A bold change combining now and then styling gives the new mustang a look that says thoroughbred all over it. Some of the landmark mustang looks are easily spotted like the long hood, short rear deck, three-light tail and what some are calling the "fastback". Ford calls it the coupe. It still has rear deck although it is short. Whatever you call it, it looks good. The rear side windows take you back many years. The new mustangs have a six inch longer wheel base and more room inside. The modern instrument panel can have different lighting with 125 choices and the 3-spoked steering wheel will look familiar.

The newest model, just out as of early April 2005, is the convertible. I saw one at this show in Florida, but as I left Ca. for the trip I saw several lined up at a local dealership. The new owner of the red convertible at the Mustangs & Mustangs show, who was named "Kjell", said he had ordered his as soon as they were taking orders, and just received it the Friday of the show. Kjell's was lowered 2" and a new set of tires and wheels were added for a nice look. Saleen has an S281 Extreme model which turns heads about as fast as speedometers. Packed up front with the twin-supercharged 4.6L (281 cid) pumping 500 horses, this $60k+ beast will go 0-60 in 4.5 and a 1/4 mile in 12.1 at 117 mph. Saleen claims that it is the best bang for the buck in performance sports cars.

Roush is working on their 2005 version, but none were at the show this year. There were a few other companies showing off their mods for the 2005 models and some looked very nice. Overall, the 2005s put on a good showing a this year's Mustangs & Mustangs. Now, all I need to do is convince the guys with the S281 Extreme to let me take her for a mellow test spin ...