Not everybody is happy about the Mustang Mach-E’s name.
Least of all this guy. His name is Jimmy Dinsmore, and he’s more than just an angry Mustang enthusiast. He’s also a syndicated writer and co-author of Mustang by Design, which looks at the Mustang’s characteristics and engineering since its inception in the 1960s. He knows a thing or two about a Mustang, and he says the Mach-E is no Mustang.
In fact, he feels so strongly about the name that he’s started a petition on Change.org demanding that Ford call their new electric crossover something else.
"The Ford Mustang Mach-E should have the Mustang name and logo removed from it,” writes Dinsmore in his petition. “It goes against the essence of what Mustang stands for in automotive history. It's insulting to the tens of thousands of Mustang enthusiasts who love the Pony Car and support Ford."
Dinsmore goes on to say that the Mustang’s logo is facing left to represent how a Mustang is wild and free, which is the opposite way a domesticated racing horse would run. "The Mustang was intended to go against the flow of the competition. Turning the Mustang into an SUV is not going against the flow. It is not being innovative, nor is it keeping true to the Mustang's heritage."
In an interview with Motor1, Dinsmore added that it's not about the Mach-E being an electric vehicle, which he says he's all for. What he's upset about is the overall design. “Electrification is not the issue with the Mustang Mach-E,” he said. “It’s putting the name on something that isn’t a pony car; the way Gale Halderman originally designed it, as a two-door, low slung, short-deck, long-hood muscle car – not some generic crossover that is common in today’s market.”
We gotta say, Dinsmore has a point. The Mach-E shares a lot more of its design heritage with a common five-door crossover than it does with a modern Mustang. That said, it seems highly unlikely that this petition will change Ford’s mind. They’ve got plans to expand the Mustang beyond its pony car roots to create an entire family of vehicles that bear the Mustang name.
(Source: Motor1, Change.org)