One of the definite hi-lights of this summer was my 3 days with the 2012 Mustang convertible, California edition. Ford allowed me to explore an alternative world where booster seats are not in consideration, the sun is shining, the tunes are rocking and the open road awaits! Oddly enough it was also the same week where my family was out of town, so we billed this test drive as my 3 day Mid-life crisis!
The Mustang is such a legendary brand. I remember junior high, where car spotting with my friends was an obsession, the brand we coveted the most was the “‘Stang”. We could tell between the 67’s from our 68’s, by the taillights, and always watched for fastbacks. While the car went through some nasty versions in the 80’s it seems since the late 90’s it’s been doing well. Keep in mind I am not even close to being a car geek, yet I know the history of the Mustang, that’s saying something about the brand’s pull.
My only other time with driving a Mustang was back in 1999, while on assignment for Ducks Unlimited. I had to drive from Calgary to Oyen Alberta. I crammed my gear into a rental Mustang and drove for several hours in one of the most desolate parts of rual Alberta, with little or no people, where the deer and antelope roam. Also very little traffic and not much in the way of speed limits Needless to say it was an amazing 2 day road trip I fondly recall to this day, and at the time I thought I had satisfied my Mustang urge from my youth. Little did I know…
The 1st morning I received the car started off rainy and dismal, not at all convertible weather. I thought, “just my luck, I get the convertible when it’s raining”. But amazingly, as the keys passed into my hands, and I received the quick tutorial on putting the top down, the clouds parted, the sun shone, the temperature rose and I can could hear classic Beach Boys ringing in my ears. So began some of the best days of my summer.
I had never driven a convertible before this for any length of time, and had no idea how liberating the experience can be. I am not one to run the air conditioning even on the hottest days. Why, we wait all winter for the warm weather,lets enjoy it! So it was great to soak up the rays, hear the sounds around you, and see the blue sky above you. Needless to say when couple with a powerful set up like this it puts a whole new spin on driving. This car was crazy powerful, and fast. (BTW if you want a real car geek type review of this car, with all the specs and the under the hood and performance kinda thing read this.)
I’m sure the neighbours were wondering when the mini van disappeared and this bad boy showed up on the drive way.
The big “Real World” test is whether I could fit my location kit in the car. Amazingly I could get my basic 3 head location lighting and my way to huge camera bag all in the trunk. Granted it had to be loaded in a certain order but still I was mighty impressed!
Strange things happen when you drive a car like this. Its almost magical. Children call out to you; “Hey Cool Car!”, your posture improves, you have a bounce in your step, women half your age start to notice you, you want to crank your music louder, and spend more time on Corydon while you crank it. Construction workers will watching you try and parallel park and mockingly disapprove when you stall in reverse. You compensate by peeling out when you leave, leaving them in a cloud of your dust. You drive the perimeter for no good reason.You offer to run errands for people. You can not tolerate slow pokes and suddenly in a car like this, everyone is a slow poke. The magic in a car like this is powerful. In the wrong hands it can easily turn you into a obnoxious middle-age douche. But in the right hands and under the ideals conditions, like the legendary summer we had, it’s such a beautiful thing. I LOVED this car.