Ford Mustang: Past, present and future | Autoblog Podcast #749
In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor Jeremy Korzeniewski. They kick things off by talking about the Ford Mustang: which were the best, the Fox Body finally getting its due, and where they think the seventh generation will rank among the 'Stangs of history.
They talk about which mustang they would get if they had $20,000 to spend; or $40,000; or $60,000.Next, they talk news, including the 1970 Ford F-250 "High Roller" from Velocity Modern Classics, as well as the possibility of an electric Acura NSX.
Finally, they talk about what they've been driving: the GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate and the Kia EV6.
Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.
Video Transcript
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GREG MIGLIORE: Welcome back to The Autoblog Podcast. I'm Greg Migliore. We have a great show for you today. We are about two weeks out of the new generation of the Mustang being revealed. We're going to talk about some of our favorite Mustangs over the years. Plenty of stuff to dig into on there, plus ones that we might want to spend some money on, so to speak.
Some news this week. We have interesting things about rumors of an electric Acura NSX, and that we're going to talk about what might be the next great restomod. Perhaps following all those years of the Bronco. When we did have a Bronco, and some of our friends would like sort of make them for us, if you would, in the kind of aftermarket, but there is a Bronco. So you can have a real new Bronco. What's next?
I drove the GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate, I should say, and Jeremy has driven our long term Kia EV6. With that I'll bring in senior editor for All Things Consumer, Jeremy Korzeniowski. How are you?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I am doing all right. The leaves are starting to fall off of the trees, which means it is officially fall, my favorite season of the year. So all in all, doing all right.
GREG MIGLIORE: I agree. Fall is my favorite time. I feel like it's last week was officially fall on Thursday, and I think 9:04 PM. It feels to me like we're really into October. It's still September 27, we're recording this, but it's like, it's cold. I would say it is 55 degrees and overcast, like I was in shorts. A week ago I golfed and it was 90 degrees. So it's, yeah, the seasons have changed. We'll probably get a little bit of a warm up here in a bit. We always do. But yeah, I've enjoyed it good reason to put on a Patagonia vest, and sit in the sun room and enjoy it.
So let's talk Mustangs. You compiled a list of the best Mustangs. This is-- we like to compile lists. You guys like of the readers and the listeners. We like to do them. This is a list of the best Mustangs of all time, which we compiled. We welcome your feedback and what you think. Lots of greatest hits out here from the '69 Cobra Jet, the GT 500, the Shelby GT 350, one of my favorites, plenty of the greatest hits on here throughout the ages. Tell me your approach to compiling this list, Jeremy.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Well, you know what? Initially when I started doing it, I thought, man I should I do this by generation and pick out the best Mustang of its contemporary generation. But then the more I started looking at the greatest hits, the more I realized that a lot of them kind of piled up in various model years. And while I personally don't subscribe to the, there is no good Mustang 2, I didn't want to let the inclusion of something like a mid '70s Mustang 2 Cobra knock out something that really deserved a spot on the list, like say a Mustang SVO, or something, something like that.
The other thing that I thought was interesting is looking back on Ford Mustang history, all of the greats carry similar badging. There's-- it starts off with Shelby's Boss's SVO, which turned into SVT. And then you got the Cobra name back, you've gosh The Boss name back, you've got so it just became clear really quickly that there's so much heritage in the Ford Mustang line since its debut is in 1964, is in 1964 and a half model. And you know, it's really difficult to have to leave out such good, really deserving models when you're making a best of list. But if you just covered everything, you'd have a list 25 cars, and it would wouldn't feel as meaningful.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, makes sense. I'm curious too, as you look at just the different generations. Like there's so many different like icons, if you will. Like the names that we will go over, like the SVO, the Boss, the Cobra. You know, hey, we're going to have the Dark Horse come out too. They're going to add to the pantheon, if you will. One thing I will say, that this is like I think the beauty of the Mustang, is sort of the like the daily driver. You know the basic V8 car, for the like your daily driver person. I mean it can be just as good a car as like a Boss 302 Laguna Seca. For its own purpose. So I think like that to me is sort of the essence of the Mustang, too.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, you know, growing up, as a child of the 1980s, just a standard, run of the mill, late '80s Fox body Mustang GT with the five liter V8 and a manual transmission is-- it still holds an amazing appeal to me. Like it was the car that everybody wanted when I was in high school. Everybody wanted a Fox body Mustang GT. It does make me feel a little bit old looking-- reading through the comments.
There was someone who said something like, why did you include these '80s and '90s Mustangs that don't even look like Mustangs. And I was like, that makes me feel real old, because when I think Ford Mustang, that's exactly what I think of. Like my body-- my brain immediately goes to the Fox body. And specifically the Fox body GT with the five liter. Like that is the Mustang in my mind. But I'm sure that's generational.
Someone who was born in say 2000, like literally 20 years after I was, are going to think of these the 2010, to 2015 era as the quintessential Mustang. Someone my dad's age is going to remember the '69 and '70 Mustang as the high watermark. So and that backs up. It's a tenuous claim that Ford has, the longest tenured sports car brand, or nameplate or whatever. I mean there's some others like Corvette that they're getting by on a technicality there.
But it lends some credence to the idea that the Ford Mustang has so many generations. So many fans. And you were there with me at the seventh gen launch. You know you walked in off the street, and you were immediately bombarded with these like great Mustangs of so many different generations. It really is an icon of the American automotive scene.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, and I will always say this, sometimes with cars involved, also with like sports, there are some, like, there's some similarities, if you will. Like cars from the '60s and '70s, they're older, they have that iconic styling. Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Sometimes we remember things as we want them to be, or how we thought we remember them, as opposed to how they actually were. But I mean, these were great cars. And I do think some of the '60s and '70s do stand above like the Mustang 2, or even the Fox bodies, which I really like. And then some of them like the later '90s between before they went back to the retro look.
