Design and Styling

The all-new, all-American 2005 Ford Mustang is a bold, clean and contemporary version of history’s most celebrated muscle car. Its design is rooted in an unmistakable heritage that gave birth to an icon and, more recently, unceremoniously nudged some of its traditional competitors into retirement.

The 2005 Mustang was spawned from the 2003 concept car that stole hearts along the auto show circuit and signaled that America’s only remaining muscle car would be reborn – this time with even more attitude.

Icon with Attitude
The Mustang legend was made on the streets of America and cemented on the silver screen, where it has been the number-one car in starring roles since the 1960s. Through a mixture of tire smoke, growling V-8s and Hollywood stalwarts such as Steve McQueen in Bullitt and Nicolas Cage in Gone in 60 Seconds, Mustang has been forever entwined with American pop culture. Today, that connection is reiterated in everything from Sheryl Crow music videos to countless parades across America.

The pairing of an all-new platform and clean-sheet approach to styling was central to the design team’s mission to create a Mustang boasting the "old school" swagger that personified cars of the late 1960s, but with the capability to carve out a new niche. Designers wallpapered Ford studios with images of classic Mustangs and movie tough guys for inspiration.

Ford’s holistic approach to design – and a tripling of its investment in interiors – delivered a breakthrough Mustang cabin that stretches muscle-car definitions with its breadth of choices. In addition to three distinct interiors and an available authentic aluminum panel adorning the width of the dashboard, an available color-adjustable instrument cluster offers buyers almost limitless interior accent options.

40 Years of American Muscle, One Modern Classic
The Mustang’s shark-like nose with the forward-leaning grille gives it an attitude reminiscent of the 1967 model, while jeweled round headlamps in trapezoidal housings deliver a striking new design flair.

The new car’s front wheels have been moved significantly forward, reducing the front overhang by 4.6 inches. This gives the 2005 Mustang a modern, unmistakably rear-wheel-drive look. Pushing the wheels to the corners results in a 6-inch wheelbase gain over the 2004 model and increased interior compartment width, which Ford package engineers used for increased driver and passenger room. Overall, it’s 4.4 inches longer, 1.4 inches taller and almost an inch wider than the 2004 model.

The exterior is best described as lovingly styled, with no unnecessary adornment. A sharp accent line runs the length of the body and culminates in a "C-scoop" design stamped into the sheet metal just behind the door cutline, creating a visual link with the C-pillar. The small window in the C-pillar is a modern departure – past Mustangs incorporated louvers or scoops.

The angled, hard-creased appearance of the C-scoops and their relationship to the door cut provide a look of precise technical integration. The theme is reinforced by a subtle body crease that runs through the filler cap door.

Out front, the V-8 Mustang GT has a more aggressive nose, with circular fog lamps in the black grille in line with the headlamps. The lower fascia is upright, with an "air dam" performance look.

The V-6 Mustang has a uniform egg-crate grille and a swept back lower fascia and incorporates horizontal vents. Both grilles feature the classic galloping pony logo.

From the side, the Mustang GT looks more planted, low and aggressive, thanks to its body-color lower rocker panel extension.

Differences between the two models’ rear fascia panels are driven by performance considerations. The GT features semi-circular cutouts behind each wheel to accommodate the car’s large exhaust pipe tips. The GT also gets a raised spoiler on the decklid.

Both models boast tri-bar taillamps and a circular chrome Mustang badge centered in the rear face of the decklid. Edges of the large, chunky badge are knurled with generous, square-shouldered cutouts, adding to the car’s powerful, machined-billet image. On V-6 models, the Mustang pony logo is centered on a black field; GT versions get a special GT badge.

Exterior color choices include black, white, silver, red, burgundy, bright blue, dark blue, mineral gray, yellow and Mustang Legend Lime Gold. Many of these colors were inspired by classic Mustang hues, some with the same names.

Authentic Interior
Mustang looks every bit as good from behind the wheel, with a passenger compartment few would expect from a muscle car.

The modern interior pays homage to Mustang heritage with a symmetrical instrument panel and square-arched "eyebrows" on each side of the center stack, while the quality materials, precision craftsmanship and technical innovations take the 2005 edition to a whole new level.

On GT models, the available Interior Color Accent Package – charcoal with red leather seating surfaces, red door inserts and red floor mats – is as much a jaw-dropper as the interior of the acclaimed concept vehicle that inspired it. The cabin is accented with real aluminum hardware for a look of technical precision.

A Dash with Flash
The cockpit is dominated by large, circular, chrome-ringed speedometer and tachometer gauges with radial numeric markers in a classic Mustang style. The barrel-like performance gauges are located on either side of a panel that offers information on fuel level, battery, oil temperature and pressure. But Mustang’s bold instrumentation has an important advantage over its ancestors and all others: It can be customized at the push of a button.

Thanks to the industry’s first available color-configurable instrument cluster, Mustang owners can mix and match lighting to create more than 125 different color backgrounds to suit their personality, mood, outfit or whim.

The technology makes use of light-emitting diodes – green, blue and red – projected through "light pipe" fittings on the sides of the speedometer, tachometer and vehicle operation indicator panel. It allows Mustang owners to blend these colors and create more personalized instrumentation.

Less of a Squeeze
Thanks to efficient packaging and the larger overall size of the new Mustang, all four occupants enjoy more room. Overall, the new model offers the driver 0.5 inch more headroom and 1.8 inches more shoulder room. Rear passengers also enjoy 1.1 inches more legroom and 1.2 inches more shoulder room in their sculpted bucket seats.

"The tallest drivers in our customer base have not been fully happy with previous Mustangs," said Keith Knudsen, package supervisor. "We’ve addressed that in this all-new car, while maintaining the ‘cockpit feel’ essential to a driver’s car. But we wanted to improve comfort for passengers, too. The extra cabin space makes a world of difference on long drives."