The modern Mustang's styling is supposed to evoke the original pony car.

Check the contrast between, say, a 1978 Ford LTD and a 2009 Taurus.

Pelosi Motors.

Actually, that doesn't apply here. Ford turned down all bailout money, a decision which caused some short-term pain, but has proven to be the correct one for both the company and the car-buying public. The late-model Mustang is meant to evoke the 1960s original, but it is a much better car in every respect (our family had a 1966 Mustang, and I had a 2006 Mustang as a long-term rental. The advancements made in those 40 years were nothing short of phenomenal). Muscle cars aren't everyone's cup of tea, mine included, but the 'Stang is a strong competitor in that market segment.

Really. Read the full article, and the comments. You might learn something. I will agree, however, that Ford should have stuck to the high road instead of rubbing its rivals' noses in the "no bailout money" meme.

Regarding that POS Lada from the USSR/Russia, it's not retro, it just hasn't changed since Fiat discovered it could trade car manufacturing "technology" for cheap Russian steel to use in its own cars. So what the Russians build is essentially an early-1970s Fiat, but less sophisticated, and way less reliable, the thought of which outstrips the power of metaphor.

Yeah, Russia's cars haven't evolved much. Neither has their economy. Communism to oligarchism - not much of a change.

waltj - Does that mean it can actually go around corners?

Sorry, but I can't take seriously the car industry of a country where the tyre manufacturers have to create special compounds designed to squeal loudly on the gentlest of cornering - at the expense of cornering ability and service life.

Only Americans could design and build "muscle cars". Fortunately.

Hey Fletch,

Tell us about the British auto company product advancements in the past several decades.

Yeah, Fletch, the Mustang that I rented for a couple of months while back in the States actually handled quite well, with no tire (or "tyre", as you Brits spell it) squeal to speak of. It was also comfortable, got reasonable fuel economy, and, overall, was very pleasant to live with for the time I had it. To be fair, though, this was not the true "muscle car" version of the Mustang, and had a serviceable 6-pot instead of a massive V-8.

And you're wrong about only Americans building muscle cars--your Commonwealth brothers Down Under are quite enamored of Aussie-made GM-Holden or Ford iron with large V-8s. In fact, the Holden Monaro was the model for the last generation of Chevy Camaro. As I noted in an earlier post, muscle cars aren't really my thing, and when I was living in Oz, I'd regularly get my doors blown off by the local "blokes" driving tricked-out Commodores, Falcons, and "utes". For US readers, this last is basically an El Camino or Ranchero, vehicles that disappeared in the US in the 1970s. But they still make them in Australia, with no end in sight.

Chechnya has day-care now?

I'm guessing that's Syria, not Chechnya, and those guys hanging out at the daycare center are members of the Free Syrian Army. Probably as good a place as any to hide from Assad's thugs.

Thanks for posting this. Was looking for this info all over the web.