It still doesn’t do it for me

There was an old TV advert for a brand of paint.  Two fellows are staring at a freshly painted wall, obviously not satisfied with the colour, hoping it will improve.  One of them says to the other, “Maybe when it dries!”, reflecting the hope that they will like it when the final colour is revealed upon drying. A vague hope!

It is similar to this that I find myself hoping that the new livery reveals of the Ford Mustang Supercar will make it look better, that I will ‘fall in love’ with it.  Alas, it hasn’t happened.

The above photo is of Leo Leonard driving the famous PDL I Mustang at Levin back in 1975.  As a young lad, these were the images that I, along with many others, grew up with the Mustang brand.  One would think that the majority of new Ford Mustang purchasers would fit into a similar age group.

It looked fast, and was fast.  It looked like it would literally eat up the road in front of it and anything in its way.  Like all great racing Mustangs it got motorsport fans excited.

The (PDL) Mustang was a KK Boss 429 imported into NZ back in 1970 by Paul Fahey who went on to race it with mixed success and reliability.

Bought by PDL it was eventually raced by Graham Baker and was decidedly quick.

Plastic & Die Castings Ltd was a company founded in 1937, purchased in 1957 by Bob Stewart and renamed PDL Industries Ltd, a Christchurch based electrical products supply company which is now owed by the Schneider Electrical group.

Leo Leonard took over the driving when Baker focused on single seater racing.  Such was the reputation that the car became known as the PDL Mustang.  The car was eventually sold to Dave Baker once the PDL II Mustang took to the track, gaining an even greater reputation.  The PDL I had a major accident at Pukekohe which demolished the rear of the car and curtailed its competitive days.  It has been restored and does make appearances at classic car events.

Taking into consideration the might of previous racing Mustangs, particularly the PDL I and II, the new Supercars Ford Mustang just doesn’t ‘sit’ right.

Maybe the fundamental error is trying to fit a two door coupe onto a standard chassis originally designed for a four door saloon. Or maybe it was a mistake calling it a Mustang.  The brand name doesn’t fit the look.

So why didn’t they use a Ford Mondeo body instead?