California Knows How to Party: 2019 Ford Mustang California Special

The Ford Mustang, recently made pointier and stripped of its middle-child V6 engine, earns a California Special package for 2019.

On the rare chance that anyone reading this is unfamiliar with the California Special’s history, it emphatically does not include surfing lessons and a being stuck on the 405. Among other items, though, it absolutely features the de rigeur GT/CS stripe because in California, there’s no point in doing something if you don’t shout about it, right?

That fading stripe stretches all the way along the Mustang’s flanks from its 5.0 badge to the fender scoop. Like most things in California that are trying to call attention to themselves, there is an extra stamp on its rear, too. Here, it is Ford’s black and red CS script. Up front is a blacked out open grille and the splitter from the Performance Pack. This author approves of that final addition, for sure.

A re-tuned five-point-oh makes 460 horsepower in the 2019 GT, pounded to the pavement by way of a six-speed manual with rev-matching that allows drivers to do an acceptable heel-and-toe impression. On downshifts, the engine rpm kicks up to smooth out the transition between gears while providing a slick exhaust burble. An automatic is optional, of course. Please don’t get it.

Friday’s special edition Challenger gained a thumping stereo and the Mustang is now available with one too, gaining an option box for a Bang & Olufsen branded audio system. This B&O Play unit has a 1,000 watt 10-channel amp and 12 speakers. The road tunes you chose this morning will be cranked out with newfound verve, then.

There have been several iterations of the California Special, stretching all the way back to 1968 when Ford, only a few years into finding success with its massively popular pony car, fired a couple of Shelby-esque rectangular fog lamps at the grille along with Shelby style tail lights and simulated air scoops. A variety of V8 engines, including the 429 Cobra Jet, could be opted.

California Specials didn’t appear from the factory again until 2007, two years after the restyled ’05 Mustang showed up at dealers. Including this new iteration, it has been offered on a total of five different Mustang bodystyles.

Elsewhere in the Mustang line, buyers now have more color choice, with new hues including Velocity Blue, Need for Green, and the Bullitt model’s exclusive Dark Highland Green. Interestingly, the EcoBoost is now available with the GT’s variable active valve performance exhaust system. You’ll remember that as the one with Good Neighbor mode that doesn’t summon a State Farm agent but allows drivers to schedule when their Mustang should bark through its exhaust and when it should mutter.

In 2016, Ford charged $1995 for the California Special package. The 2019 Mustang goes on sale this summer with prices not yet announced.

[Image: Ford Motor Company]