First Drive: Giugiaro Ford Mustang Concept

Giugiaro's final Mustang Concept, completed in September 2006, is immediately recognizable as a Mustang - a testament to Giugiaro's commitment to "honoring the icon.

" Yet side by side with its production-car muse, the Mustang Concept radiates an altogether different vibe. The tape tells the objective story: The show car is more than two inches shorter overall, two inches lower, and more than four inches wider at its maximum (the bodywork swells dramatically from front to rear). But the numbers don't convey the Mustang Concept's Italian sleekness and flair - the drawn-bow tension of its stretched hood and clipped tail, the brawn of its 20-inch rims and inflated wheel arches, the rakish, arrowlike LED taillights (arranged in three vertical bars that recall the original Mustang's), and - most conspicuous - the dramatic glass roof that flows in a single, uninterrupted arc from hoodline to rear deck. "Because this s a concept car, it has to be more sporty, more extreme," Giugiaro says of the glass, "but within limits." The roof's curved panel, produced by Solutia in Detroit, is made out of a special crystal that filters out 100 percent of UVA rays. "I was worried the cockpit would get hot,' Giugiaro says, 'but I've driven it on warm sunny days, and it is not a problem at all." (Giugiaro admits the fixed door windows made of polycarbonate, are poor at blocking solar radiation; he may replace them with glass before the Geneva reveal.

Video - http://www.motortrend.com/av/features/112_0701_giugiaro_mustang_concept/


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