There's a heavy dose of 1967 Mustang inside, with the dash divided into distinct right and left pods, blended with modern touches. Chrome-ringed air vents align across the dash, precisely in line with the gauges, and the steering wheel has three spokes with a center hub marked by the horse-and-tricolor-bars logo. While some of the materials have a cost-saving look and feel, the package is not bad given the high style and price of entry. An interior upgrade package adds red leather seats, red door inserts and red floor mats on cars with appropriate exterior colors.
Along with its new inside duds, Mustang offers an optional color-changeable instrument panel display, with 125 color schemes to choose from. It's a gimmick, to be sure, but it's easy to use, and it can brighten your day, and especially your night, as you drive. We're all for that. Speaking of brightening, however, there's enough shiny metal on this car's dash and steering wheel to create some glare problems for drivers on sunny days (just like the old days). Another interior upgrade package, with satin or dark-finish aluminum inserts instead of chrome, goes a long way toward eliminating traces of cheapness.
These are the good old days in terms of roominess in the Mustang. The 107-inch wheelbase and 187.6-inch overall length of the current model are the longest of any Mustang since 1973, and are within an inch of the dimensions of the 1969-70 model. But Ford has learned something about space efficiency since then, so today's Mustang offers more front-seat hip, leg, elbow and shoulder room than any previous generation. We found the front bucket seats to be comfortable, supportive and retentive in hard corners.
The back seat, however, isn't much more accommodating than in the old fastback 2+2 variant of 1965-68. It's not a place adults will want to spend any time. At least it still folds flat, just like in the old days, to expand luggage capacity.
And even without folding the back seat, the Mustang's trunk is as large as those in some more overtly practical sedans.
Seats in the Shelby are more aggressively bolstered, and the positions of the speedometer and tachometer are swapped. The Shelby is upholstered in black leather, with or without red inserts. All interior chrome is replaced by satin-finish aluminum for reduced glare. Snake logos slither on the seatbacks and steering-wheel hub.
The standard sound system that comes in the Mustang is good. The 500-watt upgrade is reasonably priced as part of the premium package, and adds a six-CD changer. The 1000-watt upgrade will impress most audiophiles, but the extra subwoofers in the trunk steal a good chunk of cargo space. We'd be inclined to pass on those.
