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Cars

Mustang Mania rolls into town

This road show features the 2005 Ford Mustang on its 40th anniversary of the classic "60s-era "pony car."

By MARTY CLEAR
Published July 16, 2004

Everything new is old again.

Okay, not everything. Maybe not even most things. But the styling of the 2005 model of the Ford Mustang is deliberately designed to recall the car's early years.

The car was unveiled this year, the 40th anniversary of the introduction of the Mustang - a car that was an immediate sensation and has become something of a cultural icon.

"The Mustang just seems to touch the American public in a way that no other car has for the past 40 years," said Marty Collins, the general marketing manager for Ford.

Collins is based in Dearborn, Mich., but he'll be in Tampa this weekend for a free public event in the Legends Field parking lot, where local car lovers can get their first chance to check out the 2005 Mustang.

Almost anybody will recognize that the new model is consciously designed to tap into the fascination with the '60s-era "pony car," Collins said. But the similarities are all on the outside. Inside, everything's new and improved.

"It takes cues from the '64, no question about it," he said. "But the ride and handling is much improved over today's Mustang."

Forty years ago, the Mustang was revolutionary. It wasn't quite a sports car, but it was certainly quite apart from the Bulgemobiles of the 1950s. It looked sharp, it was reasonably priced, and it appealed to men and women of just about any age group.

"The appeal of the Mustang was, and still is, the fact that it looks like it's going 60 miles an hour even when it's standing still," said Frank Cossota, a longtime Mustang afficionado and a member of Classic Mustangs of Tampa, one of several local clubs for Mustang owners and fans.

Another local pony car enthusiast puts it more simply.

"You gotta be pretty ugly not to look good in one of those cars," said Jim Carroll, a Town 'N Country resident who belongs to the St. Petersburg-based Suncoast Mustang Club.

Cossota and Carroll plan to be on hand at Legends Field today and Saturday for Mustang Mania, an event that's been touring the country for the past few months.

Before the event rolls into a new city, Ford contacts local Mustang clubs and invites them to show up in their classic cars. Most are happy to do so.

There's no way of knowing in advance how many Mustang owners will show up, but there could be several hundred cars at Legends Field this weekend. Many will be carefully restored and preserved classics that are rolled out of their garages just for special events.

Cossota will be there in his '68, a car that is already familiar to many Mustang maniacs.

In the mid-1990s, Cossota was working for a magazine called Mustang Monthly. Over the course of three years, the magazine ran an recurring feature called Project '68 that chronicled, in words and photographs, the ongoing restoration of a classic Mustang.

When the car was restored, Cossota bought it.

Carroll's car has also been fairly visible in the Mustang world recently. This year, he took part in the Great American Pony Drive II, a caravan of dozens of classic Mustangs that crisscrossed the country. Many drivers made the whole trip, which took months; others joined for different segments.

The Pony Drive would often hook up with Mustang Mania. The sight of 50 or so classic Mustangs rolling into town single-file was often a media event in itself.

But a few times the pony ride was late getting into town. If one car broke down, every car in the caravan would stop until their fallen comrade could get back on the road.

That kind of fellowship is common among Mustang owners, Carroll said.

"I don't know if it's the car itself that appeals to me as much as it is the sense of community," he said. "The Mustang has a way of bringing people together."

Although he's a classic Mustang fan at heart - even his two daughters have restored classic Mustangs - Carroll said he's jazzed about the 2005 model.

"Oh, I think it's great," he said. "Those of us who like the classics appreciate the original elements that are in the '05, but it's definitely a modern car."

Although Mustangs, young and old, will be the main attraction at Mustang Mania, Ford also is providing food and music. Ubiquitous local disc jockey Mason Dixon will be on hand, and a radio station will do a live remote broadcast.

But there's more for the serious car lover too. Besides the new Mustang, the event will give local folks their first chance to see two brand-new Ford models, the Five Hundred and the Freestyle.

The Freestyle is a crossover vehicle designed to incorporate some of the best aspects of sedans and SUVs, Collins said, including versatility of seating and storage, all-wheel drive and Volvo-inspired safety features.

The Five Hundred is a sedan, but its driver and passengers sit several inches higher than in standard sedans. It provides a remarkably smooth ride thanks to a six-speed transmission.

Mustang Mania is scheduled for noon to 7 p.m. today and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at Legends Field at Dale Mabry Highway and Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard in Tampa. Admission is free.

[Last modified July 15, 2004, 14:02:16]