Like I think you can sort of say that, even though some of the more like Jet X cars do have their favorites, their enthusiasts, their rightful-- I think-- supporters. You know, it is tough to beat like the first gen car, though, or some of those early '70s cars. So.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: And you know honestly, I mentioned this real briefly off the bat. The there's a lot of people, like the Mustang 2 has such a, like, dead reputation among enthusiasts, and I don't feel like it's deserved, honestly. It was a car of its time.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yes.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You know, like that's the vehicle that Ford had to make, and customers responded. They sold tons of those things throughout the 1970s after-- and like take a look at some of the '60s and earlier '70s Mustangs, and the Mustang wasn't solely about performance. It was also about style, and making a personal statement. And you know, it was the same story maybe 20 years ago with the later '70s Pontiac Trans AMS. They were shells of the performance car that they were from 1969 through 1974. From '75 to '81 ish, that performance was a far cry of what it used to be.
But again, it was a car of its time, and now they're super popular. And you can't touch know '77. '78 '79 black and gold Trans Am for a reasonable price anymore. And when I was a kid, they were practically giving the things away because everyone thought that they were terrible. I think the Mustang 2, especially like the interesting things like, the Ghias, the Cobras, the Mach 1s, with the V8. The only reason they're so low in performance is because they're choked. You put some different heads on them, bump up the compression a little bit, and feed it fuel and air, and that engine will still respond just like the earlier '60s and '70s ones will.
And they're never going to be worth so much that you would feel bad doing that. Like, oh I have to keep this thing original. You don't. You know? I would totally buy a '77 or '78 Mustang 2 Cobra, and uncork it a little bit, and have a blast with it. But anyway, I digress. Yeah.
The we talked about this a little bit ago. The generational performance gap. We'll touch on the Kia EV6 that I'm driving a little bit later in the podcast, but it's a 14 second quarter mile car. We're talking about, like, these great epics of performance Mustangs, and a lot of them would be outrun by the Kia four door electric hatchback. So if you're basing it solely on performance, you might have to rethink that a little bit. And so that's why I also err on the side of collectability, and just kind of like performance versus its contemporaries. When I'm picking bests.
GREG MIGLIORE: I think that's a really fair point on the Mustang 2, because I remember growing up. A lot of-- one of my aunts and uncles, actually I remember that one had a red one, one had a blue one, and it was like, by the time like I was cognizant of this, the '80s had kind of taken root, if you will, the Fox bodies were out there, and these were like sort of like the crappy Mustangs, from the mid to late '70s. But you with a little benefit of hindsight.
And they had some issues, too. Like yes, the performance wasn't there. There was some quality issues. Like Ford frankly, at a number of like the domestics struggled with the late '70s, but with the benefit of hindsight, like we were standing at that reveal, and I saw some of it. It was like, you know, I like how they look. It's almost like a European styling. They did come with a V8. It was definitely an approach to making the Mustang, I mean, dare I say, a compact car. Which before it had been something a bit different, if you will.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah.
GREG MIGLIORE: So yeah, I mean there are generations that will probably never get their due. But definitely deserve like, deserve--
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Deserve to be remembered.
GREG MIGLIORE: Exactly. Yeah, exactly. I would-- it reminds me a little bit, like you mentioned the Trans Am. I think the same thing about some of the Chevelles. I personally like the mid '70s Chevelles. I owed one, technically. So but it was a car of its time. It looked differently because of the regulations that roled out in '73, as opposed to what a '71 or '72 Chevelle would have been, so. You know, that's the history of the Mustang. It is kind of funny that they claimed the longest running sports car, and Corvette rolled out in '53.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, it's because there was like-- there was like a gap where they didn't actually label certain ones certain model years, even though you could still buy a brand new Corvette off the showroom floor, it technically was a previous model year. And so they'd skip-- they skipped one in there, I don't even remember what year it is, like what is it '91 or something like that, I don't remember. Or no, I think it's in the '80s. It's like one of the early '80s years, I think they skip like 1983 or something like that. But regardless, it's a dubious claim, but and when you're talking Mustang Corvettes, I'm not sure that it really even matters.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a lot like a lot of college football teams claim these national titles, and then you look it up, and it's like, well, actually they finish third in the poll, but this one like, other polling service that sort of counts, and then they hang up a banner and all that stuff. So.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Alabama does a lot of that. As an Ohio State fan, I can point fingers at Alabama and say, they claim a lot of national titles.
GREG MIGLIORE: I actually read a piece of this-- side note-- about some of the ones they claim that are particularly sketchy. Like there's one year like I think the '50s where they finish like in the teens or something, and they're still counting it. So it's like, I don't know about that. But.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: The old Minnesota National Champions from like 1916 or something like that. Oh, they played four games. Yeah, they won all of them.
GREG MIGLIORE: One of them was like a high school team or something, and it's kind of funny.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Anyway.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so let's transition. So check out the list, first of all. Great list. Very interesting. We'll be researching this for a while because it's the best Mustang, so why wouldn't we do that. Real quick, I did a piece on the Fox bodies. Basically on my walk from the Auto Show last week to the Mustang reveal, and to me I think this is just like almost like a little pull out breakout here, I think they finally are getting their due. And I don't think they're going to be lumped into the same crowd, if you will, as like the Mustang 2, or that's sort of late '90s early 2000 generation. I feel like the Fox bodies.
