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Some of us remember that news of the Mazda based car intended to become the New Mustang caused an outrage so great Ford released the vehicle as the Ford Probe and continued the Fox body Mustang for far longer than they intended until they had a Ford America developed RWD platform for the Mustang.
But what if no one had found out and the MX6 based Mustang had been released with the Fox body model completely discontinued? Mustang purist would surely turn away from such a Mustang but could they have gained a different generation and type of buyers? Would it have gone the way of other Japanese sports coupes of the 90s and slowly died away from reduced sales? It didn’t work for Dodge/Chrysler when they released a Mitsubishi based Challenger in the 80s so why did Ford think it would work for them with the Mustang and Mazda? The MX6/Probe wasn’t a bad car for what it was but no one outside of Ford thought it was worthy of the Mustang name. Perhaps sales could have been better if it were called a Maverick instead of a Probe. We’re those executives snorting too much cocaine when they came up with this idea? Did anyone lose their job over this?
Some of us remember that news of the Mazda based car intended to become the New Mustang caused an outrage so great Ford released the vehicle as the Ford Probe and continued the Fox body Mustang for far longer than they intended until they had a Ford America developed RWD platform for the Mustang.
But what if no one had found out and the MX6 based Mustang had been released with the Fox body model completely discontinued? Mustang purist would surely turn away from such a Mustang but could they have gained a different generation and type of buyers? Would it have gone the way of other Japanese sports coupes of the 90s and slowly died away from reduced sales? It didn’t work for Dodge/Chrysler when they released a Mitsubishi based Challenger in the 80s so why did Ford think it would work for them with the Mustang and Mazda? The MX6/Probe wasn’t a bad car for what it was but no one outside of Ford thought it was worthy of the Mustang name. Perhaps sales could have been better if it were called a Maverick instead of a Probe. We’re those executives snorting too much cocaine when they came up with this idea? Did anyone lose their job over this?
Who knows why they did what they did thers no Ford executives on this forum and how would anyone on here have any knowledge on if someone in the glasshouse aka Ford world HQ in Dearborn Michigan lost their jobs, that’s not public information. Unless you worked for Ford how would anyone know.
ford probe didn't generate much interest and I think it would have been essentially the same level of mediocrity as the 4 cyl mustangs that preceded the fox body that no one really talks about from the mid-late 70s.
Ford was very smart not to mess with the Mustang. It has had a run from 1964 to the present, and the only time they screwed up was with the Mustang II. (Glad to see that turd go away). They also milked the same platforms for years, look at the Fox, from 79-92, same basic car with minor changes.
The lack of a V8 and real wheel drive is why the Probe didn't get the Mustang badge. A few body line changes, RWD and a V8 option and it wery well could have been a Mustang the purist may have liked.
The lack of a V8 and real wheel drive is why the Probe didn't get the Mustang badge. A few body line changes, RWD and a V8 option and it wery well could have been a Mustang the purist may have liked.
I don't know. This would have never said "Mustang" to me. What has been cool is that the Mustang always kept some resemblance to it's roots.
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