Generating excitement

At LotPro.com we realize that it isn’t hasn’t been that often, lately, that we get to report on any positive news coming from the Pentastar down the street. Aside from the Dodge Challenger and its iconic Jeep brand – including the new Grand Cherokee, scheduled to go on sale next year, most of Chrysler’s fleet is showing its age. Add to that the fact that the new offerings from its latest owner Fiat are nearly a year away and you have the specter of a company that is currently, for all intents and purposes, treading water.

But if the latest news from Auburn Hills is any indication, Chrysler is determined to make the most of what it currently has and this includes the vehicles it plans on displaying at this year’s SEMA show, scheduled to run from November 3rd until the 6th in Sin (what happens in, stays in) City, Nevada.

Here are the rides Chrysler will display:

Mopar Dodge Challenger 1320 Image Vehicle

Chrysler calls this particular exercise “exploring a street-legal Drag Pak Challenger.” Sounds fun to us.

Named for the 1,320 feet on a quarter-mile drag strip, this one-off Challenger features a 426 Hemi® V-8 that generates 556 horsepower and 540 lb-ft. of torque. Equipped with long-tube headers and a free-breathing exhaust system, electric outlets allow exhaust gasses to bypass the muffler system. Power to the pavement is supplied by a six-speed manual transmission via a Dana 60 differential with a selectable ARB locking mechanism.

Mopar police wheels (widened for the rears) are clad with Mickey Thompson street-legal drag radials, with all this power kept in place by four-corner Mopar adjustable coil-over kit. To ensure this Challenger is no shrinking violet, the 1320 is adorned with Acidic Hue, a non-metallic yellow paint and trimmed in matte black graphics.

Performance is enhanced by lightening the body with the following carbon-fiber components: bulged hood with Hemi scoop, front spoiler, and grille panel/headlight surround. And while the interior has been stripped of the rear seat, center console and radio, it also sports Dodge Viper seats, sports steering wheel and Hurst shifter.

Dodge Ram Bianco

The color may be vanilla, but the Ram Bianco is anything but. The extensive modifications to what was once a Ram 1500 Sport include a body kit, specially modified fender flares, hard tonneau and lowering kit, with everything, including the Mopar 22” wheels, painted using several coats of Arctic Ice pearl.

A cold air intake and dual exhausts add to the 5.7-liter Hemi’s performance, while the interior receives white and black Katzkin seats with matching door trim, Piano Black and Arctic Ice accents as well as a Kicker audio system.

Jeep Wrangler Overland

The Overland is Chrysler’s vision of the ultimate moveable campsite. One can almost hear the driver shouting as it flies across the desert, “RV! We don’t need no stinking RV!”

Cargo capacity for the Overland is increased by eighty-sixing the rear seats in favor of a large, flat, rubberized utility floor, while the cargo rack has been augmented with the addition of a two-person ARB Simpson II roof-mounted tent plus touring awning.

Clearing the occasional pesky boulder has been accomplished through the addition of an AEV Nth Degree 3-inch lift package and Full Traction rear sway bar. This customization makes the necessary room for aggressive 35-inch tires mounted to 17-inch Mopar off-road wheels.

With desert duty in mind, an AEV heat-reduction hood has been added and, to make those occasional river crossings safer, an AEV snorkel kit is also part of the package.

Jeep Lower Forty

Last, but certainly not least, the Jeep Lower Forty looks akin to something out of a Mad Max movie. With the goal of achieving additional ground clearance without altering the center of gravity of a production Wrangler Rubicon and sans a lift kit, the design team resorted to removing a great deal of the original vehicle’s sheet metal in order to augment the standard wheel/tire combo with 20” forged aluminum alloys and 40-inch x 13.5 inch tires.

Three inches were chopped from the windshield frame and a 10 degree rake was added. The front and rear fender flares are both 1” wider and located 4” wider than the stock body. A new carbon-fiber hood with power dome and drop-down “Jeep”-logoed tailgate top it all off.

On the inside, a new custom roll cage was tied directly to the frame rails and the spare tire relocated to the cargo floor. The console and instrument panel were color-matched to the Red Eye No. 3 exterior paint, while the seats received Katzkin leather skins while the carpeting was removed and replaced by spray-in truck-bed liner.

