500 will die with the current body style, BUT I SUSPECT there is a good reason for that. Look for a GT350 to come out in year two (2011) of the new body style.

 

Why do I think that will happen?

 

1. The SGT and the 500 will be completed.

2. SAI has not permitted or installed any Blue stripes on their package cars or their ship through cars (sgt's get silver, GTH only comes in Hertz gold, SS will be black, etc, etc.) I asked Amy if she would put blue stripes on my SGT, and she politely told me no way. I asked for a stripe delite instead, and she again said no. BTW, I'm very happy with the silver stripes, but you can guess why I wanted a white and blue Shelby.

3. Sales strategy. Ford and SAI will build a Shelby nitche car for the new body style. What's more perfect than coming out with the long absent and long desired GT350?

4. With the exception of another Super Car like the Ford GT or a two seat Shelby, Ford will not produce any engine with more than 500 H.P. (don't forget that the KR is being modded by SAI with a tune and CAI to get the additional 40 H.P., not FoMoCo itself.

4a. So I suspect that the GT350 will have the 5.0 Mod motor or perhaps that Aussie motor that will put out 400 H.P. 100 H.P. less than the 500.

JMO combined with a small amount of future insight as to what's coming down the line. How much is opinion and how much is insight? Can't tell you that.

 

Wow! That GT-SC is a sleper!! Relatively light too! If you get a chance, I'd love to see the Tq curve shape on a dyno run - should look more progressive like a big-breathing NA motor. Damn, that's gotta feel good! ;-)

 

----------------

 

Hmmmm, all the red items also mesh with a MY'10 Boss (mid-'09) as the SA GT350 could then build on the FoMoCo base

 

I'd be good with a 5.0 mod Boss (prefereably not as a stroker) but, either way, a GT350 works with that.

 

But there's a two year hi-end gap then ...unless a GT500 motor goes into a multi-year Mach? That motor has got to live beyond the GT500 I'm thinking.

 

Maybe Ford has found a way to contain their on-again-off-again H/Boss plans to that niche depending on what happens in Washington ad the indistry in general. If it's on ...plenty of opportunities. If it's off ...the Mach carries the banner ... jsut thinking out loud.

 

Hey, that was [accidentally] on-topic?

[Acobra]

I do not care for this one... looks like a GM product and way to girly for a Mustang! Cute but not a guys car.... looks like a cross between a Vet and a Camaro!

 

I agree!

It looks like a cross between the Camaro and the former Miata like Mustang body style....

[crispy23c]

I agree!

It looks like a cross between the Camaro and the former Miata like Mustang body style....

 

Meh, you never know. You may grow to love it, in person. If that's the body style. On any Mustang. In the future.

Have a nice day!

[Grabber]

Meh, you never know. You may grow to love it, in person. If that's the body style. On any Mustang. In the future.

Have a nice day!

You are holding out on us again.

[panzer_VB07]

I have to agree (about not really liking the new proposed 09 style) - there are a couple of things I do like about the "Italian rendition of the Mustang" primarily the rear lights & wheels, but that's about it. I love the look and feel of the current GT's & Shelby's - I think Ford would do themselves a huge injustice if they changed very much at all with the current model for sometime.

 

I'm sure the new 09 look might appeal to a certain group of Mustang owners (and non-owners) since it does have a sort of new "Camaro & Challenger" look - personally I'm not one of them. Me and a friend of mine were recently at a huge car show in DC (all major US and international auto makers were there) and they were showing off all of the new concept vehicles on the horizon for 08/09 timeframe........and when my buddy & I came up on a 07 GT500 we said "we'll take this one". Still a pure muscle car & NOTHING in that show even came close - let me rephrase that - nothing new that is (there were a few older model Mustangs & Shelby's from the late 60's that were amazing).

 

I'm sure the new Challanger, Camaro & even the rumored 08/09 new GTO will do well but IMO I really don't think any of them will ever top what Ford has done with the new Mustang & Shelby's.

 

Oh - one more thing, put the tail lights of the Italian Mustang on the current model and throw in a new GT350 (that doesn't cost a frkkn fortune) for 08/09 and that'll really put a crunch on GM and Crys.

[68fastback]

Hey, panzer, WELCOME TO SU!!!

 

Yeah, i wouldn't want to see a radical departure from the current muscle-car look/feel -- it' sjust so well done!

 

I suspect the '10MY (spring '09?) refresh will not be all that different from the current mustang (just my take).. a little more aero ...a few tweaks ...maybe an H/Boss motor and some chassis tweaks. I suspect we won't see anything really different until the ground-up remake in '12MY (or thereabouts).

 

I was wondering if the Giugiaro concept wasn't just to test some styling concepts -- not a foreshadowing of any specific design under consideration but more a 'lightning-rod' to guage some styling boundaries... Who knows... concepts are always cool tho! ;-)

 

Dan

[SLB8SNK]

Hey, panzer, WELCOME TO SU!!!

 

Yeah, i wouldn't want to see a radical departure from the current muscle-car look/feel -- it' sjust so well done!

 

I suspect the '10MY (spring '09?) refresh will not be all that different from the current mustang (just my take).. a little more aero ...a few tweaks ...maybe an H/Boss motor and some chassis tweaks. I suspect we won't see anything really different until the ground-up remake in '12MY (or thereabouts).

 

I was wondering if the Giugiaro concept wasn't just to test some styling concepts -- not a foreshadowing of any specific design under consideration but more a 'lightning-rod' to guage some styling boundaries... Who knows... concepts are always cool tho! ;-)

 

Dan

I agree! And I think that is why it was published so heavily! After all, that IS what a concept is supposed to do, spark curiosity and opinions! I think "some" of the styling cues will be noted for future models.