The styling of S197 is what
really sold me on the car. The fact that it is actually a very nice
vehicle to drive is mostly a bonus, but an essential one for a guy
like myself who values the driving experience so highly. There was
one part of my particular Mustang that I couldn't get past, however:
the rear wing.
When S197 was being designed
there was debate over what to do at the back of the car. The 1969
fastback had a 'ducktail' spoiler and this was the most-favored
choice for finishing off the tail. The problem was that giving every
S197 the ducktail would lessen the distinction between the base car
and the GT. Ultimately, it was decided to make the trunk lid flat and
attach a separate rear wing to all of the GT models to further
differentiate them from the V6s. Though I haven't read anything to
support this, my theory is the pedestal 'wing' type spoiler may have
been chosen because a similar one graced the tail of Mach 1 and Boss
302 models in 1969 and 1970. Additionally, rear wings were the
default styling craze of the 90s and early 2000s. You could find rear
wings on everything from Mercury Tracers to Ford Tauruses.
Ironically--or perhaps as a
concession to those of us with taste--you could order a new S197 with
a 'spoiler delete' option which gave you a unadorned flat trunk lid.
Since the deletion of the spoiler did not generate any cost savings
few people took advantage. The V6 did have an optional low ducktail
type spoiler but it cost extra. However, with the availability of the
Pony Package in 2006 the designers' worst fear was realized; the
V6-only Pony Package included the GT spoiler. While I did want my
Mustang to have the Pony Package I did not
hold any affection for the pedestal rear spoiler. To me it was an
ugly add-on, a senseless piece of vanity that served no aerodynamic
purpose and sullied the look of an otherwise perfect car. To simply
remove it, however, would leave four large holes in my trunk lid. As
the weeks of ownership passed and I learned to like other aspects of
the car I was at first unsure of, one item offended me every time I
looked in the rear view mirror. That hideous, bulbous wing taunted me
from its perch on the rear deck.
The only
practical solution was to replace it. The aftermarket is full of
options to do just that but many were even more garish than the GT
wing. I was unable to find a used V6 spoiler anywhere, which
surprised me. I did eventually find that Ford did produce something
that was sort-of what the original designers may have intended. The
2007 Shelby GT500 sub-model of S197 came with a ducktail spoiler that
gloriously attached to the trunk lid at the same places as my
much-loathed GT spoiler. Though a bit larger than perhaps both I and
the designers had hoped, this spoiler much better matched the car's
lines while possibly even supplying some actual down-force to the
rear of the car at speed. While an original GT500 spoiler is pricey
the aftermarket makes plenty of affordable copies. Many suppliers
offer them pre-painted in factory colors which save an expensive trip
to the auto body shop. Ironically, I work for an auto body shop that
could easily have painted one but the price difference for one in raw
primer was not enough to make up the difference in just the cost of
the paint. Though skeptical of the quality of the finish I elected to
go the pre-painted route and ordered one in Tungsten Gray. The part
arrived within a few days and I was pleased how good it looked out of
the box. An hour or so later my Mustang looked vastly improved as
shown in the photo above. The wing-thing now resides in a box in the
rafters of my garage.
Many
Mustang owners purchase an endless array of aftermarket doodads in an
effort to personalize their car and make it their own. I look upon
many of these modifications with everything from appreciation to
disdain. I 'get' car customizing and haven't been immune to it myself
but some of the choices people make in my opinion distract from the
graceful perfection of the production car. I find it interesting--and
admittedly flattering--that my choices of changes mimic some of the
things the designers themselves had envisioned. The ducktail, round
metal shift knob and Torq-thrust style wheels all parallel things the
design team desired but were overruled on for production. I often
wonder what the artisans who penned the S197 think of all the
spoilers, vents and 'billet' accoutrements that many of their
products have become festooned with.