Mechanicals for the Lower Forty include a 5.7-liter Hemi mated to a Getrag 238 six-speed manual along with a Dana 44 front and Dana 60 rear axles.

Small and nifty

Even though the price of gas has hovered around $2.50 this summer, most of us here at LotPro.com don’t believe for a minute that it will stay this low forever. It turns out that most of the world’s automobile manufacturers also agree with us (either that or they’re being chased into a corner by the latest government mandates and we’d prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt).

To that end, many of the world premieres at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show were either electric/hybrid concept vehicles, or superb new small cars blessed with new engine technologies that promise to deliver 40+ mpg nearly immediately.

2010 Fiat Punto Evo

With Chrysler’s last best hope destined to begin to arrive from the mother ship in Italy within the next 2 years, keeping a weather eye on Fiat has become de rigueur for American motor journalists and car buyers alike and, hence, our interest in the Punto Evo.

If the lovely little 500 is the company’s halo car, then the Grande Punto represents Fiat’s high-volume sedan. This year, Fiat upgraded the interior materials and blessed the rechristened Punto Evo with seven airbags and a face-lifted front end, as well as new taillamps. If you squint real hard, you can almost visualize a Chrysler emblem above the new grille. The guys in Auburn Hills should be chomping at the bit to get this one.

2010 Fiat 500 Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari

Fiat started with a 500 Abarth – itself no slouch – and added Scuderia Red paint, 17 inch grey alloy wheels and a host of carbon-fiber trim pieces including mirror housings and front seat shells. The interior boasts leather trim, including the red steering wheel wrap (paddles behind the wheel control the manumatic transmission), and the pint-sized 1.4-liter four gets an extra dose of horsepower (50, to be precise).

2011 Ford C-Max

Based on the same architecture as the European Ford Focus (and our own Mazda3/5 vehicles here in the U.S.), the C-Max represents the production version of the Iosis Max Concept that Ford revealed at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year.

While Europe will be able to buy this latest version sometime in the latter part of next year, there is no word yet on whether the company plans on bringing it over here.

2012 Ford Grand C-Max

If Ford is still unsure about bringing over the C-Max, American small car buffs should take heart in the fact that there is no such vacillation when it comes to the Grand C-Max. Based on the platform that spawned the versatile Mazda5, the “Grande” Max will feature the same sliding rear doors with room for seven – although, just as in the Mazda5, the rear seat is reserved for either two children or two consenting adults.

Expect to see the Grand C-Max in Ford showrooms here in the states sometime in late 2011.

The view from Auburn Hills

For those of us here at LotPro.com, the auto industry has always been a source of unending entertainment and events this week have certainly not proven us wrong.

Supermini goes large

On Wednesday, Fiat announced that the world’s largest Fiat 500 – five times the its normal size – would be coming to London for an event the company calls “The Big Smile.”

Designed to generate an awareness and interest in the new 500C, the 5:1 model has previously appeared at auto shows, although the latest iteration simulates the “open top” 500C, rather than the sedan through the use of a projection of the sky on the inner lining of the car’s roof.

If you happen to be in London between August 28th and September 2nd, it might be fun to check out the “big” Fiat, along with assorted roaming entertainers, stilt walkers and food stalls on Oxford Street.

Buick’s Saturn Vue/Opel Antara clone gets the axe

In a rapid reversal of events, GM Vice Chairman Tom Stephens reported on his “Fast Lane” blog yesterday that the compact Buick CUV that he announced in Traverse City a few weeks ago and that had been described by Stephens, himself, on August 10th as a “beautiful new crossover” that would “debut our new plug-in hybrid technology” and “firmly put Buick, and GM, front and center in the advanced technology game” was history.

According to his blog, the small SUV “received consistent feedback from large parts of all the audiences (at a future product showcase at the company’s Milford Proving Ground) that it didn’t fit the premium characteristics that customers have come to expect from Buick.”

In the blog, he goes on to state that, “We were all struck by the consistency of the criticism of the compact crossover. And what we decided to do in response is a good example of the essence of the new General Motors… acting quickly, and boldly, and listening to feedback from customers, employees, dealers, media and just about anyone else with an opinion.”

