S650 Mustang GT Full Frontal Leak!! 📸

[DeluxeStang]

I agree that, if the real car looks like the leaked photo and there is a non-body color bezel in the grill (most likely dark grey or black), it is going to look HORRIBLE. The bezel is going to make it look like a gigantic grill opening. The Mustang will be inflicted with the same ridiculous giant, black maw grill like so many cars that exist today. It is the worst styling trend of the last 10 years. Looking at the leaked photo, almost the entire front of the car is blacked out. The rest of the car may look awesome, but if the front is ugly, the car isn't good looking. The front is too important. See all of the Lexus models. They make some nice looking cars EXCEPT the front of all their cars has been slapped with an ugly stick in the form of their gargantuan anvil grills. A car with an ugly front is an ugly car.

It is truly sad given the S550 is one of the few remaining really nice looking cars available. I am not optimistic, but hopefully the real car won't look like the leaked photo, or maybe Ford will change direction. Camaro moved away from the gigantic blacked out look of the 2019 Camaro SS when customers hated it.

Otherwise, we will see lots of dislike when real photos come out and then the inevitable "it is growing on me" as people delude themselves into liking it because they can't bear to dislike a new Mustang design (and of course the "it looks better in real life than photos" comment that always happen when a manufacturer releases an ugly car that people want to like).

You assume a design that needs to be seen in person or grow on someone is a bad design. This simply isn't the case. Our ape brains are hardwired to rejected and dislike change. Doesn't matter what that change is, we almost always dislike it, or are at least afraid of it. But once we adjust to changes, we can appreciate things more.

Sponsored

 

[dethmaShine]

Australia's peak motor racing website has gone with this and given the forum some publicity at least:

https://www.speedcafe.com/torquecafe/is-this-the-2023-ford-mustang/

This doesn’t seem like the Mach 1 grille like some reported right?

 

[nrc]

You assume a design that needs to be seen in person or grow on someone is a bad design. This simply isn't the case. Our ape brains are hardwired to rejected and dislike change. Doesn't matter what that change is, we almost always dislike it, or are at least afraid of it. But once we adjust to changes, we can appreciate things more.

Yeah, no. If I look through my response across the history of Mustang restyles, I don't see any aversion to change in my likes or dislikes. It's more about whether the restyle was appealing and whether the design feels true to the image or not.

Sorry, but a gaping, carp-lipped truck maw is not appealing or true to the image.

 

[Kevin70]

You assume a design that needs to be seen in person or grow on someone is a bad design. This simply isn't the case. Our ape brains are hardwired to rejected and dislike change. Doesn't matter what that change is, we almost always dislike it, or are at least afraid of it. But once we adjust to changes, we can appreciate things more.

Yes, I absolutely assume and believe that a design that needs to be seen in person or grown on someone is a bad design. A picture may be 2D, but it still looks almost exactly what it will look like in person. You may notice some shapes a little more in person, but it either looks good as whole or it does not, and that will come across in a photo just fine.

There are many designs that are different that I have loved the first time I saw them. I grew up on 70's, 80's, and 90's Camaros. Never paid any attention to the 60's. When I saw the "new" Camaro a decade or so ago, I thought it looked great (at the time I didn't realize how horrible the visibility out of the cockpit was though). It was very different than anything else at the time. However, it wasn't just different. It was an excellent design (looks wise). The S550 is quite different from the previous generation Mustang. I thought it looked very good the first time I saw it. The front was nice, and the rear was gorgeous. I wish it was lighter, but the car was excellent from a style standpoint.

I thought other cars looked like crap the first time I saw them, and I still think they look like crap. The Pontiac Aztec was just ugly. The Lexus spindle grill looks like crap. The 2019 Camaro SS looks like crap. I may get used to something that is ugly so it isn't as shocking, but that doesn't make it less ugly. I am never going to look at the new BMW M4 and think it looks good. If it "grows on you", then I think you must be blind.

Change can be good and change can be bad. Beloved name plates like Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette have had excellent designs and design mistakes. However, people WANT to love them. People get used to their poor design aspects and say it "grows on them" so they can convince themselves they really look good.

If the car looks like the leaked photos, it is going to look like it has a MASSIVE black hole in the front. It will be following the modern trend of gargantuan, and mostly fake, front grills. Some car companies like to call these massive grill front designs bold. Maybe they are bold, but they don't look good. Bold does not necessarily mean good.

Luckily, the car hasn't been released yet. Based on the photos (and the general pathetic trend of comically oversized grills), I think it is likely the S650 is going to look bad compared to the S550. However, until it is released, there can be some shred of hope that Ford will be "truly bold" and release a car that just looks good and doesn't follow the fad of the moment.

 

[DeluxeStang]

Yes, I absolutely assume and believe that a design that needs to be seen in person or grown on someone is a bad design. A picture may be 2D, but it still looks almost exactly what it will look like in person. You may notice some shapes a little more in person, but it either looks good as whole or it does not, and that will come across in a photo just fine.

