For the past 50 years, the Mustang and Corvette have dominated the American sports car market. Yes, the Viper has been a performance freak, but its price has always made it an exotic vs. an attainable sports car in the American scene.
With the recent news of the Corvette C8 being mid-engine and coming with a double clutch transmission, the world is awaiting to see what Ford will do to their next gen Mustang. They can’t continue to push out turbocharged 4 cylinders with automatic transmissions. It’s time, no it’s MANDATORY, for Ford to take the Mustang to the next level and make it a world class sports car.
For decades, it’s been a figurative and sometimes actual race between these two. During the 50’s, when American auto manufacturers decided to boycott racing, Corvette was finding ways to race their cars either by being parts suppliers or masking a factory race car as privately funded. Ford eventually did the same.
For the past 60 years, each brand has tried to outdo one another with many exciting cars, but recently, Corvette has moved ahead of Ford in motorsports with their efforts at LeMans. Even the street version of the Corvette is outperforming competitors from Europe. And now, the Corvette C8 is no longer just an American sports car, but has become a $60k SUPERCAR with an exotic mid engine V8 set up.
What’s Ford going to do? Should they continue to compete with Corvette? Or will they set their eyes on different segments? Ford considers the Mustang as America’s true sports car, and many people consider it the iconic American sports car. But to be the true sports car, you can’t rest your laurels and hope that your heritage sells cars for you. You’re going to have to make the best damn sports car around!
Ford needs to decide if they want quantity or quality. I get the idea of Ford wanting a Mustang for all budgets - i.e the EcoBoost - but as GM does , if everyone wants a Corvette, they start with a Camaro and then move their way up. Corvettes do not compromise their performance in the name of volume.
If they decide on quality, they are going to have to make the Mustang a premium sports car. Like the Viper & Corvette C7 did before them - they are going to have to make something that isn’t just a big engine strapped to metal and plastic. They are going to have to make a car that is world class.
What should Ford do with the next Mustang knowing the C8 has left it in the dust? Should they try to compete and build a world class supercar? Or focus on a new segment?