At some point, they're never going to be like first gen cars, and they're probably not going to get into the like the ranks of these like last couple, which are like high powered, retro, gen 5 and gen 6 I think are going to go up in that pantheon of like Hall of Fame Mustangs. I don't think the Fox bodies are going to like get above that. But I do think they're going to be like truly collectible cars. Cars that are desirable.
And I think enough time has passed where, I think you and I are both, like, good test cases for this, because we remember how desirable the Fox body Mustangs were in the '80s, the early '90s, and then you probably also remember like, by the late '90s, like high school, that into college, Fox body Mustangs were also kind of like beater cars. You know it'd be like, your friend Steve would be driving one, and the door was rusted out, because he got it for $1,000. And it's, like, hey, he wanted a Mustang, but it was a real piece at that point.
So I think we literally lived through the evolution of it, and now we're seeing them kind of come out the other side, where the ones that have survived, and they made a lot of them, could be getting that more like legendary status. If not mythical.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, there's something pretty special about seeing a white on white and white Mustang five liter GT convertible. Makes you want to spike your hair and blare some Vanilla Ice out of the speakers. Or like, one of those crazy aquamarine or teal Mustang GTs or convertibles or something like that from the 1990s, like you pull up to Redwood in that, and you're going to have a crowd.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, absolutely. What of my neighbors has a white on white, and I try to walk the dog up and down his sort of cul-de-sac just to look at it. It's pretty cool.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: That is cool.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so real quick, where do you think this newest generation, Gen7. Then it's-- I don't know. I tend to throw it in with the like the fifth and sixth. Like that's where it's going to be. They're going to all be kind of like mushed together as like part of the greats, the near greats. But we'll see.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: So I have a few thoughts here. One, Ford is calling this a legitimate generation, a seventh generation Mustang. And they changed a lot. They resculpted the body, they altered the suspension, they did some things to it. It's got a brand new interior, it's like the high tech screens everywhere style. We talked about it right at the debut in Detroit. I think it's a really cool car.
I think, you're right. It's going to be lumped in with the fifth and sixth generation because, I mean Ford. Ford PR was kind of going on a little bit of a tirade on Twitter when journalists and other people were suggesting that really it's a 6.5 generation. But in reality, there's truth to that. It is not a completely brand new clean sheet design. It's highly altered, but I think that's OK, because the sixth generation Mustang is great.
Like, I don't think-- I think it's the wrong take to say like, 6.5 is a bad thing. When it's instead better to think, this is the culmination of all the improvements they've made to the sixth generation. We can call it a seventh gen, we can call it a 6.5, it's semantics. It's going to be a great car to drive.
I am not sold on the Dark Horse yet. When I was compiling this list of best ofs, it seemed a little bit surprising to me that they decided to roll out this kind of new take on the above GT Performance level, when they had so many different options to choose from. But that's sentimentality speaking, in all reality. When someone goes to the dealership, when they walk the showroom floor, they're going to see that Dark Horse Mustang, they're going to realize that it's a step above the GT, and they're going to want it. And I think it's pretty cool.
I do like the color. It's like this gray battleship blue. I don't even know exactly how to describe it. It's like a blue green gray color. When they showed it initially at night, I didn't like it. I was like, well, that doesn't look very interesting. But then it just looked battleship gray. But then I saw it actually on the showroom floor the next day and took pictures of it, and it's a much more nuanced color than I realized. It has a lot of like metal flake in it. And I think that will be a hit. I think people are going to like the color.
The Dark Horse badging is a little bit-- I don't know. It's not really my thing. But I think it's going to be an absolutely brilliant car to drive, based on what I know of it, and the guts that it's built on.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good, yeah. I think that's a very fair take. I feel like they kind of have to call it a seventh generation for advertising and marketing purposes. And I think it's one of those things, too, where sometimes you get a more vociferous response. When they like sort of know they're wrong, like it's the same chassis, right? So they kind of know. Like yeah, it isn't exactly a full Gen7. Not how they've done it in recent years. Let's put it that way.
So it's one of those things where like sort of when you call somebody on something, they get a little defensive. Is it legit to call it a Gen7? Yeah, maybeish, because when you go through all of the things they changed, well, they changed a lot. On the other hand, like the thing that you sort of need to change to make it a new generation, they didn't really do. I tend to think this is going to end up-- because it's the final part of the final chapter in the traditional Mustang, it will rank well. And I think some of the like the Dark Horse I think is just the beginning. I think there's going to be a lot of stuff like that really is a cool thing that people are going to love and remember and keep.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, are they going to like really go out with a bang, and like what's-- are they going to do another Shelby GT500? I think the answer is probably yes. They've hinted at it. And boy, what are they going to do outdo the current GT 500? That'll be interesting.
But you know, like we're talking the upper echelons of performance. And it's still really cool to me that there is an attainable muscle car for new college grads, or new-- people can actually aspire to own a Ford Mustang GT. And it's just such a brilliant car with the current five liter V8. They kept the manual transmission. Not that-- I'm not throwing stones at people who choose the auto, that's fine. It's actually probably the quicker car. But they've kept this tradition alive longer than any of its competitors are going to be able to do, and kudos to Ford for making that happen.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so we're going to spend some money a little bit earlier in the podcast. We're going to call this the $20,000, $30,000, and-- excuse me, the $20,000, $40,000 and $60,000 challenge. Three price points, you can spend your money on these cars. Which Mustang do you get? I will lead off. This is the $20,000 price point. I think there's two different ways you could go.
One is quoted exactly at 20 grand. I see this on Autotrader. Oh, geez, it's pretty close here. It's just right off Woodward in Ferndale. For say 6,000 miles on the clock. It is a V6. Ruby red metallic, beautiful car. Just a Mustang coupe, hardtop coupe. 2015, $20,000, you could drive this for quite a few years to come. It looks-- still looks very contemporary, because it's the 2015 car. It's different than how it has evolved in the last six, seven years. But I really think this is a good deal if you're just looking to have a fun car for the next maybe three or four years. So I would go that, that's one option.