There are many designs that are different that I have loved the first time I saw them. I grew up on 70's, 80's, and 90's Camaros. Never paid any attention to the 60's. When I saw the "new" Camaro a decade or so ago, I thought it looked great (at the time I didn't realize how horrible the visibility out of the cockpit was though). It was very different than anything else at the time. However, it wasn't just different. It was an excellent design (looks wise). The S550 is quite different from the previous generation Mustang. I thought it looked very good the first time I saw it. The front was nice, and the rear was gorgeous. I wish it was lighter, but the car was excellent from a style standpoint.

So you said the s550 is a great looking design, I agree, it's the best looking muscle car ever made imo, maybe only second to the '67 mustang fastback, but the s550 is essentially a modern interpretation of that design. But while we both like that design, when it was first revealed, a solid 80 or 90% of the comments were negative. Saying it was ugly, or ruined the mustang name, or that it looked like a fusion, you get the drill. Yet most of those people grew to love the design over time.

I firmly believe the same thing will happen here. In terms of the grill opening, it's quite similar to the gt500's front end. Where the actual grill openings themselves aren't that large, but there are contrasting graphical elements that make the front end more agressive without making it look too over the top. When ford was tasked with creating the s650, we already knew before the first sketch was even completed, that the design was going to be similar to the s550. Just as the '10 was similar to the '05-'09 and the new edge was similar to the bubble wrapped monstrosity that came before it. That's just how mustang design usually rolls, a few generations with somewhat similar styling, followed by a radically different design. It's a good balance between remaining consistent, but also shaking things up enough to entice buyers.

So here's the thing, you're a designer told to work on the s650, and to make it kinda like the s550. There's basically two directions you can go, make the car curvier, and pull a lot of the styling cues and softer surfacing from the mach-e. Which wouldn't look hideous, but might lose the muscle car vibe. Or create a crisper, sharper, more muscular take on the s550. It seems like that's the route they decided to go, and I think it was a wise decision.

 

[DeluxeStang]

Change can be good and change can be bad. Beloved name plates like Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette have had excellent designs and design mistakes. However, people WANT to love them. People get used to their poor design aspects and say it "grows on them" so they can convince themselves they really look good.

But it goes both ways. Look at everyone trying to convince themselves that this new design will be terrible, just based on some very low quality photos taken from very unflattering angles. If you've already convinced yourself that you're going to hate it, then you're going to hate it regardless of how the final design ends up looking. Hating or disliking something is unfortunate a stronger influencer than loving something or someone in many cases. Someone can love something while still recognizing it's flaws. But individuals who hate something often overlook it's positive attributes.

 

[Kevin70]

Change can be good and change can be bad. Beloved name plates like Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette have had excellent designs and design mistakes. However, people WANT to love them. People get used to their poor design aspects and say it "grows on them" so they can convince themselves they really look good.

But it goes both ways. Look at everyone trying to convince themselves that this new design will be terrible, just based on some very low quality photos taken from very unflattering angles. If you've already convinced yourself that you're going to hate it, then you're going to hate it regardless of how the final design ends up looking. Hating or disliking something is unfortunate a stronger influencer than loving something or someone in many cases. Someone can love something while still recognizing it's flaws. But individuals who hate something often overlook it's positive attributes.

I am not convinced it will be terrible. That leaked photo, if real, definitely looks like it has a massively oversized front grill (or at least massive blacked out area). I am convinced that cars with disproportionately large front grills do not look good. The leaked photo might not be real. The leaked photo might not be representative of the final design. While I doubt it, the leaked photo might be deceiving because it is low quality. When I first saw it, I was pleasantly relieved because it looked like the grill might not be comically large. On closer inspection, it "looks" like there is some kind of insert, likely black plastic, around the grill which will make it look huge. However, the picture isn't good quality, so maybe that will turn out to be incorrect. I very much want the S650 to look good. There aren't very many nice looking cars available today. The Camaro will be gone. The BMW M4 has been destroyed by BMW's new front-end design. It would be awesome if the S650 was as good or better looking than the S550.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I am not convinced it will be terrible. That leaked photo, if real, definitely looks like it has a massively oversized front grill (or at least massive blacked out area). I am convinced that cars with disproportionately large front grills do not look good. The leaked photo might not be real. The leaked photo might not be representative of the final design. While I doubt it, the leaked photo might be deceiving because it is low quality. When I first saw it, I was pleasantly relieved because it looked like the grill might not be comically large. On closer inspection, it "looks" like there is some kind of insert, likely black plastic, around the grill which will make it look huge. However, the picture isn't good quality, so maybe that will turn out to be incorrect. I very much want the S650 to look good. There aren't very many nice looking cars available today. The Camaro will be gone. The BMW M4 has been destroyed by BMW's new front-end design. It would be awesome if the S650 was as good or better looking than the S550.

