This story contains renderings for a fictional Mustang Mach SUV that are neither related to nor endorsed by Ford
If you had told an automotive enthusiast a decade or so ago that there would soon be an SUV that looked like a Mustang, they probably would have laughed at you. The idea, though, has already become normalized, leading us to wonder, could a Mustang Mach SUV have been introduced sooner?
While the original Bronco in some ways acted as the first-generation Mustang’s rugged, off-road counterpart, that wasn’t quite literal enough for us. So we turned Lee Iaccoca’s best-loved idea over to digital software and with the help of ai, we tried to see if we could generate a puffed up version of the 1971 Ford Mustang.
Just the latest in our collection of what ifs, this one makes particular sense to us, because over the life of the first-generation Mustang, Ford expanded it several times before introducing the likes of the Boss 351 or the Mach 1. So what’s a little more expansion between friends?
Read: What If BMW Had Made Its X SUVs In the ’80s?
And the results yet again look pretty good. There’s something about the muscular design of days gone by that just lends itself well to being expanded upwards. Thanks to the big wheels, it shares some of the original Ford Bronco’s cartoonish proportions, which is always welcome.
The straightened roofline, meanwhile, seems to be borrowed from the Mustang station wagon prototype that was considered by Ford executives before they decided on the body styles that eventually went into production.
Interpreted through the lens of the later redesign, though, it looks surprisingly appropriate. The slinky ’70s style of later first-gen Mustangs is exaggerated in the orange renderings to the point where the rear haunch could almost be considered over-the-top, if it didn’t work so well.
While I’m a firm believer in leaving small-diameter wheels on classic vehicles, in the case of these off-road renders, the larger wheels really help the Mustang SUV’s proportions. The louvers on the rear windows, meanwhile, are nice nod to the past, but look out of place to me.
What do you think, though? Is this another successful SUV, or is it simply more Mustang sacrilege?