That I'll split this up a little bit. My other option is I would go with a Fox for 20 grand. I think Fox body Mustang for right about 20 is the sweet spot. You get above that, I think you really need to get like something special, if you will, to justify like an '86 Mustang for like 30 or 40. You may disagree. I think that's great. But I found one on Car Gurus, '93 GT hatchback, rear wheel drive, of course, for 15. So you'd save some money and maybe get some-- do some modifications or upgrade it.
This one's basically all black, looks really good. It's a V8, has a manual, it's got 75 on the clock. So this is what I would say is sort of a daily driver collectible. It'd be a fun summer car. Maybe you're paying a little bit more, but I don't know. 14, 15 grand for a fun summer car, I think that's a good deal. I would definitely go GT at this price point. Fox body, GT. So those are my two for 20 grand. What would you do with your 20 grand?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I found a-- so I should preface this by saying, I gave priority to vehicles that I personally chose on my list of best Mustangs of all time.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it makes sense.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, so I found an '85 Ford Mustang SVO that is the 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder, manual transmission, rear wheel drive. It's the kind of, I don't know, the ducted hood, the twin level spoiler out back. Like it was Ford's first attempt to make a kind of European flavored Mustang. Well, maybe not the first attempt, because there was the Ghia in the '70s. But like, this was a performance car. It had-- it basically matched the performance of the five liter V8, but it did it with a much more interesting recipe, so to speak.
Also significantly lighter. The 2.3 liter turbocharged four cylinder was a lot lighter than the 302 V8. And the SVO is the best handling Mustang of its era. But basically, I chose it because I think it's got some legitimate collectability factor baked in. For 20 grand you could either go daily driver, which I don't think would be a bad choice at all, or you could take a flyer on something like this SVO. You could still obviously drive it as much as you want to. But the one that I found is relatively low mileage, it's in La Vergne, Tennessee currently for sale, right near that $20,000 mark. So yeah, that's what I went with.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. Sounds good. We'll jack things up to 40 grand. I went with-- this to me I think is somewhat in keeping with my first choice. This is a 2022 Ford Mustang GT. That says the V8, you can build and spec it right now on the Ford site. I went with carbonized gray metallic, which I think is a really good look. It has the patented black roof, black wheels. I went with the GT standard equipment group, if you will. So and the black accent package, which was about $1,200. So this is like-- this is how I've always liked a contemporary Mustang, which is sleek, understated, I particularly like Mustangs and Jeep's actually, like different shades of like gray, with black wheels. That's just a look I like on a number of different cars.
And that gets me in. Includes cloth bucket seats, so it's a little bit of a basic interior. And of course, I think I said it as the five liter V8, with the six speed manual. And that gets me in at, let me scroll all the way down to my build. So it could give the exact number. The low-low price of $40,635, including destination. So I skidded about 600 bucks over, but whatever. 600 bucks among friends, who cares.
So that's what I would do. I would spend 40 grand to get a brand new Mustang. You get the V8, you get the manual. This is how I want it to look. Maybe make a little bit of a compromise on the pretty basic interior. I don't care. This is what I would do. And I feel pretty good about it. This is a car I would totally buy and own and enjoy for the rest of my life.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, we're going to call Greg's pick here the smart choice. That is what you should do for your $40,000 Mustang. I'm doing the dumb choice. I'm going 1964.5 Mustang that is the very first year. There are some interesting little things in that half year, the '64.5 that make it more desirable than the 1965. That early half year was kind of an oddity, and they are not particularly easy to find.
I found one for $40,000 in Georgia. It is black with a beautiful red interior. It's an original 289 V8 car. And it's absolutely beautiful. Should you buy this for $40,000 instead of a brand new one? No, probably not. Unless you've got a lot of free spending money that is just burning a hole in your pocket. And if that's the case, you should buy the one that I'm picking here, because probably it's going to increase in value as the years go on. Give it a decade, and I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of turned from a $40,000 car into a $60,000 car. That's just kind of like what happens with collectible muscle cars like this.
So anyway, that's what I want with. The very first Mustang ever built, desirable. Desirable color combo. Desirable engine. Desirable options. And potential collectability adding on top.
GREG MIGLIORE: I don't think you could go wrong for any of these questions with a first gen Mustang. I think it's still one of the most beautiful Mustangs, as far as just aesthetically. It was very unique for its time. It had so many characters. Iacocca, Carroll Shelby, just all like Henry Ford II were involved with that car. I don't think you can go wrong with it, because I think you do get a little bit of that sort of like even the late '50 to early '60s elegance with that car, before it gets even-- becomes more of this like hotrod thing later in the like the '60s. And I like I said, I almost felt weird making some of these picks, in not finding myself with a true early example. But.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, it's clean, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. Timless.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: That first gen Mustang, yeah. It is. Timeless is a good way to put it. The one that I picked, you can't get like-- the market has priced out or $40,000 if you want something that's like just absolutely fully original cream puff, low miles. Like you're not going to get that for 40 grand. This one, it's not it's got later Mustang wheels on it. You guys can't see it, but I'll describe it for you.
