2006 Ford Mustang

It lives in the garage. It almost never sees rain or, god forbid, snow. The car is two years old and has 8000 miles on it. It's pristeen. Why? Because its a Mustang worthy of this much care.

Some people at Ford had a better idea. The competition was thinking about the newfound nostalgia trend and had products in the works. Ford was suffering a crisis of identity with it's collection of boring products. The Taurus should have been in it's last bullfight a long time ago. Chevy was playing around with a new Camaro. Dodge was sneaking peeks of it's challenger to the car press. Ford had to get it's pony out of the gate first. And it had better not be lame or Ford might be a gonner - or bought by Tata or worse!

The story was that Ford's entrenched dingdongs in Detroit wanted another bean-shape car like the Fusion. Apparently a young Vietnamese engineer/designer assigned to the project had the moxie to insist on a retro-67 look sans much aerodynamic compromise look. He won, my 06 Stang is a thing of beauty and Ford is saved! HooHa! Could have been a design catastrophe except for the guts of a group of Ford employees who really did have a better idea.

I have the Titanium grey color, Baby Eleanor I call it. The V6 is grunty and blessed with torque. It has a predictable personality thanks to the rear-wheel drive and solid axle. With the taller tires it lets me know with plenty of squeal when I'm close to the brink on a tight, fast turn.

The interior is tall. I'm 6' and the door is up to my shoulders. The dash brow is up there to. The car is solid as a rock and feels very substantial. It feels like a CAR not a go cart (see Saturn Ion for Tee times).

The Mustang saved Ford. For that I thank it and keep it nice and cozy in it's stall in the garage.