Designing a successor to a car like the Ford Mustang is never easy, as your work will be judged for generations of Mustang fans to come. We think the designers of the 2015 Mustang hit a homerun with the design, though some other people might still need convincing that it stays “true” to the Mustang heritage.
Hopefully these newly-released sketches that show the development of the 2015 Mustang’s exterior through sketches can convince fence-sitters of just how much heritage is packed into the new design.
Make no mistake, the look of the 2015 Mustang is definitely polarizing, ditching many of the retro features that have spurred sales of the popular Baby Boomer nameplate. But Mustang sales numbers have been in steady decline, and Ford decided to go forward with a 21st century design that fits better into the overall look of the Ford lineup.
That isn’t to say the 2015 Mustang doesn’t look to the past for inspiration. The sharknose front end, for example, pulls heavily from the design of the 1968 Mustang, and you can see how designers made the jump from then to now. Looking at it side by side, it’s actually pretty amazing how Ford’s designers worked all these design cues so cleverly into the 2015 Mustang.
Study the sketches closely and you’ll see what we’re talking about, and why the S550 will carry as much Mustang DNA forward as the S197 did when it brought back the retro look 10 years ago.