New Ford Mustang up close Under the skin is an all-new short/long arm independent rear suspension system that replaces the Mustang's traditional live rear axle. This might upset the purists, but Ford is unapologetic. The front's changed, too, with a strengthening perimeter subframe and double ball joints to better handle the loads of the larger brakes. "The opposition has moved on a bit," said Joe Bakaj, vice president of product development for Ford of Europe, "so I don't think it matters that it's gone independent," before adding: "I like the predictability of a live-rear axle... on a smooth road." Initially, two engines will be offered - a traditional 420bhp/390lb ft V8 petrol displacing five litres and a four-cylinder Ecoboost turbocharged engine displacing 2.3-litres and producing 305bhp and 300lb ft. The Ecoboost unit uses a twin-scroll turbocharger to improve low-end response and Dave Pericak, chief engineer, says: "it delivers where a Mustang driver expects it to, with a broad, flat torque curve that pours out when you stand on it." This isn't the first right-hand-drive Mustang, because there were factory-approved conversions by Tickford Australia in the late Nineties. Nor is it the first four-cylinder Mustang, because the Seventies Mark III model was offered with naturally aspirated and turbocharged four-cylinder engines. There have even been Mustangs with independent rear suspension, in the shape of Cobra high performance versions over the years. The combination of all three, plus the redesign, is expected to be not without its critics in the Mustang fraternity, yet seen up close this is an assured piece of design, with some lovely touches. Back in the beginning, Ford combined very ordinary chassis parts from the Falcon and Fairlane saloons, with stylish sheet metal on top, and spawned a new sort of cheap sports coupé, a blue-collar supercar if you like. It became an American icon, with songs written about it, starring roles in several films and an extraordinarily protective bunch of owners. So great is the car's inculcation into American folklore that the US Navy ran a recruitment advertisement a decade ago listed: "The Beach Boys. Apple pie. The '67 Mustang. Three things worth fighting for. Mustang celebrations in the States regularly see 4,000+ Mustangs and upwards of 100,000 owners turning up to celebrate a car that they fell in love with, and probably in. "Many claim their cars have touched lives," said Steve Odell, president of Ford of Europe, "but few can claim their cars have touched hearts like the Mustang." For Bill Ford, executive chairman, the new Mustang can't go on sale soon enough, because he's got the order in for the first one. He said: "My first car was a Mustang. I've always owned a Mustang and I always will.