Ford Mustang Mach 1

This Mustang model is perhaps not so new and arrived already last year. But as many of you who follow me may have heard, I was involved in a motorcycle accident in August 2022. The accident was so serious that I ended up in hospital for two months and then had a relatively long rehabilitation period afterwards. So I will willingly admit that I was late to the Ford Mustang Mach 1. But I consider the model to be so timeless and iconic that I had to experience and do something with it. So..

At the risk of sticking my chin out and being taken as an endangered species, I would like to state that the new generation of car people who were raised on electric cars will not understand the pleasure of a powerful and rumbling V8 engine. Rather the opposite, they will see it as a disturbing moment when you move forward in a car on four wheels if it makes too much noise. I dare not guess exactly how long cars like the Ford Mustang Mach 1 will be around, but unfortunately probably not for too long.

Despite weighing just under 1.9 tonnes, the Mustang Mach 1 feels surprisingly resilient. Much thanks to bushings and subframe that come from the sibling GT350. The increased brakes from Brembo reliably stop the team when it has to. Some shock absorber parts are also taken from a sibling, namely the GT500. So the ride in the Mustang Mach 1 feels really stable and not affected by the rather increased weight. The above-mentioned things contribute to the Mustang Mach 1's wall holding feeling safe even when the road doesn't go straight anymore. But let me come back to that later in the article.

When I get the key to the car and go out into the parking lot where it will be parked, it is with tense anticipation. At first I don't see it but it is parked behind a larger van. My expectant heart rate, which is already high, immediately increases and a special feeling is awakened in me when I see the car, there is something special about Mustangs. And this one with the addition of Mach 1 raises the heart rate a little more. The light gray color is taken directly from an American fighter plane. Add to that the black and orange stripes on the heads and sides and the orange calipers really make the look positive. The tires on the Mustang Mach 1 are shod on 5-spoke aluminum rims in the size 19 inches that are matte-black lacquered. This makes the orange brake calipers visible even more clearly. 

You sit incredibly comfortably in the Mustang Mach 1. This is entirely due to the shell seats from Recaro. The seats in the regular Mustang are far from this comfortable and the Recaro seats take a firm hold around the body when you sit in them. With a push of the button in the center console, which looks more like one to fire a rocket, the Mustang Mach 1 starts. This sound of a cold-started V8 engine, which also comes out through four 4.5-inch pipes mounted in the back of Mustang Mach 1, will be missed. Every cell in a V8 engine and car enthusiast's body shudders with pleasure. 

The gearbox in the Mustang Mach 1 is of course an automatic gearbox but with ten gears. And it may be necessary when you have such a thirsty machine to convey the power from to the tires. Despite a well-functioning gearbox, I never get below 1.2 liters per mile, which is of course in the upper range. But if you want to enjoy the power and tones of the chubby V8 engine, this is enough banging to take. The next generation Mustang is expected to get an electrified powertrain of some form. 

I roll away and out of the area where I picked up the car and onto the nearby highway. On the highway entrance, I get the opportunity to press down on the gas pedal a little more than before. The goosebumps that have barely had time to go to bed are on alert again. This is truly pure pleasure for the soul for those who like V8 engines. And even though I'm quite brusque on the gas pedal, there's no hint of anxiety in the car even though 100% of the power goes to the rear tires.