2010 Ford Mustang early debut
18 Nov, 2008
56 Comments 
After an exhausting stretch of teaser images, Ford has finally unveiled its new generation 2010 Ford Mustang Coupe and Convertible.
Ford actually broke their own embargo by accidently publishing the first official photos of the new Mustang on its dedicated micro site before releasing the remaining content as a result.
The exterior is an obvious evolutionary take on its predecessors while incorporating elements of the modern muscle car established by the new Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro.
“We understand Mustang’s heritage and iconic status it has in the world and as a symbol of Americana,” said Peter Horbury, Ford’s North American executive director of Design. “We wanted to create a face that is more muscular but unquestionably, unequivocally Mustang and carry that spirit through to the entire car.”
Special attention has been paid to the interior trimmings which have raised quality issues in the past, with Ford boasting a mesh of “world-class materials and execution” for the new model.
“That’s the difference between good enough and exceptional,” said Gary Morales, Interior Design manager. “We wouldn’t accept anything less than leadership design and world-class craftsmanship.”
The drivetrain and suspension components of the 2010 Mustang have been largely carried over from its predecessor, although with some improvements made on the V8 GT model.
The 2010 GT retains its 4.6-litre V8 engine which now develops an unremarkable 235kW and 440Nm, while the 4.0-litre V6 engine has been carried over unchanged.
The new 2010 Ford Mustang will go on sale in the US by early 2009 and will be available in three body styles: coupe, convertible and a glass roof model.
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November 18th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
That looks TUFF!
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November 18th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Not a massive change & still sticking with the live axle but still a fantastic looking car, I can’t wait to see the Shelby models etc.
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November 18th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
So it’s still the only car in the world (as distinct from a truck) that has a rear axle derived from that of the Model T?
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November 18th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
and an underpower v8
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November 18th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Yep,
they are certainly mad if they dont throw this on the Falcon platform
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November 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
doesnt take much to excite the yanks………imagine if they drove an XR6 turbo or an F6 which are easily the best 2 cars ever made in OZ.
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Greeny,
I reckon if they drove the turbo Aussie Fords it would knock some stubborness out of them
does it really need the strut brace i wonder??
they are normally reserved for FWD’ers
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Is that the tunnel used in Die Hard 4?
The car looks good, needs more horses.
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
My god… why did they take a picture of the diff? Like they are proud of their backwardness.
I bet my EL Falcon handles better than this.
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Minnow,
Photo of Diff. and rear underbody area is to display the cheap unpainted mexican componenets used.
A Hyundai Tiburon would be far more reliable and cheaper.
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November 18th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
WOW, that looks fantastic! And with that V8 power and legendary status. I love it!
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Minnow,
ive also got a dollar on your EL.
to us here in OZ they are seen as/sold for their legendary status,
to the yanks they actually think this is the ultimate performance machine ha ha ha ha
send em a Falcon and they would spoof their pants.
even the EL GT would have them spoofing ha ha ha
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
^^^
even though i said what i said,
i still appreciate and respect the Mustasng vehicles
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Mitch that underpowered V8 still manages to get the mustang across the line in mid to low 13 so it must be doing somthing right, and it revs like anything and sounds better than any V8 car we can get here the car look up with the new Camaro and new Challanger love the new bonnet though.
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November 18th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I love the look of the thing, but this looks more like a face lift as opposed to a new model isn’t it?
It really is about time they ditch the live rear axle, i think all three retro pony cars have something wrong with them. Challenger is overweight, and huge. Mustang has an ancient suspension. Camaro is quite heavy too and somehow not as cool as the other two. However, the look and the noise simply blows away any japanese cheap two door coupe.
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November 18th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
sweet, no engine cover
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Considering the state of things at the moment I guess I can see why huge investments werent made in the drive train. Word is 2011 itll get a direct injection V6 and possibly a new rear axle. The mustang sells phenomenally in the US and I guess the average consumer cares more about the interior than whats going on underneath. I think the V6 is the better looker over the GT strangely though.
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November 19th, 2008 at 8:15 am
I’d have the camaro over it, but it has motoring history. Connery had one (Thunderball?), so did McQueen, and I think that even John Wayne had a crack in one (Cant remember the movie). The interior looks hot too, esp the centre console. There is something about them that I cant resist - maybe I have just been brainwashed by years of hollywood conditioning, though I cant imagine getting too excited by a prius in 30 years time
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Good to see Ford still having a go with the Mustang. It is recognisably a ’stang and performs with the V8. Personally I prefer the Challenger but there is room for both.