Considering the fact that the erstwhile Pontiac Aztec also received less-than-glowing reviews from its focus groups (and we all know how that project ended), the decision to “86” the Buick was probably a prudent one.

The good news, however, is that the hybrid technology originally intended for the vehicle will be, according to the same blog, “applied to another vehicle, at no delay.”

Images courtesy of Fiat U.K. and General Motors

From across the pond

Chrysler and Fiat are now one (provided something can be worked out about pending dealer legislation), so at LotPro.com we thought we would follow-up on a recent article by passing on some more recent news from Fiat in the U.K.

The plan to get additional drivers into Fiat’s hot little 500 got a boost this week when the company announced that it would provide the British School of Motoring, one of the UK’s most popular driving schools, with 14,000 cars over the next four years, most of which will be the Cinquecento, along with the company’s Grande Punto model.

Interestingly, the 500 will be the first Fiat to reach our shores, while the Grande Punto model may very well follow it over here somewhere in the near future.

Here is the press release from Fiat in all its British idiomatic glory:

BSM and Fiat in Landmark Deal

BSM and Italian car giant Fiat have today announced their partnership which will see Fiat as the new fleet provider for BSM (the British School of Motoring), the UK’s most popular driving school.

Fiat will provide BSM with 14,000 cars over the next four years, most of them the award-winning Fiat 500 – Car of the Year 2008 – along with the popular Grande Punto model.

The fleet vehicle is the biggest depiction of the BSM brand, and the introduction of the stylish Fiat 500 design is intended to appeal to new learners by echoing the brand’s iconic feel. BSM will start to take delivery of the new fleet this summer and complete the exchange of all fleet by the end of the year.

BSM has a network of 94 UK driving centres from Inverness to Truro and teaches more than 130,000 learners a year. The agreement will make the Fiat 500 even more visible on Britain’s roads – and help Fiat with its plan to target the 500 at the key young drivers market.

BSM is confident that the change of car will give new drivers a superior learning experience, with features including:

* Manoeuvrability – the Fiat 500, with a length of just 3.5 metres and a turning circle of 9.2 metres, is easy to drive and offers exceptional manoeuvrability;

* Safety – the Fiat 500 has more safety features than any other small car and achieved five stars in the tough Euro NCAP crash test programme;

* Environment – the Fiat 500 engine meets the toughest Euro 5 exhaust emissions standards and has improved fuel efficiency when compared with BSM’s previous fleet. The 500’s 1.2-litre 69 bhp engines returns 55.4 mpg on the combined cycle and emits just 119 g/km CO2. The model is also available with eco:Drive which analyses driving styles and helps drivers use less fuel;

* Visibility – the Fiat 500 model also offers greater visibility than the previous fleet, with a smaller dashboard and larger wing mirrors.

The new partnership will include a special offer for learner drivers wishing to purchase a Fiat once they have passed their test. The car manufacturer is offering an exclusive £500 discount on all new Fiat models to BSM learners, making the range even more accessible and economical for new drivers.

“We believe very strongly that the car we use for our fleet is the strongest depiction of our brand so it was of the utmost importance for us to find a car that shares both the heritage of BSM and the brand’s modern outlook and appeal,” says Abu Shafi, managing director, BSM.

BSM previously partnered with Vauxhall who provided over 3,500 of their Corsa and Astra models to the company. The new deal will include the Fiat 500 and Grande Punto model for disabled learners.

Images courtesy of Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd

The Best of Detroit

In a previous article at LotPro.com, we mentioned that the theme for the 2009 Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance would be “The Best of Detroit”. But in addition to that line-up of historically significant vehicles, Larry Moss, the director of the Car Selection Committee has also announced a number of additions to this year’s show:

1953 Fiat 8V Supersonic

One of only eight aluminum-bodied models equipped with a 115-horsepower 2.0-liter V8 Fiat engine, the 1953 Fiat 8V supersonic will be among the entries in the Sports Car class. This limited-production example of the Supersonic will vie for honors with other vehicles in its class including these entries:

1967 Ferrari P3/4 (chassis 0846)
1964 Cobra 427
1966 Ghia 450 SS
1967 Morgan Super Sports
1953 Nash Healey LeMans Coupe Pinin Farina
1966 Abarth 100sp
1967 Lancia Flaminia Zagato SS
1960 Ferrari 400 SuperAmerica
1953 Cisitalia Concept Car
1954 Jaguar XK 120SE

