One has to admit, the new 'Stang is a great design - still I don't see myself in one. Or maybe I do... or did.
While I had the Porsche in for service recently, I had to select a rental car. Since the complimentary rental car from Hertz is a one door, three wheeled, pedal powered Kia. I upgraded. That is, I meant to upgrade.
I asked the gentleman behind the desk if they had any Jettas. To which he replied, "We have no Yetta". Aah... A Frenchman in Arizona. So I don't know if he's just not a car guy or what, but he then asks if a "Mezda...n" would be OK. I don't know what this is, but I assume that it's probably a Mazda somwhere in the range that a Wolksvagen Yetta would be in... you know, four doors, a little sporty. Nicely equipped for the price point. So to this question, I reply, "We".
We sign the papers, he hands me a set of keys and a keyless entry fob from 1982. You know, the square one with little square buttons that looks like a shrunken garage door opener. I was surprised that Mazda would do such a thing, but thought that perhaps that they had lost the real one and been able to pick up a universal replacement at a truck stop. Alas, no. It is not from 1982, but from a domestic. As I walk to my assigned bay, I see that the "Mezda...n" is the new retro Mustang. I am puzzled by this being the second choice after asking for an upgrade to the Yetta, but am intriuged, and think to myself - this should be sorta fun for an afternoon.
Well, as it turned out, I upgraded from the one door Kia, but only in exterior sheetmetal design and horsepower. I am quite sure that the two share the same single mold, entirely same shade -- entirely same texture, lost in a sea of sameness, entirely plastic interior. The design for the most part - gauges, shifter, etc. is good, but the execution is terrible. The shifter, for example, is painted plastic trying to be metal -- but it has a giant seam (from being so poorly molded out of plastic) running up and across it -- further delineated by an obvious change in the finish of the "no really, this is metal" paint where it pulled back from the seam.
They did do a nice job on the exhaust note. It has a nice rumble sound though it did not seem overly powerful. This was the base V8 though, and while it was fine, it did not have the gumption of the 2.5 ton SUV it was replacing for the day. Not a good thing for a V8 car weighing half as much. It was not the GT however, and from the times listed online, I have to say that the GT would feel fast. I can only hope that if one optioned a GT there would be a little better delivery on the interior, as well.
It was interesting enough to have for a couple hours - but I was happy enough to turn it in.
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