The thesis of this video, comparing the Mustang Mach-E to the Mustang Mach-1 and asking whether or not share anything in common, can pretty much be summed up by a line that comes up near the end: “And then they put a horse on it.”
It’s a throwaway comment that Matt Farah makes to his co-driver Zack Klapman as he describes the cabin of the all-electric Mustang Mach-E.
“This interior, with the exception of the little round shift knob, has nothing to do in common with the Mustang [Mach-1] interior,” says Klapman. He admits that it’s a nice interior in its own right, but Farah completes his thought by saying “And then they put a horse on it.”
Read Also: The Mach-E Is Like No Other Mustang Before, So Why Did It Get That Name?
Indeed, the rest of the driving experience, they say, shares little to nothing in common with the traditional Mustang. Although these two are rear-wheel-drive, they don’t feel similar in any other way.
For comparison, the hosts take the example of the Porsche 911 and Macan. Although it’s not a perfect comparison, since neither is electric, it does show how an automaker can make an SUV and a sports car feel connected.
“When you turn them and accelerate all the things you feel and touch feel very similar” in the two Porsches, says Klapman. “Driving [the Mustang Mach-E] I could go: it’s a good GT car, a great long-distance cruiser, but you could say that about basically any comfortable car. It doesn’t do it in a way that the Mustang does it.”
They complain, then, that this just feels like an SUV, a good one at that, that has had some Mustang badges stuck onto it. That’s not actually too far from what really happened. In December, Ford revealed that the decision to brand their EV as a Mustang happened late in the development process. So, in some ways, they really did just put some horses on it.
That’s not to say that the Mustang Mach-E isn’t good, though. It’s a pleasant enough vehicle that the one being filmed actually belongs to Farah. So maybe the branding works for who it’s supposed to work and is inoffensive enough not to turn off enthusiasts.
“This is such a nice EV,” says Farah. He reasons, though, that “a group of people determined that the value of the brand Mustang is more exciting and interesting than the value of the brand Ford and even if people like me and you are going to spend time explaining why this isn’t a Mustang, we’re still on the other end of that conversation saying what a nice car it is.”