It's got like kind of the mag wheels of later Mustangs on it. It's been-- I'm sure-- repainted in its original shade of black. But it's got enough originality points that it is, it's going to remain collectible. But it's already been slightly changed over the years. So that if you did want to kind of customize it the way that you like it, you're not going to feel bad doing so. So yeah, I mean I buy this car for 40 grand if I was in the market looking for something like this.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, sounds good. Well, speaking of the first generation, I did include first gen in my picks here, just it wasn't sort of like I would say the iconic one, if you will. So I actually kind of have two. I was able to find a 1969. It was a convertible, which I don't know if I'd go that way. It was on classiccars.com, but the price was right. Beautiful red car. And it's $59,000 is the current price. So yeah, it's an automatic transmission. So you know there's that. But it would be a lot of fun, I think. A very enjoyable again sort of like maybe summer car. It's got the 351 Cleveland V8 rally wheels. Four speed automatic. Like I mean yeah, I mean. It's the right car, the right budget, I think it could be a lot of fun.
Then my other choice, sticking with the first gen, located in Rancho Cordova, California, with just 38,000 miles, we'll call it. This is a '71 Mach 1. Comes in at $59,888. So I feel like if you're going to spend that much money on a Mustang, I want it to have like a pretty good like history. Some pedigree, if you will. So I mean a Mach 1? That fits pretty good. This one's a beautiful shade of that blue from that era. It's just-- this would probably be my first choice. Even though I sort of like how the like the 1969 model is a little bit of a cleaner look, and by 1971 it was just like a real muscle car.
But I think of the two I would probably pick the '71 Mach 1. But if you want to go back a little bit, you can also get a pretty nice like one from a couple of years earlier. It's just a slightly different vibe. So that's how I would go with 60 grand here.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I like the '71 Mach 1 you found. I wish I could show you podcast listeners exactly what it looks like, but it's a beautiful medium blue. I mean, it looks-- like this is the thing. When you're buying at price points, you have to make some compromises to hit, like, a budget that you're looking for. You can't get a '69 Mach 1 in original or restored shape for $40,000. You just can't. You have to get one like what Greg found, the red convertible that has a replacement engine mated to a non factory transmission, a four speed automatic instead of the original three speeds, C4, C6, whatever it was. You have to make compromises there.
This '71 is a slightly less desirable year, but it's more original, and it's really well done, and I agree with you. Of these two, even though the '69 is potentially more desirable, I like the '71 a little bit more at this price point.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool, sounds good. Sounds good. Tell us about the 2004 SVT Cobra.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah, so I mentioned earlier that I kind of gave preference to vehicles that made my list of best. And I found the high water mark of this generation, the 2004 SVT Cobra, painted in beautiful Mystic Chrome paint. If you don't know what Mystic Chrome is, take a look at our article and you will see it. I found a 2004 for $59,500. It's in Milford, Michigan. Greg, maybe you should go take a look at it. They've made very few of these. The ad says 515. I'd have to look up to make sure that's right, but I think it is.
The 4.6 liter supercharged V8 engine is known as the Terminator engine. It is extremely fast, extremely powerful, and everything that I want out of a Mustang. It's collectible, it is the high water mark of its generation. It is noteworthy. It lands on the best list. And yeah, I was a little bit surprised that I could find one this nice for $60 grand. But I think it's got a lot of upward momentum in potential collectability, as the years go on.
GREG MIGLIORE: One thing I think we both did with this list here is, we zeroed in on like a generation, or maybe genre, if you will, of the Mustang. That found a car that fit the price point. And I think initially I was thinking, well, maybe a Fox body tends to fit more, this one and then a older one fits over here. And that can be true. But with your final pick here, you really underscore it. If you want to spend 60 grand on a 2004 Mustang, you can do it, more power to you. That 4.6 liter that was also used of the Mercury Marauder, that was a heck of an engine. So.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: They modded the supercharger, right? And the Marauder didn't have the-- it was 46 with the 32 valves, but yeah, throw that supercharger on, you make the Terminator. That thing was a beast of an engine. I mean, 12 second quarter mile car. That is really fast. And yeah, I looked it up. It was 515 Mystic Chrome coupes for 2004. So that number is accurate. And again, underscores the innate collectability of it.
GREG MIGLIORE: Very cool. Very cool. So that is our Mustang special, if you will. If you are not a Mustang fan, welcome to the podcast. We're going to run through some news and some reviews at this point. You know what we will do? We can try to include some of these links. We have them at our show notes. We can probably throw some of them into the post. If you're listening, you can head over to Autoblog and you can find this on the podcast post.
But this is-- we had a story last week, and this, I believe, will be the final Ford reference for the most part of the podcast. Of the velocity modern classics, they did an Ultra Luxe F 250, this is a 1970s like sort of reprisal. And it looks cool. It's a very cool restored-- restomod. To me this follows in the footsteps of like Icon and a number of other companies that did Broncos for years and years. Everybody was like oh, man, this is the closest I could get to like a new Bronco. Maybe they take the shell, they put new running gear, all sorts of things, make it essentially a modern car that looks like an old one, to varying degrees.
But hey, now there is a Bronco. A new Bronco. You may still want to go the restomod route, and that's great too. Or you want an original one. But the point is like, I sort of feel like some of that demand has been like, satiated, if you will. Like there are ways to get a real Bronco. So what do you think the next restomod like muse, template, canvas will be?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I'm going to say the GMT 400 trucks. And SUVs. They are-- they're starting to gain in popularity right now, which I think is like a precursor to them hitting this, like, restomod mark. Full disclosure, I own a 1993 Suburban. GMT 400 platform Suburban. And I wanted it. I wanted it on purpose. Like when I set out looking for something to buy, these were high up on my list. It was either this or a '90s Bronco. '80s or '90s Bronco.
