[MerF]

http://www.caranddriver.com/carnews/...d-mustang.html

BY JARED GALL, PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRENDA PRIDDY & CO. August 2007

With the Chevrolet Camaro and the Dodge Challenger getting ready to hit the road and showrooms, Ford is working up a facelift for the Mustang to keep it from appearing the old man of the group. Although nothing is visible beneath the thickly padded bra seen in this latest spy shot, expect that the 2009 update will include some interpretation of the flattened, sharpened nose sported by the Giugiaro Mustang concept shown at last year’s L.A. auto show.

Under the reshaped hood we look forward to Ford’s newest V-8, its upcoming “Boss” modular engine family. While details on the upcoming engine are scarce, we believe it will begin by trumping Dodge’s 6.1-liter Hemi with a displacement of 6.2 liters. While the engine is also destined for trucks, Ford couldn’t name an engine Boss and then keep it from the Mustang. We expect displacement for the Mustang in the 5.0-liter range.

And it wouldn’t meet the affordability criteria without a V-6 or two. Ford has adopted a strategy whereby Blue Oval models get the new 3.5-liter Duratec V-6 and Lincolns are to be differentiated with a 3.7-liter. We expect the Mustang is a candidate for either, as well as the 3.7-liter Twin Force V-6, which has twin-turbochargers and direct-injection gasoline-engine technology, and is expected to bow in 2010, likely in the second model year of the Lincoln MKS sedan.

That poor car is toast when the Challenger and Camaro release.