It Shoulda Been Called A Mach1

CarMichael Angelo · Mar 5, 2015

I was driving today, and a 69 mach one was sitting at a red light across from me at the intersection. I thought that of all the iconic names the big three have come up with for a car, A Mach1 Mustang namesake sounds just about as menacing as any car could be.

The new nickname on the new top tier Mustang has always been one of those "things" for me.
"So that's the new 5.0 huh?"

5.0 is an engine displacement,......and everybody has had a GT at one time or another.

Only one car has been called a "Mach 1"

Some pin head in marketing probably did a survey and polled a cross section of shoppers in Walmart, and based on the results, decided that the general populous found the "mach 1" badge to be too confusing when identifying their brand.

For the most part all of the cool assed names that the big three have ever fielded have disappeared for what ever reason.
AMX, SC Rambler, AAR Cuda, GTX, Superbird, and/or if the car was some mundane body style, all it took to tighten up you sphincter at a redlight was to look over and see 454 SS on the fender of that red 70 Chevelle, or watch the air grabber lift on 69 Roadrunner,.. prompting you to lift up in your seat to see the badge on the hood that says 440 sixpack..

But I digress...

In my opinion, the S197 bodystyle was begging for a version of mach 1 badge that it never got, and the new car is doing it's best to look forward, and leave the "retro" in the past, I guess "5.0" means bad ass now.

To me it means 302 cubic inches.

Mach 1 is still the speed of sound

Vertistang93 · Mar 5, 2015

Probably because the old and new 5.0 is badass. Very recognizable. The 5.0 changed mustangs forever. These old cars made them what they are today. Probably had something to do with the Mustang II being so horrible, the 5.0 in the eighties was just such a change for the good, the "name" stuck. The Mach 1 was badass but didn't ever make the kind of impact as the 5.0.

madspeed · Mar 5, 2015

Ramble on....

A5literMan · Mar 5, 2015

They all have become more "sports car" than "muscle car". As far as names go for the big 3, they haven't had a good thought in 40 years. At least they killed The "mustang II"I wish I grew up in the muscle car era. To me that was the golden era of automobile history. At least today's cars are powerful. We could have the crap of the mid 70's through the 80's. Our fox bodies were the epitome of 80's hot rod/muscle cars. Doesn't say much about those 20 or so years but the 5.0 namesake is a moniker to many that would rival what others thought about "hemi" or other examples of the muscle car generation. If somebody says 5.0 I know they are talking about a mustang. The "name" doesn't bother me.

02 281 GT · Mar 6, 2015

I wouldn't dismiss Ford possibly bringing back a name like Mach 1 a few years into the run of the new Mustang. They already used it once before. While it wasn't anything to write home about (it was really only there so they could have something to put a N/A 32-valve 4.6 into after the '03 Cobra), they at least got the homage comfort-weave seats right.

I think it is at least worth mentioning that the fox body 5.0 left such a legacy that Ford deliberately engineered a 302 cubic inch engine to put into it so they could again have the "5.0" badge on the fender. I think 5.0 as a name has plenty of pedigree, and it's nice to see it recognized in the newer Mustangs.

Now if they would only bring back big blocks/big displacement, we could have a Cobra Jet. Maybe even a drag pack again? Can you imagine an engine with the N/A power potential of the current 5.0 that displaces 7.0?

RangerJoe · Mar 6, 2015

I've thought many times that a 4 valve 351 should be the next step.

Joe

89oem · Mar 6, 2015

Voodoo... quit looklng backwards....

and Mike this is more lounge than tech-talk , just sayin'

CarMichael Angelo · Mar 8, 2015

89oem said:
Voodoo... quit looklng backwards....

and Mike this is more lounge than tech-talk , just sayin'

Huh,.....guess I'm not the only one looking backwards.

95BlueStallion · Mar 8, 2015

First of all, ^ makes me want to puke. You were right about how it should have been used on an S197 with retro styling, but I dont think it belongs on the S550, or even the New Edge version for that matter. It stems from the past, and should be kept with retro styling. I do like the shaker hood, and black out hood stripe cues, but the name just doesnt belong on anything that does look like a classic Mustang. Thats just me.

CarMichael Angelo · Mar 8, 2015

95BlueStallion said:
First of all, ^ makes me want to puke. You were right about how it should have been used on an S197 with retro styling, but I dont think it belongs on the S550, or even the New Edge version for that matter. It stems from the past, and should be kept with retro styling. I do like the shaker hood, and black out hood stripe cues, but the name just doesnt belong on anything that does look like a classic Mustang. Thats just me.

Puke somewhere else, not in my thread.

Well it's clearly photoshopped. IDK whether or not it'll ever amount to anything more than an idea in someones head (Who that particular someone is I don't know either) but I saw it on another Mustang forum where it was put up by another guy wondering the same thing.