And I went with the GMC 400, because it's a more practical daily driver, which is what we use ours for. I think these things are right on the cusp of potentially really moving from the people like these that are willing to pay slightly more for them, into the like legitimately collectible range. And I think that the two door, like the Yukon's, are probably most ripe. But also the flair side pickup trucks were pretty cool at the time. And everybody likes a Suburban, so yeah. I mean, there's a big range, they're all based on the same platform, they're simple. They're right on that era where computer controls were just starting to take over, so they're easy to modify. And I think they have a lot of restomod potential.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I would agree with that. I think it's interesting what I was trying to wrack my brain here about what's next. I think, like, the '70s, Ford trucks sort of piqued my interest. But I think we're already at the point where we're like post Bronco, if you will. And like '70s trucks are like, they're here. You know we saw it a little bit with the Ford Illuminator. General Motors has done some things too with some of their greatest hits of the '70s. I think that's a really good canvas, too, because you get like-- it's a truck that while it does look tough, it does still have, like, it's a very retro looking truck. Like truck design took like an extra 10 years to catch up to where the rest of the car industry went, I think, and some would argue it just went straight from the early '60s to the '80s.
So but I'm going to go a little different here. I could see like XJ's like Cherokees from the '90s, really like a lot of the ones that are still out there are either really expensive, or they're rusted. So I could start to see businesses sort of crop up where they're like harvesting what's left of some of these, then building modern Jeep Cherokees, if you will, with that sort of iconic XJ styling underneath. And then the world is your oyster as far as the power trade, there's all sorts of things they could do with it. Make it like a modern 4xe kind of thing. But I sort of see a market for that like somewhat coming up soon. At least I hope it does.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: The XJ is a great choice. I think you're right. Like I know someone, a friend of mine, his dad, would only buy XJ Cherokees, like when he'd wear one out, he'd go out and find the very best one that he could, and buy another one. He didn't want anything else. And he opined to me not long ago that there's just not-- it's just-- they're not doable anymore. You just can't get them.
People like that would be willing to pay 30, $40,000 for a restomoded and XJ exactly the way that they want it, and it very well might be the last big automotive purchase that they buy. So bear with me here, Greg. When you said the XJ Cherokee and restomod, the other day I was driving and I saw a Comanche. A Jeep Comanche, which was the pickup truck version of the XJ Cherokee, if we have some younger listeners that don't remember them new.
I thought, why have I never seen someone do an EJ Cherokee Comanche mash up? Where they make they take the four door body shell of the Cherokee, mate it with the truck bed and the back of the cab of a Comanche. They'd have to extend the wheelbase, obviously, et cetera, et cetera, but how is this not been a SEMA build that I've already seen? Where someone has made a four door Cherokee truck?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, no, I agree. That seems very ripe for SEMA.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. If you're talking restomod, it's like someone could make a business case out of doing something like that. Like how many people would want like a cool-- I mean, people are buying are spending $200,000 on 6 by 6 pickup trucks left and right. Like you don't think someone would spend 70 or 80 grand on a really cool off road kind of adventure mobile of a four door Cherokee with a Comanche pickup truck bed? I think they absolutely would.
GREG MIGLIORE: Cool, well let's shift gears over to news about the Acura NSX potentially going electric. I think it's definitely a move that would continue its life. Let's put it that way. There was rumors of this, we reported last week about it. I've driven the NSX in its most recent generation, so it's like, I think it's definitely a thing that's-- is the direction it should go. Because I feel like the NSX has always been a little more niche than the Corvette, the Mustang, or any other sort of like sports to more like high performance sports cars.
It's-- I think they did a great job with it. But I also think they've sort of run out of runway with it. I believe I think it's John is actually testing what are the final ones in the fleet this week as we speak. So let's talk about that on a podcast coming up. But I think this is a natural progression for it. And I honestly hope they do it, because I think given the footprint of it, electrification would let them maintain what we think of as an NSX as far as styling, interior, sporting attributes, without really changing too much of that. So I think it would be a good move.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Oh yeah, for sure. On some level I think one of the reasons-- one of the-- I don't want to say reasons. One of the knocks against the current NSX that's on its way out is that it's complicated. They wanted to capitalize on NSX fame, and instead of going a really simple route, they threw every bit of technology that they had at it. With a hybrid gasoline electric powertrain, and incredible performance specs.
But was it really-- does it really have the same soul as the original? A lot of people would argue, no. I think getting rid of the internal combustion engine entirely and going with a fully electric drivetrain would allow them to kind of go more simple, and potentially figure out, because one of the hallmarks of the NSX was its lightweight. And advanced construction methods.
And they were able to do with a V6 engine what Ferrari was doing with V8s. So can they do something electrified, and kind of recapture some of the awesome performance and simplicity that made the original NSX so desirable? I think that they could. If there's any car company in the world that could engineer such a thing, I would say it'd be Honda. So yeah, I'm all for it. I hope that they do.
GREG MIGLIORE: It could be a Tesla Roadster fighter with a slightly different approach. But we're not going to-- I don't think we're going to see as many sort of smallish electric coupes for a little bit until automakers sort of figure out how to do that again, because they have bigger priorities. So I think this would be a great move for Acura to launch its sort of electrification strategy with a splash. So. Let's trade over to our drive section. We finally get to some of-- just the stuff we've been driving. I just got out of the GMC Yukon Denali.
This is the ultimate, which means it's basically the Denali plus more, if you will. So it was very nice. Let's put it that way. The sticker was $94,000, that is Escalade territory, as far as I'm concerned. Titanium rush metallic, which means it's kind of like the deepest of blues. It almost looks black, but then the sun hits it, and you're like OK, there's a little bit of like a bluish purple in there. Interior is Alpine umber, which was basically dark with like some sort of like very rich brown wood with like a trim with-- not trim, but like almost like a pattern. I called it like a topographic sort of look.
