If this was not a Bullitt Mustang and another sports car with big V-8, cheap interior, live rear axle, and sub par brakes does it get 4 stars?

I don’t think so.

As Trant Jarman once wrote, “There’s nothing wrong with a solid axle. It keeps the tires perpendicular to the road.” Yeah, you sacrifice a little ride quality on broken pavement, and a slight lateral slip catches you by surprise now and then. If you don’t get the tires right, maybe a little more than “slight.” People are so forgiving of Porsches, why not this? On the other hand, you get a rear end that’s tough as an anvil and almost as simple to to fix if the pumpkin grenades.

A problem with Mustangs, mitigated in this version, has been conflicting roll centers between the front and the tail of the car, aggravating brake dive. Also, Ford has traditionally located the rear axle with sheet metal control arms using soft bushings, for lower NVH and better ride quality. Unfortunately, in hard turns that results in some lateral deflection of the axle, moving it a little out of line with the front track. In the current Mustang, Ford mitigated this problem with a panhard rod and a 3 link suspension. However, the factory panhard rod now also has relatively soft bushings in the interests of NVH, so it’s not as effective at precision location of the axle as it could be.

Drivers among this crowd will want to tighten up their Bullitt. The bits to do it are cheap and stealthy. Mustang ride quality is largely determined by the rear suspension and that live axle’s dynamic behavior. So you can run pretty stiff springs up front to quell the brake dive, and still have a comfortable ride. Conversely, relatively soft springs combined with replacement control arms and panhard rod that use bearings instead of bushings, will free up the rotational ease of the live axle — making it maintain traction more like an IRS (no, I didn’t say “exactly like”) — while eliminating lateral flex that puts the rear axle of older stock Mustangs slightly out of track on hard turns.

Having built a couple of prior-gen SVT Cobras to overcome these problems, I can attest to how dramatically even the prior platform can be improved to challenge a Porsche in a tight canyon road. The new car’s longer wheelbase and added mass take their toll, but give back in the form of more structural rigidity, better front and rear suspension geometry, and finer steering.

This Bullitt is nifty as-is, and drives lighter/smaller than it actually is. A few hundred dollars in suspension tweaks and stepping up the shoes would dial it in just right. All of this can be done from the FRPP catalog, but there are scads of independent vendors too. Braking upgrades would be my first stop. Leave the engine alone until the set-up is tweaked, then start finding another 30 naturally-aspirated hp out of that 3 valve mill. A supercharger would be too easy and would undermine the character and balance of this car. Leave that to the Shelby and those cloning it.

$10mm cloning the ‘68 exhaust note….only a huge organization would need that much coin to nail it, but nail it they did.

Phil

Will Ford ever stop the themed Mustangs to fend off Chapter 11?

Freaking waste of effort: Ford’s broke, can’t redesign for a couple more years and sales are going downhill because of the aging design. Brilliant idea, sell, um “more” Mustangs by creating themed mustangs, surely they aren’t cannibalizing Mustang sales to begin with, so they are not pointless right? Or rather just a marketing gimmick to get people to pay more.

I guess idiots think the “premium” car themed Mustang is worth the premium price bump.

There were two identical Mustangs used in the movie, one for the chase scene, and another for everything else. The chase car was trashed after filming was over, so it was sent to the crusher. The second car was sold to a studio employee. From there it ended up with a real cop in New Jersey. At one point, in the late 70’s, McQueen attempted to purchase the car. The owner at the time refused to sell at any price.

The current owner has the car stored in a barn in Ohio, still wearing its New Jersey plates. Accoding to people who have seen it, the car is in very bad need of a professional restoration. The present owner refuses to sell, but either lacks the cash or motivation to have it restored. A few more years of rotting in humid Ohio summers, and it’ll be too late.

Here’s a web site dedicated to rotting American muscle. It’s a lot like what happened to the American dream. http://www.carsinbarns.com/

We all know that the Mustang is an American Icon just like the Corvette or the Cadillac. This car is what America is all about big, fast and tough.

But We tend to lean on the Japanese and Europeans cars because the way they built their cars.

The Ford Mustang is not all about that it is an American Brand that we can brag about with the rest of the world and We will continue building this extraordinary car that Americans Love and Hate.

And, that’s the reason for my answer.

So again, which five would you pick as the top five movie/TV cars of all time, and would Bullitt be in the top five?

Top five recognizable movie/TV cars or type five that I would like to own?

Top 5 that I would love to own (in no particular order:
1) 1970 Challenger R/T
2) Ford Falcon Interceptor
3) Ferrari 308 GTS
4) 400Bullitt Mustang
5) 48 Ford hotrod

#1 The Batmobile – a 1979 Lincoln Continental (would you ever guess this?) 159hp, 14 sec 0-60, 19sec 1/4mile @ 70mph, three on the tree. $120k Closest car that Lincoln has today is the MKZ

#2 The General Lee 69 Charger 383 (although over 90% used in the series were 318’s), 320 cars were used in the series, the first car featured (GL #1) was used in every episode being in the opening credits. Its figures are 4bbl 335hp, 5 sec 0-60, 1/4 mile 16 sec 85mph, 3 speed A-727 torque flight. $3,600. Way slower than the 440, R/T, Daytona or Hemi 69 Chargers. Dodge now has a new Charger.

