Autoblog does tribute to S197 mustang - Ford Mustang Forum

Jon Igielnik · 10-24-2008, 09:53 PM

this is worth checking out, a quick ode to the 2005-2009 mustang from autoblog. with links to nearly all the mustang variants made over this cars life, its pretty cool to check out, i personally like the ugliest. mustang. ever at the bottom

Ode to the 2005-2009 Ford Mustang - Autoblog

TheClassic · 10-25-2008, 09:09 PM

Thanks for the link Jon- good tribute.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but what makes you dislike the S197 so much? jw

Jon Igielnik · 10-26-2008, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheClassic

Thanks for the link Jon- good tribute.

I'm not disagreeing with you, but what makes you dislike the S197 so much? jw

oh, you mean because of the ugliest. mustang. ever comment? (or possibly any other comments i have made in posts, though i cant recall) lol, thats actually a misread (mainly a mistake on my part) im not saying i think the S197 is a bad car (though it has its flaws) i was referring to this

in the autoblog post they had the list of all the S197 variants, and at the bottom of the list, they had a link that looked like this "Ugliest. Mustang. Ever" naturally, it was the first think i clicked, and i thought it was hillarious.

To avoid further confusion, i actually am quite fond of the S197 for the most part (though i could give you reasons to hate it), i think its better than the car that preceeded it, but has a lot of room for improvement (which is why i am so excited for the 2010 refresh.) i truly think that the Giugiaro Concept is what comes closest to my perfect modern mustang, but the S197 is great, its a tribute to the mustangs of old, while retaining a modern feel. truth be told, i basically dislike everything about ford except for the mustang (which i think is one of the many truly brilliant achivements in the whole of automotive history), the original thunderbird, and the ford GT, but that rant is for another time...

stangzilla · 10-27-2008, 06:19 PM

now you have opened a can of worms, Jon. what makes the s197 such a bad car? as far as mustangs go, i know it is heavy, but out of the box it runs 13.5 and w/ mild bolt ons, easily into the 12's. it also has more creature comforts than earlier models. of course i am biased towards the s197, seeing that is what i have. but i like any mustang, and believe w/ the right amout of mods and love, any mustang can be the car of my dreams. i even used to drive a '77, and i liked that too. so what are those flaws you refer to? personally i hate the Giugiaro concept, it is too european for my taste. i prefer a classic american muscle car look and style, nothing too flashy. to me most of the R&D should be on performance, not looks, but i realize that ford has to sell cars too, so.....

so what's your take on it, Jon?

stangzilla · 10-27-2008, 06:23 PM

and while we're at it, what kind of mustang do you drive?

stangzilla · 10-27-2008, 06:24 PM

but you know what, that ugliest mustang ever was pretty darn ulgly!

Jon Igielnik · 10-27-2008, 10:57 PM

as far as what i think is wrong with the S197, there are some things, i mean i think its a terrific mustang, what i was trying say more when i said it has its issues is that every car has its flaws. it is indeed heavy, and i think that the car also has a bit to big of visual proportions for my taste, but seeing as how i am a fan of European styling that shouldnt come as too much surprise that i like the Giugiaro concept and want more mustangs to follow in that path. as for the mustang i drive- there are issues there, as if my profile picture doesnt tell (sadly), im not in the position to afford one myself- i'm a college student (not that i havnt driven mustangs of course). but as soon as my college educated job's money starts flowing a few years from now (in my dreams...) my car of choice would be the GT500KR of today.

The mustang and its competitors are all thats left from a better time at the Big Three, and its truly thanks to ford and indeed the S197 that that group we so affectionately call the pony cars still survives, and thrives. is the S197 perfect? no. but is is a great car? yes.

stangzilla · 10-28-2008, 11:26 AM

at least we agree on some things. the KR is a nice ride. i would get a gt500 myself, only bc i know i would start modding it, and i would hate to mod a KR but if i did have one i would mod it too, thats why i would get the gt500, plus its cheaper too. but i can see where your coming from, nothing wrong w/ a different view point. and nothing wrong w/ being in college too, in fact that's a great place to be. you'll probly be making more money than me when you graduate. keep those articles coming, that was a very informative link you had in the OP.

Jon Igielnik · 10-28-2008, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stangzilla

at least we agree on some things. the KR is a nice ride. i would get a gt500 myself, only bc i know i would start modding it, and i would hate to mod a KR but if i did have one i would mod it too, thats why i would get the gt500, plus its cheaper too.

this partly explains my dream mustang garage, because if price was no object, and i had all the time in the world (darn reality always screws everything up...) i would have that GT500KR, in all its beauty, but i would also have a base GT500 next to it that i would strip down and mod up to oblivion, and in fact, another post from autoblog i saw today gives me a crazy idea- to drop the ZR1 engine into a GT500 (though it wouldnt be too much different than a GT500 super snake, it would still be cool lol, and it would throw off a lot of people to see a corvette engine hiding inside a mustang...)