Ford Mustang Convertible review

Who isn’t aching to own such an iconic, retro car like the Ford Mustang? Just make sure it’s a 5.0 litre V8 engine.

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The latest Mustang wouldn’t be a Mustang without a thunderous V8, so you’ll be happy to hear Ford offers a huge 5.0-litre one with 449PS.

Together with its sports exhaust, there are few lovelier melodies in the automotive arena, and in Convertible 10-speed automatic guise, as reviewed here, it’ll gallop from zero to 62mph in 4.8 seconds. The car’s maximum speed is 155mph.

Expect the Mustang to guzzle lots of petrol though, as although 30mpg is possible, that’ll quickly turn to as little as 13mpg around town or when you’re in a hurry.

The Ford isn’t just quick in a straight line; the handling and ride are superb for such a muscley machine. A well thought out chassis and modern technology help optimise driving dynamics to deliver the kind of exciting event you’d expect to have sat behind the wheel of a Mustang.

Retro view

Furthermore, you can play with the Convertible’s performance to suit your frame of mind using different drive settings.

And, away from public roads, you can use Track Apps to keep a watchful eye on your driving performance. These can be seen in the instrument panel and operated via the steering wheel.

The view you get over the lengthy bonnet is retro-Mustang through and through; and, from the spacious front seats, you get a good view of the road ahead.

Good storage capacity

Alas, if you think you might get any kind of rear-seat legroom, think again. Adults and older kids will find it nigh on impossible to get behind those front seats for any length of time. But fixing a child seat or two in is doable for little ones.

When it comes to luggage carrying, the boot’s elevated lip makes loading tricky. However, the £51,685 Convertible has a 332-litre storage capacity, so you’ll get a couple of suitcases in there, plus other bits and pieces, no worries.

I’ve already started to save up. I need a Mustang – Convertible or Coupe (yes, it comes as a hardtop, too) – I don’t care. All I know is that it needs to be the 5.0 litre V8 (a 2.3 EcoBoost four-cylinder is also available). To my mind, no lesser engine will do for such an iconic car.