#3 The Ford Falcon Interceptor from Mad Max, a 73 “XB” Falcon Coupe from Australia. A hard car to find nowadays. 300-hp, 0-60 in 8.2 secs, 1/4 mile in 16 secs @ 85mph, 4 speed manual, price unknown. Probably the closest car to this would be the Ford Focus SES

#4 The Delorean DMC12 from Back to the Future. 130hp, 0-60 14.1 secs, 1/4 mile 19 1/2 secs @70mph, 3 speed auto, sells for $57,500 today

#5 The 74 Ford Gran Torino from Starsky and Hutch, I cannot find out much about this car, perhaps someone else knows the stats

What would your top five be? Suggestions are the above plus;

Bullitt (390 GT Mustang)
KITT from Knightrider (82 Pontiac Trans Am)
The A-Team Van (83 GMC G-series)
The ‘Saint’s’ car (Volvo P1800)
Magnum PI’s car (Ferrari 308 GTS)
Herbie from The Love Bug (69 VW Beetle)
The Flintmobile
Inspector Morse’s Car (Jaguar MK VII)
Mr Bean (old Mini)
The Italian Job (new Mini Cooper S)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (67 Shelby GT)
The Shag-fantastic Goldmember car (Jag XK8 E type)
James Bond Car (Aston Martin DB5 is my choice)
Blues Brothers Car (1974 Dodge Monaco)
Christine (58 Plymouth Fury)
Grease (48 Ford)
Ghostbusters (59 Cadillac Ambulance)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (61 Ferrari 250 GT)
Smokey and the Bandit (77 Pontiac Trans Am)
Waynes World (AMC Pacer)
Vanishing Point (1970 Challenger R/T 400)
Rebel without a Cause (1949 Mercury Series 9CM Coupe)

So again, which five would you pick as the top five movie/TV cars of all time, and would Bullitt be in the top five? Is Ford onto a good thing? And lastly, when will Chrysler build the Flintmobile replica, or has it already?

that is completely ridiculous

“I don’t know what Frank Bullitt would drive today, but Steve McQueen would probably have a stable of cars, trucks, and bikes.“

Steve McQueen did have a stable of cars, trucks, and bikes.

As to what Frank Bullitt would drive today, one should remember that back in 1968, musclecars were the norm. A 390GT fastback Mustang just wasn’t that big of a deal back then. Additionally, it’s worth noting that 390 Fords were among the slowest of the era’s musclecars, too. In any event, the car was chosen specifically as something believable that a San Francisco police detective would have as his personal transportation.

As to what a San Francisco police detective would normally be driving today as his own car, Prius anyone?

Nonetheless, as ’special edition’ Mustangs go, the Bullitt is pretty darn nice. It would have been even nicer if, as stated in the review, Ford would have popped for the stitched dash that’s available on other new Mustangs. It would have brought the Bullitt even closer to the original (all of the sixties’ Mustangs had a stitched dash), as well as coughing up the extra cash for a proper vented hood that mimics the ‘68 car’s.

Lose the stereo. Forbid TV screen on dash.

Exhaust sound, OK. Intake snarl, OK.

Get it to 25 mpg real world or I would only drive it for one day as a loaner from my 70 year old mother in law who might buy one. She has blond hair and my dad’s money. I am OK with that.

(I don’t have anybody nearby that goes to track.)

I am a green, euro-faggot-wanna-be with the money Ford wants but just not their target audience.

So, it competes with another bicycle or kayak or a 08 ninja for spare time fun. I would buy a brazilian repro porsche 550 or 356 over this as weekend toy for mid 20s. Not a new Miata which has no less than 4 cupholders for 2 occupants one of which digs into my left leg…

You are wrong, of course. Not because it’s a bad guess, but because you’re not Steve McQueen. If he were alive today Steve McQueen would be driving something that never occurred to you or me. And it would be perfect. It would be perfect because he’s Steve, and we’re not.

The V6 model in comparison looks terrible.

The pictures make it look like just another Mustang. Standing there by it, it seems really small all things considered. Might be a trick of light from the color.

One of those “yeah it looks nice, but I’d never buy one type cars”.

A live axle is not a liability on the drag strip or even on a smooth race track. Where it sucks is in the real world on uneven pavement, where the lack of independent wheel motion and the high unsprung weight become problems.

On the other hand, count me in the WTF camp regarding the metallic dash. I like fiddling with older cars and I’m pretty sure that any suspension mods that they made wouldn’t be too difficult or expensive to do myself. I’d look into after market parts to see just how much it would cost me to start with a Mustang GT and make a Bullitt Mustang sans the truck bumper dash rather than buy an “actual” Bullitt Mustang.

I kid of course. The Bullitt is the only latter-day Mustang that’s ever really appealed to me. It’s great to hear that it drives as well as it looks driving by.

In fact when the new Mustang came out in 2005 I purchased the closest thing I could get to it in look and color—Mineral Grey (greenish grey), no sopiler, no boy racer add-ons—as stealth as I could get it.. Now that the “real” Bullitt is out—-it is really making me think I have some news to break to the wife.

Reportedly when the Mazda Miata was originally designed, an immense number of exhausts were tried and rejected until Miata engineers achieved just the perfect exhaust note. I wonder what this cost in today’s dollars.

I have looked under the hood on numerous BMW M-3s and M5’s and admired the nice work on the subwoofers (subwoofers!) that are engineered to enhance the exhaust sounds.

So it doesn’t strike me as particularly noteworthy that Ford spent a hunk on the Bullit’s exhaust sound