You Won't Believe This New Orange Mustang

For its last model year before swapping to an all-new platform, Ford plans to offer the much-loved Mustang in a hot new shade of orange. Tangerine now pairs with the orange-adjacent, almost peach-like Chamois.

Apparently, customers can have their ‘Stang — downsized severely just in time for those recent OPEC shenanigans — in whatever flavor they desire ahead of Dearborn’s new Fox-bodied successor. T-tops, which appeared last year, can be had by any hatchback buyer, while the King Cobra joins the roster for those who find the Cobra II package too tepid.

Read on for more details.

If economy’s your bag, you’ll dig the returning 2.3-liter four-cylinder — a solid little powerplant that’s arguably carried more Americans to the supermarket this decade than any other mill in the FoMoCo barn. Pair it with a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic. A Cologne V6 displacing 2.8 liters is on tap to scratch the horsepower itch of those unwilling to move up to the extra weight and expense of a V8.

Those of you with stock in Sears and AT&T might want to pony up (get it?) for the value-added luxury of the Ghia hardtop, and for those who don’t, don’t worry — the Mach 1 also returns in hatchback guise for the new model year. Expect a $435 markup for that trim. However, if an even fatter stack of bills is burning a hole in your slacks, the limited run King Cobra’s your baby. Featuring the top-tier 302 V8 under its reverse-scooped hood, it tops the Cobra II with fender flares, a front air dam, a beefier suspension setup, and a rear spoiler. You’ll attract more stares than John Travolta walking past a hair salon!

Time will tell just how popular the Mustang’s looming replacement proves, but Americans have shown their willingness to give a downsized pony car with a potent horsepower history a chance. The Fox platform’s appearance beneath the latest compact sedans from both Ford and Mercury shows its promise, too. It just might be with us for a while!

Wait, hold on —

Sorry, or wires got crossed there. It seems the big news today is that the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT — not the ’78 Mustang II seen above — can be ordered with eye-catching Cyber Orange Metallic Tri-Coat paint.

Joining Dark Matter Gray, Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat, Star White Metallic Tri-Coat, Grabber Blue, Shadow Black, Iconic Silver, and Space White in the Mach-E GT’s color palette, the new shade is a recipe for getting noticed, claims Janet Seymour, Mustang and Mustang Mach-E color & materials design manager.

“There’s a certain passion in Mustang customers who really want to show off their Mustang – especially those that look to make a bold statement,” Seymour said.

Color us impressed.

Deliveries should commence in late summer of next year.

[Images: Ford]