Sean Connery/James Bond drove a Mustang in “Diamonds are Forever” with some great stunt driving on 2 wheels. Steve McQueen drove a Mustang in Bullit (Bullet?) though it had to be hotted up to keep up with a Dodge Charger.
To the Ford Falcon whingers, get over it! The Mustang was born from the Falcon, but with much better styling. From there it developed performance options and became a decent performer. However, first and foremost it is about the look, the image. If you like the Taxi image, stick with a Falcon.
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:28 am
That looks beyond awful.
Its a fat and useless sports car, and an underpowered muscle car. It has no point.
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:32 am
The cynic in me says ford US are showing 2010 model spec to drum up continued interest? But what’s going on with only 235KWs, a strut brace and still with that old live rear axle?
^actually captain M, the model T had a torque tube straight bevel geared axle and nothing like the Salisbury pictured but I get your point, its still cheap & archaic!
^ 4wheel & pious, you guys seem to recollect the same stuff as me but you forgot the classic mustang movie, the original Gone in 60 seconds with elanor the Shelby GT500
Btw, wasn’t John Wayne’s film Brannigan?
anti-spam = 300KW
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Didn’t Ford US make Ford Australia the Research and Development Centre for RWD projects just as GM did with Holden..
If so they would have built the Mustang on the same platform as the FG Falcon [as the Camaro is built on the VE platform] Not to mention that if they decided to build the Stang here; the build quality would be 100% better.
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Build quality 100% better if built in Oz, Wheelnut? Where have you been for the last 20 years? Australian built vehicles have some of the worst build quality standards in the world. Sure, the drivetrain might be OK, but the fit and finish of both commodore and falcon have been well below par for a long, long time now.
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
WVB, you are right, Brannigan it was. I think it might have been shot to pieces in the movie, though I was probably 10 when I saw the movie. Look, it might be a pig and underpowered and handle poorly, but unless you are driving heaps it is how it makes you feel to drive it that counts to me (and the engine noise!). You have a look and see how many people in high powered expensive sports cars drag off other people at the lights - pretty much none of them, once the novelty wears off. Are the dragsters more often people who have tricked up cheaper cars and have something to prove?
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
If that’s the case B-Man why do so many Americans feel the need to replace their new cars more often than Australians. Because if the cars were reliable and held together etc surely they would keep them longer than a couple of years?
I mean if Australian build quality was as bad as American cars we too would have to replace our new cars as often as the Americans do.. but we don’t.
Sure cars in the USA are considerably cheaper than those in Oz but if the US built cars were as good as those built in Oz; Americans would be able to spend the money on other things such as a overseas Holiday; home improvements or new furniture / electrical equipment instead of buying another new car
Build Quality = Reliability = Longevity
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
B-Man, I take it you have never really had anything to do with American built vehicles?? Or for that matter most Euro vehicles?
Eg. open the door of an F Truck and look at the build quality of the vehicle that holds the tittles of “best selling truck in the world” and the best selling vehicle in the states for 15 of the past 18 years!!
Then really have a look at the Build quality fo vehicles like a 300c or Nitro, perhaps a Peugot or Citroen or Renault……
As for the Live rear axel, some do retro styling as marketing, some do Retro mechanicals.
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
man, most of you dont get wat the mustang is a very cheap sports car that performs just as well as are fpv gt and clubsport if it had are peformance engines it would be a 11-12 second car.
as for the live rear axel i would take that over irs any day more fun and cheaper to maintain.
well that and arn’t the V8 supercar live rear axel and they would out handel any HSV or FPV
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
id rather a mustang over a ford gt ani dai lol its got less power but yet its faster hahaha thats funni
but for me its the xr6t ani dai
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
^escort, a live rear axle is great/strong/reliable for circuit racing no question but in real world, 97 percentile driver skill demands the characteristics of a ‘modern’ IRS. Besides have you ever lifted a disc to disc salisbury axle? Unsprung mass is very important too.
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
^WVB going buy your logic then all falcon ute should have irs becouse every day driving demands it.
and if unsprung mass is very important then why do escort handel better than most new cars ha they have a live rear axel why do falcon utes handel just as good as the holden ute’s
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
B-Man wrote… “Sure, the drivetrain might be OK, but the fit and finish of both commodore and falcon have been well below par for a long, long time now.”
Actually I would beg to differ. My 05 Falcon GT had drivetrain shunt that would seem crude if experienced on a tractor. There were numerous other quality issues with it as well.
Basic platform was great, but the build quality and short changing in the engineering always let it down. Hopefully Ford fixed that with the FG GT, but I haven’t read any user experiences. Have any actually been sold yet?
Dan
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November 19th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
^escort, economies of scale.