But as far as you thinking that the name belongs on classic sheet metal.........
How about this old assed moniker?

or this crotchety assed, stodgy re-kindle of a car that debuted in 1968.5

If Ford can make those names work on that sheet metal, then they damn sure can come up with something for Mach 1

jrichker · Mar 9, 2015

If they keep turning up the power on the 2015 and later V8 Mustangs, maybe they 'll have a Mach 5 Mustang...

95BlueStallion · Mar 9, 2015

Notice that Boss 302 is on an S197 platform (classic cues). As far as the Cobra Jet, that sucker looks like a funny car (no pun intended) in that form, so I'd say that is a good concept. As long as they dont put those ugly arsed wheels on it again.

A5literMan · Mar 9, 2015

That cobra jet is just a bad sob. And it does look like a funny car!

90lxwhite · Mar 10, 2015

Is the new 5.0 a 4.9 like the 302 or is it really five liters?
But anywho Ford never named a mustang a "5.0", the public did. Ford called em GT's and LX's. Ford slapped a plastic lil 5.0 badge on er and next thing ya know the fox era Mustang became the "5.0" when refered to by the masses. Then comes the odd transsion to the 94/95's. No 5.0 badging to be seen and the masses called em as they were named, GT and oh that's a v6. Remeber in '96 they still had the GT emblem but they added a dinky little 4.6 underneath as if they were ashamed? The mustsngs didn't get "names" again until the '00 Mach I.
The entry level V8 mustang is still called a GT, it just so happens to have a plastic 5.0 emblem and really no one refers to the new ones as 5.0's. If you tell a guy at work, "hey go check out that 5.0 in the parking lot" they're gonna be looking for a foxbody, not a new one.

FoxMustangLvr · Mar 10, 2015

90lxwhite said:
Is the new 5.0 a 4.9 like the 302 or is it really five liters?
But anywho Ford never named a mustang a "5.0", the public did. Ford called em GT's and LX's. Ford slapped a plastic lil 5.0 badge on er and next thing ya know the fox era Mustang became the "5.0" when refered to by the masses. Then comes the odd transsion to the 94/95's. No 5.0 badging to be seen and the masses called em as they were named, GT and oh that's a v6. Remeber in '96 they still had the GT emblem but they added a dinky little 4.6 underneath as if they were ashamed? The mustsngs didn't get "names" again until the '00 Mach I.
The entry level V8 mustang is still called a GT, it just so happens to have a plastic 5.0 emblem and really no one refers to the new ones as 5.0's. If you tell a guy at work, "hey go check out that 5.0 in the parking lot" they're gonna be looking for a foxbody, not a new one.

Agreed^^
The 5.0 became a popular name and most people knew exactly what vehicle you were talking about if you said you drive a 5.0. It became an identity all by itself and they brought back that nostalgia for a lot of us and it got my attention when they announced the "new 5.0". For me there are too many versions of the Mustang and Mach1 was nothing special, not even worthy of starting a thread over. With the ever so popular 5.0 being a model itself in a few different trim packages, California Special, Mach1, Leguna Seca, SVT Cobra, Saleen, Boss, Bullit, Shelby GT500, GT350, etc etc Enough already with these "Special Editions", there's too many.

Bullitt347 · Mar 10, 2015

A Saleen is not a special edition. Saleen is an automobile manufacturer. For that matter so is Roush. The Shelbys are another example. The "special editions" are the Boss, Bullitt, Mach 1, Boss Leguna Seca, Cobra, and the GT/CS.

FoxMustangLvr · Mar 10, 2015

I am using the term special edition loosely, I just mean there are too many versions of the Mustang being customized into a Bullit, Shelby, Boss, Roush, GT/CS, etc...

90lxwhite · Mar 10, 2015

@madmike1157 Congrats on the '69 sighting at the red light. I wonder if GM would've put a 5.7 emblem on the side of the Firebird that had a 350 would be the masses have called it a Firebird 5.7 or would the common man still call it a Formula?

90lxwhite · Mar 10, 2015

Bullitt347 said:
A Saleen is not a special edition. Saleen is an automobile manufacturer. For that matter so is Roush. The Shelbys are another example. The "special editions" are the Boss, Bullitt, Mach 1, Boss Leguna Seca, Cobra, and the GT/CS.

What vehicle does/did Roush manufacture? I thought they've always bought some mustangs and threw some of their performance parts on it and then labeled it as their own. If that's the case then I have a '95 SVE GT . Does Roush have a car their own like how Saleen has the s7 or whatever?

FoxMustangLvr · Mar 10, 2015

90lxwhite said:
@madmike1157 Congrats on the '69 sighting at the red light. I wonder if GM would've put a 5.7 emblem on the side of the Firebird that had a 350 would be the masses have called it a Firebird 5.7 or would the common man still call it a Formula?

5.7 just doesn't roll off the tongue like five-point-0h does. I can't think of any other two number combination in regards to displacement that is as catchy as our 5.oh's.

It Shoulda Been Called A Mach1

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