Check out one of my shortcuts, you can find that on our social feeds. But very nice vehicle. I've been enjoying the new generation, if you will, of these large GM trucks. I tend to think after driving the Tahoe, the Suburban, the Yukon, the bigger Yukon XL, if you will, I tend to feel like I might land out of Yukon over the Chevy versions.
I was feeling Chevy like a year or two ago when they first came out. But right now I don't. I feel like Yukon. It does go back and forth with the weather, I suppose. But it's just-- it's a really-- they're also ubiquitous around Metro, Detroit too. It's like you see so many Tahoe's in Yukon's. A lot of Yukon's it seems like.
But I like those the headlights up front. This one has a very cool sort of like matte grille on it. And then the 6.2 liter EcoTec3 V8 So yeah, I mean it's got a lot of get up and go. These things handle pretty well. You have the latest versions of like Stabilitrak and magnetic ride control. It's a very nice SUV.
One are the cool features I'll call out here, too, is you can actually move the center console. There's a switch right up like above with like the sunroof, the moon roof operations, and I was like, why is it the roof opening? That I looked down, I'm like whoa. The center counsel's moving away from me. So that was pretty cool.
These things I think are, they're expensive, but they are very good values for what you get. These are like really capable, strong trucks, that I think look good. You get a level of prestige with them. They're loaded up with LEDs and all sorts of like safety and security things. The visibility is great.
The one thing I regret, because I couldn't get to it easily, I didn't know this. There was a massaging feature on this. Whatever there is a massaging feature, I like to try it out. My quick-- I'll close with this-- Jeep is the best, Mercedes is kind of in the middle. And there's a number of other ones that don't quite measure up, I think, to a true Jeep massage. They are the best that I think as far as in car massagaes. But I regret not trying the GMC one.
So if you driven any of these large trucks lately, or if you've just been sticking with your '93, I guess, GMT 400.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I've not-- I have driven the latest generation of the GMC utility vehicles. I have not driven a Yukon Denali, let alone a Yukon Denali Ultimate. But man, that-- I'm looking at pictures. That interior is-- I mean that's classy. That's really, really pretty. Well done interior. The outside is pretty ostentatious with big chrome grill and the huge red GMC right in the middle of it, and kind of bracketed by those LED piped headlights, and huge chrome wheels, all that. But man, you get inside, and it's just like. I don't know. Like, I like that. I like that interior a lot.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, this is I think one of the better GMC interiors I have ever been in. Which isn't saying much, because it's, of course, the newest one. It's the Denali Ultimate. But I mean, there was a while where even Cadillacs didn't look like the price that they were charging. I think GM is getting their interiors largely corrected. They look pretty good, especially in these expensive vehicles, especially the SUVs and trucks.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Have you got experience with the Escalade and its big curved OLED screen?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, I drove one-- jeez, this was earlier in the spring. And it's really quite something.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yes.
GREG MIGLIORE: And actually, the EQS-- the Mercedes-- right now, with its expansive screen as well. And it's-- it's like I said, it's really quite something. I feel like different automakers do it better than others. It has been a few months now. Overall I was impressed with it.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I like that. I like the look of Cadillac's OLED screen. Just OLED, in general, has like a crispness, and a really like bright beautiful color palette to it. More so than LCD to me. But I don't know. Like is that going to-- I really like this GMC ultimate interior. It's a different take on luxury. Cadillac's kind of go in high tech with the Escalade, whereas GMC is kind of pulling it back and going a little more old school American luxury. I don't know. Like I'd want to sit-in them both and drive them before I picked a winner there.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's tricky. I might veer a little towards Mercedes, but that's only because I got out of it like four hours ago. And I just was really taken with it. But it's a little surreal, too. I remember when they reveal these things at CES, like just two years ago, maybe? I remember that was the theme of CES was car screens. So it's pretty, pretty wild to see them in there.
I, like you, I like the OLED technology. I think it's better than some of the-- it's a better way to sort of serve the user, as opposed to some of these like augmented reality things, where to me when I look at it, it's like it's just distracting. It gives me a headache. It doesn't-- like I don't need to see how tall the buildings are in relation to where I am, you know? I could look outside and see that.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: There is such a thing as too much, right?
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah. So yeah, I think I think it's pretty solid.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Nice.
GREG MIGLIORE: So tell me about-- you're finally getting some time in the EV 6?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I am.
GREG MIGLIORE: This is our long termer. What do you think of it.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: I mean, I love this car. It's-- I've had it in my driveway for a couple of weeks now. I drove it from the Detroit Auto Show down to Columbus, Ohio. I had no issues with range. I made the trip and I had about 40 miles left, even after some detours for food and traffic and all that. So range anxiety has not been any sort of issue for me.
I've found if anything, its range estimates are erring on the side of being conservative. It'll show that it's got 37 miles, I'll take a 4 mile drive, and it'll say 35 miles still. So it's a little conservative, which when you're talking about electricity, electric powered battery operated cars, I think that's the right way to go.
I think it is a little bit too stylish. And the reason I say that, they really, they went with this kind of smushed down hatchback look. It's beautiful. It looks amazing in pictures. I walk up to it. And I think, man, that is a striking car. I get in it, and I'm a little over six foot tall, which isn't-- I'm not like some huge gargantuan person, but it's-- the headroom is a little bit pinchy for me. It's got a glass roof on it. That probably cuts down a little bit too, but like I don't know.
I actually adjusted my seat back down a little bit more than I typically would. I don't think to a point where it's bothersome. But I don't like the feeling of the tips of my hair follicles touching the ceiling. So yeah, that's my one complaint about the overall design of the vehicle. It could use another inch of headroom. The driving dynamics, zero complaints. Nice, punchy, electric powertrain. A huge difference between eco mode, normal mode, and sport mode. You put the thing in sport, and you immediately feel a goose from the accelerator.
