A Galloping Stallion

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It's 1 A.M. outside a Brooklyn bar, and a bunch of guys are standing around admiring the new Mustang GT. "The old one lost its buzz," says a kid circling the car, asking about its engine (eight cylinders), power (300 h.p.) and torque (315 lb.-ft.). The Mustang is an American icon, with more movie cameos, hot-rod clubs and fanzines than any other vehicle. Ford has sold more than 8 million since the car's debut in 1964. In this scene, though, nobody cared about that stuff. "Steve who?" asks a guy who never heard of McQueen or the green fastback in which he ripped through San Francisco in the 1968 movie Bullitt. "What's it do, zero to 60?" Inside the bar his date keeps glancing at her watch. She'll have to be patient.

Every new Mustang sparks scenes like this, and Ford can count on fans to prop up sales. The outgoing edition traded on its name while rivals smoked it with superior build quality, engineering and style. For the first time in a generation, however, the car can speak for itself. Ford gave the vehicle its first all-new platform in 25 years and based the design on Mustangs from '67 to '70, probably the car's best period. In a bit of retro pandering, even the shark-nose grille is back. And at $19,410 for the V-6 and $24,995 for the GT, the car packs a wallop for the price. It can no longer be dismissed as the ugly American of sports cars.

Every Mustang has aimed for muscle-beach attitude, but this one appears more confident in its skin. Gone are the side scoops, in favor of a cleaner profile. Ford elongated the hood, raised the beltline and rear deck, and pushed the front wheels forward to convey a more aggressive posture. A hockey-stick formation accents the sides, leading up to rear quarter-windows, one of several contemporary touches.

The old edition suffered from a junky interior; the new version feels classier, with such options as an aluminum-ribbed dashboard, chrome-ringed air vents and red-and-charcoal leather seats. One funky touch: you can backlight the instrument cluster in one of more than 125 colors.

Behind the wheel, you're still in a rear-drive Mustang. Weighing in at 3,450 lbs., the car remains a bit sluggish off the mark, but the five-speed manual I drove felt adequately juiced, even if the solid-rear-axle setup (a controversial, old-school feature) made the rear a bit jumpy. Ford claims the manual GT gets 17 m.p.g. in city driving and 25 m.p.g. on the highway. In my test, I averaged 11.5 m.p.g.

Ford isn't the only Detroit automaker banking on heritage models from its muscle-car heyday. Competitor Dodge plans to revive the Charger next year. Judging by its early reception, though, the Mustang is off to a galloping start.