The Bullitt Mustang: A New Car That Even Old-Car Fans Can Love

As you might already know, I’m not always super-impressed by brand-new cars. It takes a lot for me to get past the blimpy feel, the argumentative electronics, and the superfluous creature comforts of your typical modern road appliance. The Bullitt Mustang, however, seems to come from a whole ‘nother era—hell, it’s like the car was designed by a bunch of classic-car enthusiasts who were fed up with all the junkiness of the contemporary commuter pod. I feel absolutely at home in this ride: everything about it is spare, unfussy, stripped-down. Even the utilitarian plastic interior paneling reminds me of my Escort GT, and firing the car up does not feel like powering on a cell phone. And man, this thing goes. Breaking it loose around corners, even taking off sideways and fishtailing it wildly, is no problem at all (if you’re so inclined), with or without the traction control on (and you can turn it off via a big button on the dash—yesss).

Anyway, Rob hogged the Bullitt all weekend (if you were the boss, wouldn’t you?) and has a big review of it coming up very shortly, so I’m just going to interject a handful of random things I noted about the car before I forget them. First of all, watch out for that tilt-steering lever on the underside of the column—it’s a big metal claw and it gouged the bejesus out of my knee more than once while exiting the vehicle (but hey, what good is a muscle car if it doesn’t have some sharp edges that can hurt you?). Second, the self-adjusting volume on the stereo is awful, and this is the major exception to the non-interventionist simplicity of the car I described above. Seriously, if I want to blast the music when I speed up, I can turn the volume knob myself. So distracting.

Third, the trunk looks stubby, but it actually goes back pretty deep and can carry way more than what looks to be possible from the outside. I mean, I didn’t take it to the junkyard a load it up with body panels or anything, but this big half-shaft I picked up for my Eagle at Shuck’s had a ton of room to thunder around in back there.

Fourth, ladies: the car totally passes the stiletto test. I took it out driving the next day in my most extreme pair of heels and found I could romp on it just as hard while maintaining complete control, even while a little bit sideways. The pedal spacing really is that forgiving and the clutch has just the right amount of weight to it. Fifth, I love the feel of the little aluminum-knob shifter—it’s not technically a short-throw, but it clicks through its five forward gears fast and sure. The machined-aluminum dash trim is pretty swanky, too. Finally, I took the Bullitt by my machine shop and the guys there loved it—and you know they have some pretty decent taste in cars, and particular expertise in extreme Fords: owner John has both a Ford Lightning shop truck and a Mustang GT-350. Here’s a picture of the Autosport staff (with our John) doing some serious standing and looking after we brought the car in. Stay tuned for the full Bullitt Mustang review from Rob!