Stock cars and gassers from the ‘60’s

Among the eclectic mix at this year’s Concours d’Elegance, the Car Selection Committee has also given the go-ahead to a group of 12 significant cars from the early years of drag racing. These vehicles will include 4 early “Gassers” including one driven by Barbara Hamilton, the first woman licensed by the NHRA to drive a “supercharged” car and the 1967 “Super Mustang” special project car from Ford Motor Company and driven by Connie Kalitta of “Bounty Hunter” fame and Tom McEwen. A partial list of additional vehicles includes the following:

1965 Comet – Dyno Don Nicholson’s Car
1963 Ford – The Bob Ford Car
1969 Cuda – Ray Mancini’s Race Car
1965 Plymouth – Roger Lindamood’s “Color Me Gone”
1933 Willys – Prock and Howell – F Troupe
1933 Willys – Virgil Cates Car
1948 Packard -   “The Flintstone Flyer”
1951 Anglia – Kohler Bros – “King Kong”
1937 Willys – S&S Racing Team

photo courtesy Darin Schnabel

But wait, there’s more

The Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance has also been chosen for the North American debut of the 1934 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, serial no. 2311237. A one-off Boattail Speedster, it has never been shown outside the U.K. and was acquired by a noted American collector last year.

The Bottom Line

If you call yourself a car buff but you’ve never had the chance to pay a visit to this annual event, you owe it to yourself to make the trip this year. The Sunday Concours d’Elegance opens at 10:00 am and runs until 4:00 pm. The cost is $25.00 for adults with children under the age of 12 admitted for free. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $20 each.

Reports not exaggerated

To paraphrase Mark Twain, it appears that reports of the imminent demise (or sale) of the Viper brand have been quashed by none other than the Newest Chrysler – reversing a decision that was made by the New (old) Chrysler last year.

As early as August of 2008, then-CEO Bob Nardelli was quoted as saying, “We have been approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities for Viper.”

An about face

On Friday of last week, however, Chrysler issued a press release announcing that production would continue for the Dodge “halo” car. In addition to the SRT 100 being saved, the latest is indeed good news for the workers at the Chrysler Conner Avenue Assembly Plant – the lone assembly point for the vehicle since 1995 – which will continue to build the fourth generation of Dodge’s iconic sports car.

“The Dodge Viper has successfully captured the hearts and imagination of performance enthusiasts around the globe,” said Mike Accavitti, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dodge Brand. “We’re extremely proud that the ultimate American-built sports car with its world-class performance will live on as the iconic image leader for the Dodge brand.”

Reversal reasoning

With Fiat running the show in Auburn Hills, it appears that the Italians must feel there is a viable market for the Viper brand both here and abroad. Looking at it another way, Dodge’s snake is the lone “halo” car in a company that desperately needs one in times like these – and with new product from parent company Fiat still at least 18 months away, Chrysler needs all the good karma it can get.

Today, Europe

So far, so good. Here at LotPro.com, it seems like the Fiat alliance that created the “Newest Chrysler” (not to be confused with the “New Chrysler”) seems to be going as planned – with the obvious exception of the brand’s continued sales slide.

To that end, most of us here are eagerly anticipating the arrival of Fiat’s small cars on this side of the pond – something that can’t happen soon enough, given the company’s dearth of appealing small cars (a small stable that includes the unfortunate-looking Dodge Caliber).

To that end, fans of the small car and of Chrysler find themselves looking to Europe, where, today, Fiat is bringing the new Fiat 500 C to market.

Fiat 500 C

We’ve written about the new 500 C here before and whether you call it a convertible or a vehicle with the world’s largest cloth sunroof, the fact remains that the latest incarnation of the Cinquecento is nothing short of an instant classic.

“The Fiat 500 C is not merely the open version of the 500,” explains Roberto Giolito, Fiat & Abarth Style Director. “In fact, thanks to the wide range of available versions, this new model is really a whole new car in its own right, with a strong personality inherited from the original 1957 model and an undoubted sentimental value brought to it by so many fans over the years. If, on the one hand, the Fiat 500 C respects the original version, on the other it enriches it with new features which, thanks to stylistic choices, afford each one of us maximum freedom of use.”