A live beam axle will traditionally carry a much heavier load than an IRS and as a ute is a work horse its handling characteristics are considered secondary to its design purpose.
A mustang however as you say is a ’sports’ car and therefore suggests that it requires superlative handling characteristcs to any utility vehicle.
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November 19th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
……….besides escort, I think you need to drive a new golf, focus or impreza and you will discover vehicle design and dynamics have advanced somewhat from 1974.
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November 19th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
^WVB yes its a sports car but as far as power gose its just over 300bhp the only mustangs that needs it ( and irs rear end.) is the GT500 and the Super Snake i mean 500hp and over 700hp is just stuped
pluse you do realise that it sits on the same suspention and floor as the T3 TS50 and they are a much better car to drive than the BA GT and they still have a live rear axel but with more power.
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November 19th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
The power does seem low by todays standards, but lets remember the LS1 SS had less then that when it broke cover.
The mustang isn’t exactly a heavy car, they are alot lighter than the camaro and challenger, and produce similar speeds with less power.
Isn’t that what modern cars should be doing?
Ford have saved alot of weight by not using IRS, not exactly a decision i support, but its what they felt was necessary. Lets not forget, the last model Mustang had IRS and the consumers complained so blatantly ford dropped it.
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November 19th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
I was in the states in July-August and hired a 2008 mustang V6 for a couple of days. Overall was impressed with the vehicle more than what I thought. When driving the stang it does feel good and the V6 went quite well and sounded tough, although I would have preferred the V8. But still would have preferred an XR6 over the stang.
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
shane your exactly right the stang is not as bad as they say but it need the 4.0l falcon six as a base engine
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Truly rubbish. Looks outdated and boring. No wonder Ford have trouble as harking back to a bygone long ago day and stuck in rut. Thus they make it easier for opposition to overtake Ford’s outdated design ethos (e.g. Toyota, Hyundai, Kia and VW) and make Ford’s sales dwindle. Its not up to Govt to bail them out……they need to wake up and move with times! Ford - gee has some crap designs and living in time warp!
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Love the look of it although I thought the yanks may have come up with a more advanced engine and drivetrain for it. Should be a tuner’s dream though. Looks like the US are finally starting to catch on in the interior department but they’ve got some catching up to do still. Hope the fuel tank is larger than the 59 litre tank in the current Mustang, you’d be lucky to drive from Sydney to Canberra wihtout having to fill up!
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Quote [Escort Ghia]: “most of you dont get what the mustang is a very cheap sports car that performs just as well as our FPV GT and Clubsport”
If you believe that; you are obviously Angle Parked in a Parallel universe somewhere
IRS is gives a better ride particularly when driving over uneven or rough surfaces covered with pot holes as only the wheels that hit the pot holes absorb the shock whereas a live axle would transfer the shockwave of the bump through the entire car.
And depending upon the rating of the shock absorbers [which on the Taurus/Probe are very low] could continue long after you have gone over the bump - it would almost feel as though you’re on a boat.
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
i prefure this desighn over any new car and pluse look at the vw gold it still looks like the first golf only more moderne.
at least with a retro design the mustang stands out unlike most new cars which all look the same.
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Mind you as Jeremy Clarkson says “most american cars aren’t meant to go around corners”
Sure they have the POWER - but controlling that power in terms of braking and suspension is where alot of American cars fall short; compared to those from Europe and even Oz.. and power is nothing without control!
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Escort - It looks pretty much the same as previous model Mustangs.. the fact that it’s a “retro” design [in the same way the new Camaro is] means that its built on the classic lines of the Mustangs that were built before it.
Therefore; it to is nothing new.. as it too looks the same
Which is one of the reasons that it is still so popular - just as the Porsche Carrera Aston Martin and the Golf are
As for having a Mustang over any other car…WTF? Over a Aston Martin; a Konigsiegg; an Audi R8; a BMW M3? Surely you can’t be serious?
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
wheelnut trust me we used to drive car with live rear axels with the AU falcon and the AU handeled better than the VT and the VT had IRS the mustang is on the same platform its just shorter,
it uses the AU front and rear suspetion.
if amerian car can’t turn around corners then neather can an old falcon or commodore with out irs going buy Jeremy Clarkson’s logic, as much as i like him.
Yes there old technollagy but gess what there more fun.
the mustang is what it is cheap and fun just what it was ment to be, and it lives up to it ansestores unlike the current GT falcon as good as they as a performance car there not a real GT falcon.
