Ford Vehicle

Email to a friend Printer friendly Font: * * * * And, of course, Mustangs don’t get any more iconic than a GT liveried up to look like it’s 1968 and Steve McQueen is still smoking Luckys like the surgeon general was just kidding. But not only is the car strikingly familiar but so, too, is the method by which Ford is determined to garner publicity for its latest retro rocket.

When the original Bullitt version of the Mustang was launched in 2001, it was here in San Francisco where the car chase scene of the original movie of the same name — still the greatest car chase scene of all time — was filmed. So, cue up all those not-so-tired cliches regarding McQueen’s icy stare, his laconic delivery and the authenticity — as in he did most of his own stunts — he brought to the silver screen. We Boomers of a certain age are a sucker for them all.

Ford, of course, is hoping some of that rubs off on this latest homage to Bullitt. Though not quite as potent as McQueen’s breathed-on 1968 GT, the 2008 would nonetheless be more than capable of some serious derring-do were our Ford minders to put out police spotters. Say what you will about some of the Mustang’s dated technology — the solid, “live” rear axle, the three-valves-per-cylinder 4.6-litre V8, etc. — you can’t get much more performance for so few bucks.

Whether in its base GT form or Bullitt guise, the modern Mustang still succeeds because of its adherence to the tried-and-true American muscle car formula: Put generous amounts of horsepower under the hood, copious rubber on the road and then charge the same amount ($33,999 for the GT; $38,494 for the Bullitt) as those namby-pamby Europeans do just to put a set of wider rims on their effete roadsters. The Bullitt has 315 horsepower (up from the base car’s 300).