Ford Mustang – runnin’ all over town

LITTLE things can make all the difference.

Step out of a Ford Mustang at night and the car’s puddle lights pick out the shape of a wild horse at full gallop.

It sends a brief adrenaline hit, as does a glance at the badge mounted on the centre of the Mustang’s gaping front grille – and you instinctively know you’ve been driving a cool set of wheels.

The beauty of a Mustang is that it isn’t flash like some supercars, but it does drip with street cred.

The popular definition of a muscle car is a medium size – by American standards at least – performance model powered by a big V8 engine and sold at an affordable price.

That description could have been coined exclusively for the Mustang which, having never before been sold in Europe, is here in the UK.

Basically it is up for grabs with a choice of two engines – a 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol version, which is economical but shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near a Mustang, and a volcanic 5.0-litre V8.

Okay, you’re realistically only going to get 21 miles per gallon – or in my case 18.5 – from the V8, but if you are buying a pony car you owe it to yourself to make it the proper one.

Which brings us to price. The latest coupe model in the classy-looking Deep Impact Blue premium paint (an extra £595 but worth every penny) costs £35,995.

Kit on this top spec GT variant is comprehensive anyway, but you can splash out another £1,795 for a Custom Pack comprising a Shaker Pro sound system with sat-nav, 19-inch multi-spoke alloys, climate controlled seats and chrome window surrounds.

The result is a Mustang that really looks the business for a tab cheaper than a host of less desirable models, the Audi TTS and Nissan 370Z to name two.

Your fuel bill may be a lot higher but the style, image, performance and sound is worth the trade-off.

What you have with the Ford is a beast of a vehicle that pumps out 421PS of wallop and 530Nm of torque with overboost; acceleration is 0-62 in 4.4 seconds and there’s a top speed of 155mph.

Floor the throttle and the noise from the V8 32-valve engine with induction sound tube is sensational.

It can prove a little bit snakey under hard acceleration on greasy surfaces, but is generally very stable and steers accurately too.

There’s also the reassurance of a performance brake system with 4-piston callipers and there are selectable driving modes for Snow/Wet, Normal, Sport and Track use.

The seats are leather and powered, there’s ambient lighting, a rear view camera, HID headlamps, ESP with three settings and Ford SYNC with voice control.

A long profile equates to a large boot, though not a huge amount of rear passenger space – really only for kids.

Hop into those optional Recaro bucket seats – which are a must – and you’re good to go. Or as Wilson Pickett implores in that 60s soul classic – Ride Sally Ride.