I like nearly everything about it. I'll go on a slight rant here and complain that every recent Hyundai and Kia car that I have had lately has a very overly aggressive rear cross traffic stoppage system. So backing out of my driveway, I'll have plenty of room to go in the direction I want to go. If it sees a car coming on from the other direction, not where I'm actually pulling into, it slams on the brakes. It's done it a couple of times already. Our long term Hyundai Palisade did that. Every Hyundai that I've had, or Kia, which it's the same company basically, overly aggressive. That's a legitimate complaint that would irritate me if I owned this car. Because it happens on a regular basis.
The heads up display isn't the crispest that I have used. It's nice and big, but when it gets out to towards the edges of its display on the windshield, it gets a little bit blurry, and gives me-- my eyes can't quite focus on it. That's a little bit of a complaint that I have with it. But these are fairly minor things.
Like if you're listening, and you think I'm being picky, you're right. I am being picky. Like the rear cross-traffic alert system, and the edges of the heads up display, and putting my seat back slightly so that I feel like I've got a little bit more headroom, those are the complaints that I have with the car. I really, really am enjoying it.
Lots of commentary from people telling me how pretty it is, ask me lots of questions. And the last thing I'll comment on is the charging infrastructure. I live in a small town Northwest of Columbus, Ohio. I have not had an issue whatsoever with charging. If there is a snafu that I've had, it's that I went to one of our local EV Go charging stations, and someone had a Mach E plugged in to the fastest 350 kilowatt charger. I walked into the store, walked out five minutes later, and they had hit their 80% and left. So I moved over to that spot, plugged it in, and the 350 kilowatt, it charged from something like 11% to 100% in 36 minutes, and it costs me 12 bucks in energy usage to do that.
That is a deal. That's great. It was further proof that depending on the rates where you live and all of that, driving electric is-- it just makes more sense than driving gasoline.
GREG MIGLIORE: Yeah, it's a couple of points there. Not to put too fine of a point on this, but I noticed that sort of seated position, where it almost feels like because they're calling it a crossover, even though to me it looks like a car, like what are the weird things they did is that seating position is just-- it's a little higher up than it feels like it needs to be. It offers you better visibility if you're perhaps like, 5' 10, 5' 11 like I am. If you're like what 6' 2 or something, it gets a little tighter, just with even a little bit. A couple more inches of height.
So I think that's a tricky situation. It's the same thing with the stance of the car. It's a couple millimeters higher than perhaps it could be. I actually was-- we talked about this on the podcast last week. It sort of looks like the Ferrari Purosangue, in some ways. Like there's some similarities there. Going both ways. And that's a good thing. I think they're both handsome looking crossovers, but I think it could also be a very cool looking sportwagon, if you just lowered it. So.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. I would totally-- I would opt for that myself. Like lower the seats, stop trying to make it a crossover, it's not a crossover. Call it what it is, and give me that extra inch of headroom. I'd appreciate that.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's interesting, I feel like they could maybe split that up a bit. But most-- I'd say most buyers are necessarily like us. They're just going to say, it's a crossover, cool, that's what I want. So yeah. Cool car. I actually have not driven our long termer yet. I have driven the EV6 multiple times, and multiple configurations. I had one oh just a month or so ago, it was the one with the kind of matte gray exterior. Super cool looking car, a lot of fun to drive. I think you ought to go with all wheel drive as opposed to rear wheel, because it does give you that real like performance vibe.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: It is quick.
GREG MIGLIORE: It is quick.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Really quick.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's-- yeah I like it a little more than the IONIQ 5 too. That's where I would land.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: See I haven't driven the IONIQ yet. I think I probably would go IONIQ if given the choice, because it has slightly more room space inside. The backseat is a little bit bigger, a little bit more cargo space. And it doesn't quite have the headroom limitation that the Kia has. So I think that's-- I would err on the side of the IONIQ, but man, that-- the Kia it just attracts attention because it's so stylish.
GREG MIGLIORE: Agreed. Agreed. Well, that's our drive section. Do you have a fall beer, there, Jeremy by the time people get this it'll probably be October. Unless you're listening to it on Friday afternoon. But you have a fall beer that you're quaffing this week?
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: You know, yes, I do. I've been drinking some Octoberfest lately. I just went to Nocterra Brewing in Powell, Ohio, which is south of Delaware, where I live. But still, it's like north of Dublin, which is a big suburb of Columbus. Nocterra Brewing has an Oktoberfest that was absolutely brilliant. It was a little bit on the lighter side, but super, super good. They also had a stout that was excellent. It was a little-- it was Polish. It was a little maple, a little bit spicy, and absolutely delicious.
And things that you can get more locally, or excuse me, more nationally, when fall weather hits I go to nut browns. So there's a lot of good nut browns out there. But I really like Sierra Nevada's Nut Brown. I can't think of what the name of it is but their Moose Drool. Moose Drool's vary, and that's not Sierra Nevada is. But regardless, Moose Drool is real good, you can get that nationally. And yeah, that's where I'm at on fall beers right now.
GREG MIGLIORE: Sounds good. I'm with the OG, just the Sam Adams Oktoberfest. That's-- can't go wrong with that.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Solid.
GREG MIGLIORE: It's a really good one. It looks good in the glass. It's just goes down smooth, one or two of those, that's all you need.
JEREMY KORZENIEWSKI: Yeah. I don't disagree with you there. I love me some Sam Adams Oktoberfest.
GREG MIGLIORE: All right, so if you enjoy Oktoberfest, and hopefully you enjoy the podcast, please leave us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you get the show. Send us your Spend My Moneys to podcast@autoblog.com. Be safe out there, and we'll see you next week.