Not a chop job

Although the C maintains the same dimensions as its hatchback brethren, the windscreen on the convertible is deeper due to the fact that the upper cross member had to be resized to increase the torsional rigidity of the (nearly) topless body.

The top, itself, is electric and contains a glass rear window as well as the third brake light, which is contained in a color-keyed spoiler and is always visible – whether the top is up or down. With the top closed, the press of a button folds the top back to the rear spoiler position (much like a sunroof), while a second press fully opens the roof (a feature that remains active up to 37 mph). The first step can also be accomplished with the vehicle remote.

Even with a soft top, storage capacity in the trunk is 6.4 cubic feet, nearly the same as the hatchbacks 6.5 cubic feet. And although the top, when folded, intrudes on the trunk opening, when the trunk release is activated, an electronic system automatically lifts the lid a few centimeters to allow the trunk to be fully opened.

Model range

In the U.K., the 500 C starts with the Pop version, which includes seven airbags, ABS and EBD. Also included is A/C, electric power steering, power windows and locks as well as a vehicle remote. All three engines are available and the 1.4-liter 100 hp 16v engine, if chosen, includes ESP stability control.

The Lounge version adds the element of chrome to the side windows, tail pipe, interior door handle inserts, gear lever and front and rear bumpers. Also included is automatic climate control, standard ESP, fog lights, parking sensors, 185/55 R15 alloy wheels and electric outside mirrors.

Xenon headlamps with integrated washers, leather interior, Interscope sound system and special 16-inch alloy wheels are stand alone options on both the Pop and Lounge versions. Also on the list is a multifunctional portable navigation system with Bluetooth functionality.

All images courtesy of Fiat

The 500 is coming

It appears as though the Fiat 500 will be one of the first vehicles the Italian automaker will bring over to the U.S. now that the deal with Chrysler has been sealed. So in the spirit of Chrysler embarking on its latest adventure, LotPro.com would like to pass on the most current news from Fiat in the U.K:

Absolute Return for Kids

5 Fiat 500’s were part of the prizes won in the annual Absolute Return for Kids (ARK) charity drawing that this year raised a total of £15.6 million ($25.6 million). The cars were finished in a butterfly design by artist Damien Hirst and were part of the luxury charity draw at this year’s event.

The ARK party, described as “the most lavish party in Britain”, annually raises million of pounds for children’s charities each year (which helps support six inner-city “academy” schools in the U.K.). “I am immensely grateful to the Fiat Group and to Damien Hirst for their unabated support and generosity to ARK,” says charity chairman Arpad Busson (whose wife happens to be Uma Thurman). “The five beautiful 500s added stunning visual drama to our event and raised £440,000 for our programs.”

The winners will take delivery of their 500’s at Fiat Marylebone, the company’s flagship store in London’s Wigmore Street.

U.K.’s first 500 C

At another charity event the following evening, a uniquely designed version of one of the first Fiat 500 C models raised £55,000 ($90,365) for two cancer charities.

The black 500 C – the convertible version of the 500 – was designed by artist Sir Peter Blake for the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation (Raisa, the wife of former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, died of leukemia in 1999). The charity event raised a total of £1.5 million (almost $2.5 million) that will be split between the Gorbachev Foundation and the Marie Curie Cancer Care in the U.K.

The 500 C goes on sale in the U.K. next month and will be priced from £11,300 ($18,566).

Coming to a Chrysler dealer near you

He-Man dual controls

With the Chrysler-Fiat merger all but a done deal, at LotPro.com we thought we would get into the spirit of the occasion by passing on some news from Fiat in the U.K.

According to their most recent press release, the company wants to get young drivers into what is arguably its trendiest model by offering the He-Man dual control package for driver education vehicles at no charge to driving schools with the purchase of a Fiat 500.

Here is the press release from Fiat along with the conversions from European units:

Fiat Offer Puts Instructors in the Driving Seat

Already a leader in terms of safety, the 5-star Euro NCAP-rated Fiat 500 is ideal for learners and new drivers, with its compact dimensions, prompt responses, light controls and excellent all-round visibility. In addition, affordable insurance and running costs, plus low emissions and impressive fuel consumption, mean the city car also appeals to instructors.

