WATCH: Mustang, the Ford Ranger of sports cars

The Ford Mustang has always been a love it or hate it kind of car.

Even back in 1964 when they first hit the streets, they came and caused upheaval in a heavily populated muscle car era that would have had the likes of Pontiac’s GTO, Plymouth’s Sport Fury, Dodge’s Polara, Studebaker’s Lark, Oldsmobile’s 4-4-2, Mercury’s Comet Cyclone and Chevrolet’s Chevelle Malibu SS 327 all biding for your hard-earned American dollars.

But since South Africa was a right-hand drive country back then, we sadly missed out on most of this bygone era.

We are still a right-hand drive country and many of the brands I have just mentioned are long gone. The few that are left aren’t too interested the tiny portion of world sales that right-hand drive cars offer.

This leaves the door open for the Ford Mustang to continue to be loved or hated in 2022 by a whole new generation on local soil.

Mustang charm

History tells us that Ford Mustang owners’ clubs sprang up across America after 1964. Many regional dealers started creating their own personalised designs. One of them inspired by the 1967 Shelby GT notchback coupe prototype came to be called the California Special.

That original version featured a blacked-out grille, fog lights and side racing stripes that ended ahead of the rear side air scoops, as well as a Shelby-inspired spoiler.

Ford Motor Company were so impressed by this creation that it put a limited number of California Special cars into production for 1968.

For 2022 this means that just like Ford does with their Rangers, where they successfully bring out limited or special edition models all the time to keep their buyers interested in a product that has not fundamentally changed over the model’s lifespan, the same logic is applied to their Mustang. The one you see here is the California Special, and there are only a 100 of them for sale in South Africa.

The newest interpretation obviously reflects the original with most of the finishes being the same in spirit along with a larger front splitter, a rear wing from the GT Performance Package, a California Special faux filler cap located above quad 4.5-inch tailpipes linked to an Active Valve performance exhaust, 19-inch Carbonised Grey five-spoke alloy wheels and the introduction of side air scoops behind the doors for the first time on the local Mustang range.

Unique styling

Inside you get standard heated and cooled front seats finished in grey suede along with the door inserts and both are finished with red stitching. The seats and floor mats are embossed with the GT/CS logo, and the instrument panel is finished in Carbon Hex aluminium with a unique Mustang California Special badge.

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To be a part of this special 100 club you will need to part with R1 154 900, or only R70 000 more than what you would for the run of the mill 5.0-litre GT Coupe.

Some will argue that you are stupid for paying this kind of money for some stickers and badges. They would be right because everything else thereafter is the same in terms of options and power.

But the clever money goes into the fact that it is a limited-edition stand-alone model and that means something more to those that want an exclusive type of car.

You get all the modern bells and whistles like Ford’s SYNC3 communication and entertainment system, standard driver assistance technologies, including Adaptive Cruise Control with Pre-Collision Assist and Lane Keeping Alert.

Along with it you get the old school part that consists of a good old fuel guzzling 331kW/530Nm 5.0-litre naturally aspirated lump living under the hood of your ‘Stang.

Conclusion

Don’t think of the Ford Mustang California Special as a track weapon and don’t really even think of it as a hot shot street racing car.

It’s a car that is to be enjoyed for what it is. And that is an honest, well priced sports car that delivers tyre shredding fun and a decent turn of pace for those buyers that have always wanted to own one once since they were little boys or girls.

To see the results of The Citizen‘s high-performance road test, click on the document below.

For more information on the Ford Mustang, visit the manufacturer’s website.