Throwback styling, leather seats a shaker hood and screaming exhaust appeal to all the senses in this piece of automobile history.
The DOHC 4.6 liter all aluminum V-8 has plenty of power, covers the 100 meter dash in 5.98 seconds at a little over 70 MPH from a standing start. The raucous symphony from the exhaust will keep you from turning on the stereo it's so sweet.
Around town the clutch is not too heavy and the car returns 20 MPG (Imp), 16 MPG (US) if you don't get crazy. Highway cruising is comfortable in the leather seats with air conditioning and cruise control to ease the journey. Mileage on the interstate has been as good as 38.5 MPG (Imp), 32 MPG (US).
Back road driving is a joy with the responsive rack and pinion steering and huge 13" front and 11.9" rear disc brakes with anti-lock. The shocks and struts specially engineered for this model do a great job of keeping the wheels on the road and soaking up the bumps.
Visually appealing to a wide demographic, it's relatively rare status (less than 17,000 made in North America) give it an exclusivity over other Mustangs. There's no mistaking the shaker poking through the hood for anything else.
In 9 years and almost 40,000 miles I have only replaced tires and brake pads aside from regular maintenance. A very reliable car.
If you can find one of these, only made in '03 and '04, you would be wise to jump on it as they are truly one of a kind.