What to Make of That Rumored Ford Mustang Sedan

As Steph wrote recently, the rumor mill is churning with talk about a possible four-door Mustang.

It all started with a rumor on a forum, and the good folks over at Car and Driver fleshed the story out a little more with some reasonable speculation.

I don’t know if I am the biggest Mustang fan here at TTAC – but I am the only staffer who looks upon Fox bodies the way others gaze at 911s. When news is slow, I can be found trolling the market for a Fox body, just for shits and grins.

I’m not sure if my love for ‘80s pony cars makes me a Mustang purist, but I did see a Facebook post from an industry colleague linking the C/D post and making a comment about how he’d drive a Mustang sedan just to make purists howl.

Which made me wonder – would I be offended if Ford built a four-door Mustang?

Let’s put aside some market realities for a second. I think a four-door Mustang, or a Mustang-based sedan with a different name, is unlikely. For one, Ford isn’t keen on sedans at the moment (perhaps you’ve heard). Second, the Chevy SS failed because, for the most part, Americans don’t have interest in rear-drive sports sedans that aren’t luxury cars (the Dodge/Chrysler gang being the obvious exception).

So yeah, this is unlikely, in my opinion. But if it happens, will I howl the way I did (along with Mr. Accardi) about Ford possibly using the Mach 1 name on a crossover (a plan that’s probably off the table)? Will I howl the way the others did decades ago when Ford wanted the ‘Stang to go front-drive, leading instead to the Ford Probe? Will I howl the way many did when the original 5.0-liter V8 gave way for a 4.6?

Honestly, no. I won’t. As long as the Mustang remains available as a coupe, and as long as manual transmissions and V8 engines are available, and as long as the car has a sporting mission, I won’t moan about additional varieties. I am cool with the fact that one version of the car is powered by a four-banger EcoBoost. I am cool with the fact that slushbox-preferring buyers can opt for an automatic even in the GT. I will be cool with a planned hybrid version, as long as it’s not the only version.

My complaint about the Mach 1 was misuse of the name – that moniker belongs only on hi-po V8 Mustang coupes, in my opinion. I don’t care that Ford plans to build a Mustang-inspired BEV crossover – just don’t sully the Mach 1 name (or Bullitt, or GT, or Boss).

I do have concerns about what a hypothetical Mustang sedan might be called. Just calling it “Mustang” might confuse car buyers who don’t know a spark plug from a cigarette lighter, and I think that would be a marketing mistake for Ford.

Of course, there’s a good chance that a Mustang-based sedan would get its own name, and might even be badged as a Lincoln. All Ford will say is nothing – the brand just threw some PR boilerplate at C/D when the Ann Arbor gang asked for comment.

So yeah, this Mustang boy is cool with a Mustang sedan, as long as the coupe goes nowhere. That is, if this rumor is even true and not so much horse dung.

Oh, to live in a world in which a stick-shift Mustang-based RWD/AWD sedan is sold alongside a resurrected Chevy SS and the Dodge/Chrysler twins. Sigh.

[Image: Ford]