FORD MUSTANG

American icon proudly preserves the marriage of manual gearbox and atmo V8

- JONATHAN BRYCE

Whether it's a boulevard cruiser, something to rumble down a motorway or a proper muscle car that will wake up the neighbours on a Sunday morning, everyone has their own idea about what they think the Ford Mustang should be. But there has always been one common denominator: it being among the cheapest ways to bag yourself a V8-engined coupé.

This new seventh iteration, codenamed S650, is no different. With prices starting at £55,725 for the GT model, it's £10,105 less than the BMW M2 and £19,399 less than the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS. Even the more powerful Dark Horse variant - from £67,995 - is well priced given it has a suite of trackoriented upgrades (although only 7bhp more over here owing to UK and EU emissions regulations).

Ford hopes this relative affordability, plus that it's now only available in the UK with a V8 and has received a huge technology boost (it has twice the computing power of the Mk6), will not only burnish its evergreen appeal among loyal customers but also help it to attract a new generation of fans.

Ford has to start with the basics, though, and make it a better car than the one it replaces, which means ironing out flaws and foibles like the overtly dull idling burble and inefficiency of its V8 (it got 18.9mpg during our 2016 road test) and its iffy material quality.

The Mustang is 91mm longer and 18mm lower than before but no wider or narrower, at 1916mm. That means it's still 230mm wider than the M2, which, lest we forget, has itself grown significantly. As for the Cayman, that's 99mm narrower and has a roofline 148mm lower.