“This offer means instructors can field a desirable car that’s easy for pupils to drive, while benefiting from low costs and impressive residual values,” says James McMenamin, National Corporate Sales Manager for Fiat Group Automobiles UK.

Priced from £8,300 ($13,716.00), petrol examples of the Fiat 500 include a 1.2-litre version that can be taxed (licensed) for just £35 ($58) a year, thanks to low CO2 emissions of just 119g/km. The 1.3 MultiJet diesel version also slots into VED Band B and returns 67.3 mpg (56 mpg U.S.) fuel economy on the combined cycle.

Standard equipment on all models includes seven airbags, ABS anti-lock brakes with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), power steering and a height adjustable driver’s seat, plus electric windows/mirrors and a CD/radio.

Lounge and Sport models also get alloy wheels, air conditioning and Fiat’s Blue&Me hands-free entertainment and communications system.

Where were you in 64

Sketch of original Mustang (badged “Cougar”)

This is from the Ford press release:

“Flash back to the spring of 1964. The mood of the country is still sullen, following the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. Lyndon B. Johnson is leading the nation forward as president of the United States. “Beatlemania” is sweeping the country, with hits like “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” at the top of the Billboard charts. The price of gas is 30 cents a gallon, and it costs 5 cents to buy a postage stamp. “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “Bonanza” and the “Dick Van Dyke Show” are among the most popular shows on television, and “From Russia with Love,” starring Sean Connery as James Bond, is playing at U.S. theaters.”

I was there and I remember it. Up until that fateful day in April of 1964 (before the Mustang, all previous new models had been introduced in September, so Ford actually called it a 1964 ½ model), the only sports cars (or sporty-looking cars) on the American road were either the handful of imports (such as the MG’s, Fiats, Jags and Austin Healeys) that were impossible to own without a mechanics license or the very American but equally impractical and/or expensive Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Thunderbird.

1964 1/2 Mustang

But in a single moment, that all changed. Instead of having to settle for a proletarian sedan like the Falcon (or the Ford Fairlane, Chevy II, Plymouth Valiant or Dodge Lancer), you could get a car that veritably oozed “cool” for the bargain-basement price of $2,368.

It was unreal. It was so unreal that Ford’s original sales target of 100,000 units per year was blown out of the water the first day the car went on sale as dealers submitted orders for 22,000 Mustangs. That’s 22,000 orders on the first day!

In total, 417,000 were sold in the first 12 months and, within 2 years, sales of the “pony car” had reached 1 million.

A hint of future success

Don Frey, product planning manager for the original Mustang, sensed that the car was going to be a hit when, months earlier, the design team gave Ford employees a look at one of the prototypes.

“We built the first prototype in an experimental garage, and employees flooded the place to see it,” he said. “Their reaction was spectacular, and it was very revealing to us. We knew the car was going to be roaring success from the start.”

The long hood and short rear deck lid gave the car a distinctive, sporty appearance. “The design was very European, particularly the front end,” Frey said. “There was no other car like it in North America at that time.”

Any way you want it

The Mustang could also be ordered in one of three body styles – hardtop, convertible and (for 1965) fastback – with a laundry list of options that enabled owners to customize their Mustang just the way they liked it – something unheard of, at the time, for a vehicle in this price range. Owners could opt for a “base” car with the six-cylinder engine or go “all the way” to the top by ordering a 260 cubic inch (later changed in 1965 to a 289 cubic inch) V-8.

Inside, bucket seats were standard as was a floor-mounted transmission lever. Options included sun visors, integral door armrests, a round gauge cluster (later made standard), remote mirrors and a center console. Full wheel covers (with a $17.82 knock-off spinner option) were also standard and, for ’65, a GT option package was added that included special instrumentation and grill-mounted, integrated fog lights. Muss my hair and call me Freddy!

1966 Changes

Not wanting to mess with success, 1966 saw just a few cosmetic changes. A new trim piece replaced the original vertical trim on the rear quarter panel “scoop” just behind the doors. A new gas cap and wheel cover design replaced the originals, while the honeycomb grill was replaced with small horizontal bars and the large horizontal and vertical bars flanking the Mustang logo were removed allowing the emblem to “float” in the center of the grill. New audio system options included an AM/FM monaural radio or an AM/8 track sound system.