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'21MY Mustang facelift - where are the prototypes?


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OK, I'm probably just impatient, however......

 

There are strong indications that the '21MY will see another facelift for the current S550.......with the possibility of a new Mach 1 &/or hybrid version as part of the line up. Assuming the model year timings are similar to the last few years, that should mean we see full production ready version around April this year (for reference, the new '20MY Ecoboost High Performance model was shown at a preview event around the 17th April...Mustang's birthday!).

 

So far, only 2 prototypes have been spotted. This was, if I recall correctly, around late April/early May last year. One is a Royal Crimson GT, the other a Euro-spec Bullitt......both with very light front and rear camo. In fact, the only change we can (almost) see here is on the Crimson car, you can see the front turn signal/running lamps seem to be higher up in the bumper). Will the refresh really be that light? And since then we not seen a thing.......nothing......nada......nowt!

 

Will it be such a light refresh they don't really need prototypes out and about? Whilst I love the look of the current car, it needs more than new bumpers to stay fresh until S650 ('23MY++) in my opinion.

 

So, just an impatient rant on my part. But if anyone's closer to the action, please let me know what we can expect, and when :)

 

 

21MY facelift 1.jpg

21MY.jpg

21MY Facelift 3.jpg

21MY facelift 4.jpg

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1 hour ago, Deanh said:

they really need to refine the front end...in my opinion WAAAAAAY too much going on, and nothing seems cohesive to me...and don't get me started on the weird hood contour detail ….

.

That's why my '13 still lives @ my house. When I bought it in 2015, I liked that body style more than the current car. Still do. It's not that I don't like the current car, I just like mine better.

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1 hour ago, 351cid said:

That's why my '13 still lives @ my house. When I bought it in 2015, I liked that body style more than the current car. Still do. It's not that I don't like the current car, I just like mine better.

 

Outside of the GT350/500 and maybe the Bullitt, the current Mustang nose looks "off" to me. Its ok, but I much prefer the first gen styling. 

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5 hours ago, 351cid said:

That's why my '13 still lives @ my house. When I bought it in 2015, I liked that body style more than the current car. Still do. It's not that I don't like the current car, I just like mine better.

I agree. I still have a 2012. I thought the gen 6 style would grow on me after a while, and it really didn't. I don't hate it, I just like all the variations of generation 5 better.

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9 hours ago, ExplorerDude said:

I don’t see any MCA in the pipeline for the MY21 S550 but I could be wrong. The S550 has an 8 model year lifecycle.

 

The next gen will be a MY23 and it will be an all-new tophat on the existing platform. It will have a 6 Model year lifecycle.

 

Thank you, that's good info!

 

5 years for the current model ('18--'22MY) seems a looooooong time.......even the all new S550 was only 3 model years ('15-'17) before its first significant refresh. I think that, plus the prototypes spied above, led many (me included) to assume we'd see another refresh, much like the S197 did for its final 2 model years.

 

Roll on '23MY then :)

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I agree, I thought that there’d be a refresh as well seeing as the ‘18 Explorer and ‘19 Fusion both got a mild refresh and so did the ‘13 Mustang for their last 2 model years.

 

Again, I hope I’m wrong and they do update the S550 with new bumper covers or lights but I just don’t see any action plans on it. 

 

3 hours ago, Twin Turbo said:

 

Thank you, that's good info!

 

5 years for the current model ('18--'22MY) seems a looooooong time.......even the all new S550 was only 3 model years ('15-'17) before its first significant refresh. I think that, plus the prototypes spied above, led many (me included) to assume we'd see another refresh, much like the S197 did for its final 2 model years.

 

Roll on '23MY then :)

 

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I'm starting to think that the Mustang hybrid might have been getting confused with the Mustang Mach E that was unknown at the time. Some older articles (back in 2017 or before all the changes) said that  Mustang and F-150 hybrid where coming in 2020. I can see the F-150 hybrid still being a thing since its getting a refresh this year, but I wouldn't be as sure the Mustang is getting one, unless its part of the Mach 1 or something...and no refresh till CY 22. 

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Remember......waaaaay back in 2017, Mark Field's announced the hybrid F150 and Mustang for 2020..........plus a "300 mile electric SUV" which we now know as Mach E. So, there were definitely plans for a hybrid Mustang and, as far as I can tell, there's no no official announcement to say that's not happening.

 

Of course, this was a long time ago now and plans do change, especially with Mr Fields no longer around. 