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November 19th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
ok you got me there wheel nut i would not have this over an Aston Martin but bmw bmw i cant stand the look of or the people that drive them audis i dont mind but for the price of them I’ll take a mustang thanks
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November 19th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I’m afraid I’ll have to go with Wheelnut on this one. If you are going to buy a car purely on looks, spend your money on a true classic insted of one of the new retro mobiles. The truth is, the old battle axes are truly scary to drive at the same speeds as modern vehicles, and most of them are down right dangerous. Most of the modern re-hashed designs are trying to cash in on previous popular designs as a way to sell a sub-par vehicle under the fancy body work. The ‘new’ Mustang is very dissapointing in my view, and not the direction Ford US needs to be taking to dig itself out of a deep hole.
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November 19th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
but the mustang sells very well so there doing something right and the poeple spoke and told ford to get rid of the irs and put the live rear axel back in so they did.
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November 19th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Wheelnut Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
\”If that’s the case B-Man why do so many Americans feel the need to replace their new cars more often than Australians. Because if the cars were reliable and held together etc surely they would keep them longer than a couple of years?\”
The corrosion from all the salt sprinkled over the road to combat snow also plays a part in places like New York.
Escort_Ghia Says:
November 19th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
\”ok you got me there wheel nut i would not have this over an Aston Martin but bmw bmw i cant stand the look of or the people that drive them audis i dont mind but for the price of them I’ll take a mustang thanks\”
Are you serious?
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November 19th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
Escort_Ghia Im a Ford follower and as much as I love the old GTs {had a few,modified and stock} they are scary things when you wind them up,dont handle dont stop and on cheese cutters are lethal in the rain!
Havent driven the new FG GT but the BA and BF GT I had up till recently in the family drove like a lot of other performance cars Ive and owned and own currently,apart for the grunt I feel they still lack. They handle, brake and are pleasant to drive unlike the Hertz Shelby GT Mustang I drove last year in the States.Very different than current Ozzie Muscle ,did a lot of cornering coming back from San Fran to LA and had a Mini Cooper on our arse for most of the tight corners,it was pretty woeful,although being auto didnt help it .A great looking car and I think with Australian chassis and running gear under it would be a fab car.
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November 19th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
The thing is, in America a car like this is fairly cheap to buy in relation to how much a car like this would be in australia. I was there last year and i saw so many mustangs, comaro’s and the like driving around, no one even looks twice.
So the mustang, even the GT sells in such high number that the average buyer does not give a shit about the rear axel or even know what one is.
The real car fans will get the Shelby .
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November 19th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
CB you miss understood if the mustang cost as much as say an aston martin or BMW it would be a no brainer but over in the states it cost like nothing compared to them i would rather spend 25,000 on a mustang than 150,000 on a aston martin or 50,000 on a bmw.
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November 19th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Im guessing not many have driven leaf sprung rear end cars let alone modernday ones.
as Escort says you can get decent handling out of an old school/basic rear end.
I read a review some years back where the falcon ute was pitched as a better handler than the equivalent commodore ute, and as it still stands, there is nothing in it between the 2.
wheelnut,
The Stang running on the FG Platform.
Ford OZ’s RWD Global platform isnt being used yet, from what i understand it could be 2 years away, unless the stang gets it before the falcon which could be possible. but either way, the FG platform isnt the global platform.
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November 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Andrew M - I was just alluding to the fact that the Suspension on the FG as well as its track/wheelbase and almost perfect weight distribution make it handle a lot better and deal with 300Kw+ really well…. more like a sports car nstead of a family sedan.
Which is why I think the sooner Detroit should have used the Falcon platform for the 2010 Mustang particularly if it wants/is to compete against the new generation of sports cars from both Europe and Japan that are invading the USA with better handling better performance.
Who knows the decision to delay using the Falcon Platform and Ford Oz RWD expertise could possibly see the end of the iconic American Sports car
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November 19th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I wouldnt say the live rear axle is bad.. its just the set up in this mustang. The EL falcon (noteably the XR6) was considered one of the best handling live rear axle cars in the world. Those of you in the know will know an EF falcons are very twitchy in the rear, tickford fixed that problem in the EL by moving the watts-link 20mm lower making it awesome. V8supercars use wattslink and adjust the roll in the rear by adjusting the height of the watts-link. If you look carefully this mustang doesnt have a watts link so in heavy cornering the axle will move sideways. They’re missing technology that the falcon had back in 1984!! just copy Australia, Yanks!!.
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
thanks for that info Minnow.
I doubt the mustang would get any more movie gigs if it wouldnt slide easily around corners :)
imagine if someone went to throw an american bit of muscle around a corner and it actually turned in and hugged the road…….
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November 19th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
FG chassis and turbo engine would make this twice the car!
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