Mustang owners let their hair down as Ford PH celebrates icon’s 50th year

By Alvin Uy October 08,2014
Ford Philippines’ managing director Kay Hart together poses with Mustang owners before the fun run. PHOTOS BY ALVIN UY

Ford Philippines’ managing director Kay Hart together poses with Mustang owners before the fun run. PHOTOS BY ALVIN UY

MANILA, Philippines–Last Sunday, Ford Philippines invited a group of Mustang owners and some members of the media to a fun run and track day at the Batangas Racing Circuit to give their beloved muscle cars a chance to stretch their legs and get a healthy cardio exercise around the racetrack.

 

Ford Philippines plans to regularly hold these fun runs and track days to promote the proper use of these cars in a controlled environment and under professional supervision so that Mustang owners will fully appreciate the performance and capabilities of their cars, according to Prudz Castillo, VP for sales and marketing of Ford Philippines.

 

Eleven current-model Mustangs joined the first-ever, company-initiated local Mustang event, with Ford Philippines-commissioned racecar driver Stefan Ramirez, son of racing legend Cookie Ramirez, and a team of marshals conducting the track day exercises.

 

Ramirez gave pointers to the participants on how to properly drive around the twists and turns of the Batangas Racing Circuit and led the cars around the track to show the proper racing lines.

 

Over 460 Mustangs were sold in the Philippines and Ford looks forward to launching the all-new, sixth generation Mustang next year.

Over 460 Mustangs were sold in the Philippines and Ford looks forward to launching the all-new, sixth generation Mustang next year.

One of the highlights of the track day was the drag race, which allowed owners to check out the car’s Track Apps, a feature in the Mustang’s instrument cluster that shows real-time performance—measuring g-force, acceleration time in quarter-mile and 0-60 increments—and even displays braking time complete with automatic and countdown starts.

 

The soon-to-be-replaced fifth generation of this iconic American muscle car was unveiled during the 2013 Manila International Auto Show at the World Trade Center. Castillo said that the all-new sixth generation Mustang will be introduced in the local market sometime next year.

 

Since the introduction of the heavily facelifted, fifth generation Mustang in the local market, Ford Philippines has sold 460 units to date. This is not surprising because Ford’s price positioning opened up a huge market for those who want a high-performance coupé that can be used effectively as a daily driver as well.

 

In-dash goodies include a cool 4.2-inch touchscreen that can be navigated through a five-way control button located at the steering wheel, and comes with the Ford Sync to give the driver hands-free, voice-activated in-car connectivity. Ford’s award-winning Sync system allows one to connect the Mustang to almost any mobile smartphone or digital media player via Bluetooth.

 

There are two variants that are basically differentiated by the engine offerings: a 3.7-liter V6 engine and the more muscular 5-liter V8 engine premium package. The lower V6 engine variant is priced at P2.499 million while the V8 GT model is priced at P2.899 million.

 

50 years of an American icon

 

With over nine million units built, the Mustang is the second-longest American running sports car label, next to the Corvette that debuted in 1953. The Mustang made its first debut on April 17, 1964, at the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York. Within its first year, it had sold well over a million units.

 

The Mustang made its first movie debut in the 1964 James Bond movie “Goldfinger.” Two other James Bond sequels—“Thunderball” and “Diamonds Are Forever”—also featured a Mustang. Since then, it has appeared in hundreds of movies and TV shows.

 

Two other Mustangs made it to Hollywood’s list of favorite movie cars: the famous 1967 Mustang Fastback in Highland Green color of the Steve McQueen movie “Bullitt” and “Eleanor,” and the 1973 Mustang from the original 1974 “Gone in Sixty Seconds” movie that came with a 40-minute chase scene.

 

Without any help from CGI (computer-generated imagery), its movie producers ended up destroying 93 cars to make this movie. Aside from these two cars, “Eleanor” made a movie comeback with a remake starring Nicolas Cage. In the remake, “Eleanor” came in the form of a highly modified 1968 Shelby GT500 built by Unique Performance.

 

The actual “Eleanor” car used in the Nicolas Cage blockbuster was sold at the 26th Dana Mecum Original Spring Classic Auction in Indianapolis in 2013 for a whopping $1 million. The movie ushered in a renewed interest in American muscle cars and set a trend in retro-inspired designs of America’s pony cars.

 

Lee Iacocca, considered by automotive historians as the father of the Ford Mustang, was the general manager of Ford when he pitched the idea of a compact “fun to drive” car that would launch the Mustang and usher a new genre of the pony cars of the 1960s. On his 40th birthday on Oct. 15, 1964, he was made president of the Ford Division.

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