After 50 years of standing by while Ford churned out Mustang after Mustang for the States, U.K. buyers can finally buy one of the iconic pony cars all official-like at their friendly neighborhood Ford dealer. And while we get three engine choices here—a turbo four, a V6, and the mighty 5.0-liter V8—our friends across the pond are only being offered the EcoBoost four and the V-8. So which engine are they choosing?
Ford has released preliminary stats on what versions U.K. buyers are snapping up, and it turns out the Brits are opting for the all-American V-8 in droves. Droves proportionally larger, it must be pointed out, than those of Americans buying V8–powered Mustangs. Fully 70 percent of the initial 2000 orders for Mustangs in the U.K. were for the 5.0-liter V8, and 55 percent of all Mustang buyers are going with the six-speed manual.
Shortly after the Mustang when on sale last year, Ford reported that a mere 52 percent of U.S. buyers ponied up for the V8, while the rest were split pretty much equally between the EcoBoost and the V6. Even today, those take rates haven't budged much.
Do you hear that, America? Britain is doing it better than us. And that's with average gasoline prices of £1.16 per liter—nearly $7 a gallon!—not to mention their cramped little roads and that constant talk about CO2 emissions and the like.
Now, the Brits' V8 love could be representative of pent-up demand for the Mustang—hey, if we had to wait 50 years for this car, we'd skip right past the weak engine and go right for the right motor. Or maybe it's the mix of cheap horsepower and a robust exhaust note that's proving compelling to the good people of the U.K. (In England, the EcoBoost starts at £29,995 and the V-8 is just a few quid more, at £33,995.)
But still. When Lee Iacocca invented the pony car, it had a V8, not some fuel-sipping turbo four. We are the ones who live in the land of cheap gas, excessive horsepower, and mindless burnouts. The Brits have their roundabouts, their afternoon tea, and their intelligent-sounding accents. It's all well and good for us to send them our red-blooded Mustang, but how can it be that they're proving to be better Mustang buyers than we are? Come on, America!
Source: Road and Track
