Ford (America) has changed its mind about the Mustang, and for the first time will offer a factory right hand drive in 2015. Other RHD older Mustangs were changed over from LHD to RHD by conversion companies.
Ever since the mid-60’s when the first Ford Mustang saw light of day, Ford Motor Company declared that it was just too expensive to configure the Mustang into a right hooker, Ford is now going global with the iconic muscle car.
RHD Ford Mustang.
The Mustang will be sold in 125 countries next year, including 25 right-hand-drive markets such as Australia, Japan, and the UK, and hopefully Thailand.
“The Mustang is the heart and soul of the company and part of American culture,” said Raj Nair, the Ford group vice president, global product development. “Of all our models, it’s top of the list for brand perception and recognition.”
The Mustang has 7.6 million Facebook fans at last count (August 2014), making it the most “liked” car on the social media site, Ford claims.
The Mustang has also appeared in more than 3000 movies, including James Bond’s Goldfinger (1964), Steve McQueen’s Bullitt (1968), and Nic Cage’s Gone in 60 Seconds (2000).
Of the 400 Mustang clubs globally, more than half of them are outside North America.
Ford has sold more than 9.2 million Mustangs since the first one was built in 1964, but only 161,000 were sold outside North America. With this new RHD model, that will all change.
Many people will be struggling to understand the merit of a four cylinder Mustang: which will be available with four cylinder or V8 power. However, the latest four cylinder turbo engine has more grunt than many V8s (227 kW). It will also be much more fuel-efficient.
The V8 version which will be the enthusiast’s choice, will come standard with a “burnout” button – the option of a four-cylinder engine is intended to broaden the Mustang’s appeal, especially in Europe as the Mustang goes global for the first time.
