NEVER TOO OLD TO LOVE A MUSTANG

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I am a grandmother and I drive a Mustang. So what?

There is something about certain cars that conjures up thoughts of sexiness, desire, and fun and the Mustang is one of them. However, it was never number one on my wish list until it fell into my lap one day when my nephew called and offered to sell it to me with a deal I couldn’t refuse. That was when he had more money than brains.

It has been over ten years and I’m still driving it and loving it. It is a ’98 Mustang GT V8 with just under 400 horses under the hood. It has less than 50,000 miles on it and enhancing the fun quotient is the leather seats, stick shift, and convertible roof. Nothing quite matches the thrill when the ignition clicks on and the horses underneath the hood begin to roar to life. It is a deep, guttural rumble that the whole court hears. I slip it into gear and restrain the horses as I ease out of the garage. I feel the pull when they are in full gallop racing down the highway. It is not for the timid driver. There is nothing like the feel of freedom running the back roads with the top down and the wind in your hair.

What is it about the Mustang that has made it one of the favorites for so many years? In the Monday, Jan. 24 edition of the Columbus Dispatch, staff writer, Terry Mikesell, wrote about the silver Mustang belonging to his two sons and the sad good-by his younger son endured when the older brother took it off to college. I suspect Dad might have had a twinge or two also.

One summer day, as I approached the window of a fast food drive thru a teenage boy complimented my car. I could see the envy in his eyes and I replied, “You probably think it isn’t fair a grandmother like me is driving such a car.” He sheepishly replied, “yes” and said he drives a station wagon. Horrors and the indignity of it all! I told him not to give up and someday he could have his dream car.

But, back to the question of why it has remained popular since it was introduced in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair by the New Christy Minstrels. Is it the sporty styling, quick response, sleek lines, peer envy, price, or hipness? I think part of it is the name. The name “Mustang” creates a vision of wild horses running free across the wide open plains of the west—America’s last frontier. A vision of cowboys (and cowgirls) sitting around an open campfire and chuck wagons. It creates a feeling of freedom; an escape from the pressures of today’s world.

Would the car be as desirable if it had been named after another kind of horse—the seahorse? Nope, just doesn’t sound sexy.

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