 

So, two out of the three vehicles are coming this year.  

 

I still think the rumored Mach 1 would make sense if it were the V8 hybrid as it would tie the two Machs together.  However, the lack of news/rumors on the Mustang hybrid is a little concerning. It would also make sense for the Mach 1 to introduce the mild refresh, but again, there's little proof out there that it exists!

 

https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2017/01/03/ford-adding-electrified-f-150-mustang-transit-by-2020.html

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Two things in my opinion.

 

1) With the Camaro being phased out, Ford doesn't feel the pressure to keep it fresh and...

 

2) Ford will let it wither on the vine like they are so infamous for. "See...the Mustang coupe no longer sells. We were so brilliant for making the electric crossover thing."

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Well, I hope you're wrong. Whilst Camaro is the nearest home-grown competition, 40% of Mustang sales are now "rest of the world".......and the rest of the world hasn't stopped developing their car (particularly Audi/Merc/BMW etc).

 

Given the sh*t storm Ford received from many Mustang fans over Mach E, you'd think they'd want to re-assure them that they are still committed to the "real" Mustang. And the best way to do that is to continue to develop the Mustang to be as good as it can be.

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13 hours ago, atomcat68 said:

I agree. I still have a 2012. I thought the gen 6 style would grow on me after a while, and it really didn't. I don't hate it, I just like all the variations of generation 5 better.

 

I think Gen 6 went too much toward a sportscar look, and doesn't look like a muscle car anymore. The GT500 helps, but only in the front. The whole silhouette just doesn't look tough enough.

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28 minutes ago, 351cid said:

Two things in my opinion.

 

1) With the Camaro being phased out, Ford doesn't feel the pressure to keep it fresh and...

 

2) Ford will let it wither on the vine like they are so infamous for. "See...the Mustang coupe no longer sells. We were so brilliant for making the electric crossover thing."

 

I don't think it had anything to do with Camaro.  I don't think Ford even targets Camaro during development - they're targeting the European and Japanese sports cars now.

 

I think it was originally planned for CD6 for 2021 MY (along with other CD6 cars) but that changed and it got pushed out two more years on a revised current platform with CD6 pieces.

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6 hours ago, silvrsvt said:

I'm starting to think that the Mustang hybrid might have been getting confused with the Mustang Mach E that was unknown at the time. Some older articles (back in 2017 or before all the changes) said that  Mustang and F-150 hybrid where coming in 2020. I can see the F-150 hybrid still being a thing since its getting a refresh this year, but I wouldn't be as sure the Mustang is getting one, unless its part of the Mach 1 or something...and no refresh till CY 22. 

 

F-150 is new, not a refresh.

 

5 hours ago, Trailhiker said:

 

I think Gen 6 went too much toward a sportscar look, and doesn't look like a muscle car anymore. The GT500 helps, but only in the front. The whole silhouette just doesn't look tough enough.

 

I don't know what "tough enough" means, or why it would apply to what is a sports car.

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I'm in the group that says "It's not bad looking, but the generation before it was better".

 

Kinda like the 1994-1998 modified Fox. It's not my favorite, but it's ok. The Edge model (1999-2004) was better....the 2005-2014 was awesome and just got better as time passed on.

 

I don't trust that Ford will keep the Mustang coupe around.

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3 hours ago, 351cid said:

I'm in the group that says "It's not bad looking, but the generation before it was better".

 

Kinda like the 1994-1998 modified Fox. It's not my favorite, but it's ok. The Edge model (1999-2004) was better....the 2005-2014 was awesome and just got better as time passed on.

 

I don't trust that Ford will keep the Mustang coupe around.


The new edge model was fucking awful-how can you justify changing everything to a hard straight line and keep the roof line from a curvy car prior to it? It was classic half assing by Ford. 

 

the coupe isn’t going anywhere for at least another 5-10 years. 

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17 hours ago, rmc523 said:

 

Hm, can't the vehicle that created the segment set the standard for it?

That's the problem...the segment the Mustang created was the pony car, and it also fit right in as a small muscle car.

The sportscar segment was and should be chased by a different model, and let the Mustang be a Mustang again.

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28 minutes ago, Trailhiker said:

That's the problem...the segment the Mustang created was the pony car, and it also fit right in as a small muscle car.

The sportscar segment was and should be chased by a different model, and let the Mustang be a Mustang again.

 

So what exactly should they do differently to let Mustang be a Mustang again?

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