While I'm about 20 years younger then you, I wouldn't mind seeing a good modern take on the post 1986 Mustang GT...sans the cheese grater tail lights, which can stay in the in 1980s.
I really hated the New Edge Mustang-I had a 1998 Mustang GT which most likely didn't help, but my issue was that it was done on the cheap and it just didn't look that good. The Focus, Contour and Cougar (esp the Cougar) was best looking products of that generation. The first gen SN95 had a good retro vibe while being in the post jellybean era of Ford. The 2005 Mustang nailed the retro thing, but it fell out of favor within a few years.
So it could be somewhat close in appearance to something like this in coupe form with a lower, more rounded off front end? I don't hate it, but it kinda kills the muscle car look.
Sometimes it has a to be spelled out because a lot of folks still don’t understand this “Ford logic”
progressively eliminating the V6 from Explorer, then call it a commodity vehicle like the old Crown Vic.
I don’t know that is entirely true anymore. With the pull back on EV’s, I think there is development potential for Ford with this platform to underpin next generation Explorer and maybe midsize crossover. Ford certainly isn’t going to pay develop another non-EV platform.
Yeah, a good idea to temper expectations. IIRC Farley mentioned skunkworks team was very successful in lowering R&D costs (30 cents on the dollar), but I don’t recall much detail suggesting the new vehicles would be that much cheaper than competition.