Ford Mustang Bullitt a Throwback for Enthusiasts

Ford shows new Bullitt Mustang

Ford, which has introduced a number of low-volume Mustang models in recent years, slots this 315-horsepower Mustang between the Shelby GT and the Mustang GT.

"We've said Ford would have Mustang news every year, and the Buillitt continues building excitement around Mustang," said Mark Fields, Ford's president of the Americas. "I remember when the movie first came out. I was just a kid then, but that car chase may have been the first thing I saw that inspired me to get into car business."

The legendary scene featuring the 1968 Mustang GT chasing a Dodge Charger through San Francisco helped redefine car chases and solidify McQueen's man's man reputation for generations to come.

Ford hopes its new Mustang is just as tough.

Reworked from the ground up, the new Bullitt is not merely a Hunter Green Mustang GT with a fancy badge on the deck lid. Ford has added power to its 4.6-liter V-8 engine and performance to its ride.

Mated with a five-speed manual transmission, the modified V-8 pushes 325-pound-feet of torque, "in all the right places," said Derrick Kuzak, group vice president for Ford's Global Product Development.

Some of the additional power stems from changes in the car's intake system. Engineers devised a way to add an open-element air filter on a factory produced fuel-injected Mustang -- a factory first. They also retooled the car's suspension with new shocks and struts to improve handling.

In order to handle additional power, they borrowed the rear axle from the King of the Road GT 500 Mustang and put it on the Bullitt.

The exterior remains understated, in that cool McQueen kind of way. Ford removed the silver Mustang silhouette from the the Bullitt's grille and replaced it with a thin chrome border. The car sits about 6 mm lower than a normal GT and should ride with a little more agility. It comes with 18-inch cast aluminum Euroflange wheels with a satin aluminum finish. Even the performance brakes are hard to see, as the calipers were painted gray.

"That's staying true to the original Bullitt," Kuzak said.

In fact, Ford used the original movie to study the look of the McQueen's Mustang, studying it frame-by-frame to match the car's look as closely as possible to the original, said Doug Gaffka, the car's chief designer.

However, Ford didn't want a replica of that vehicle, he added. "This is the modern interpretation."

Scott Burgess is the auto critic at The Detroit News. He can be reached at 313-223-3217 or sburgess@detnews.com .

Source: [url=http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/3521]Cleveland Leader[/url]