I feel ya, it seems like a current design trend is to make things intentionally disproportionate for shock value. It's why I love the maverick so much. In person, it's such an understated, yet handsome design that feels restrained, yet confident. 10, 15 years from now, those trucks will still look good, unlike the Sante Cruz which is already looking dated imo. If you like how the gt500 and focus RS front ends look, the gt will look pretty good to you. I like how they used contrasting elements to make the front more agressive, rather than actually making the grill opening itself huge. Strikes a nice balance imo, plus, owners can always wrap or paint that contrasting section if they want something different.

 

[DeluxeStang]

I am not convinced it will be terrible. That leaked photo, if real, definitely looks like it has a massively oversized front grill (or at least massive blacked out area). I am convinced that cars with disproportionately large front grills do not look good. The leaked photo might not be real. The leaked photo might not be representative of the final design. While I doubt it, the leaked photo might be deceiving because it is low quality. When I first saw it, I was pleasantly relieved because it looked like the grill might not be comically large. On closer inspection, it "looks" like there is some kind of insert, likely black plastic, around the grill which will make it look huge. However, the picture isn't good quality, so maybe that will turn out to be incorrect. I very much want the S650 to look good. There aren't very many nice looking cars available today. The Camaro will be gone. The BMW M4 has been destroyed by BMW's new front-end design. It would be awesome if the S650 was as good or better looking than the S550.

The good thing is if we don't like the way the front bumper looks, the aftermarket will come to the rescue. I agree, the stock 3 and 4 series look terrible. But there's an aftermarket bumper, can't recall who makes it, that actually looks really nice. As long as the proportions and general shape is great, that's all that really matters. Almost everything else can be changed relatively easily, have hope my friend.

 

[IceGamer]

The good thing is if we don't like the way the front bumper looks, the aftermarket will come to the rescue. I agree, the stock 3 and 4 series look terrible. But there's an aftermarket bumper, can't recall who makes it, that actually looks really nice. As long as the proportions and general shape is great, that's all that really matters. Almost everything else can be changed relatively easily, have hope my friend.

Do you have a link? I haven't found a single good looking bumper... The stock 3 series looks awesome (M340) and wouldn't have need much to make it look more aggressive. However, the M3/4 front is just aweful and so far I haven't seen any aftermarket bumper that is somewhat better. I think one major issue is to blend in the hood...

 

[DeluxeStang]

Do you have a link? I haven't found a single good looking bumper... The stock 3 series looks awesome (M340) and wouldn't have need much to make it look more aggressive. However, the M3/4 front is just aweful and so far I haven't seen any aftermarket bumper that is somewhat better. I think one major issue is to blend in the hood...

https://www.bmwblog.com/2020/10/19/video-prior-design-has-the-solution-for-the-new-bmw-m4-grille/

 

[DeluxeStang]

It's still not perfect, but it's a massive improvement over the stock front end imo.

 

[OppoLock]

https://www.bmwblog.com/2020/10/19/video-prior-design-has-the-solution-for-the-new-bmw-m4-grille/

Honesty, I give props to BMW for making something unique. This aftermarket option buries a lot of that character and kind of turns it into a sneezing cat. But I know I’m in the minority on the G80/2 front ends (and the F30’s is nice).

I agree with Deluxe in the fact that modern designs tend to require a 3D look, if not an actual evaluation in the metal. Most moderndesign is so heavily reliant on lighting and reflections, and with heavily chamfered surfaces and recessed elements, that things don’t tend to sit as well on a 2D plane as older, boxier, flatter designs.

still have mad reservations about this S650 though. Praying it looks the part.

 

[MikeyV]

Yes, I absolutely assume and believe that a design that needs to be seen in person or grown on someone is a bad design. A picture may be 2D, but it still looks almost exactly what it will look like in person. You may notice some shapes a little more in person, but it either looks good as whole or it does not, and that will come across in a photo just fine.

There are many designs that are different that I have loved the first time I saw them. I grew up on 70's, 80's, and 90's Camaros. Never paid any attention to the 60's. When I saw the "new" Camaro a decade or so ago, I thought it looked great (at the time I didn't realize how horrible the visibility out of the cockpit was though). It was very different than anything else at the time. However, it wasn't just different. It was an excellent design (looks wise). The S550 is quite different from the previous generation Mustang. I thought it looked very good the first time I saw it. The front was nice, and the rear was gorgeous. I wish it was lighter, but the car was excellent from a style standpoint.

I thought other cars looked like crap the first time I saw them, and I still think they look like crap. The Pontiac Aztec was just ugly. The Lexus spindle grill looks like crap. The 2019 Camaro SS looks like crap. I may get used to something that is ugly so it isn't as shocking, but that doesn't make it less ugly. I am never going to look at the new BMW M4 and think it looks good. If it "grows on you", then I think you must be blind.

Change can be good and change can be bad. Beloved name plates like Mustang, Camaro, and Corvette have had excellent designs and design mistakes. However, people WANT to love them. People get used to their poor design aspects and say it "grows on them" so they can convince themselves they really look good.

If the car looks like the leaked photos, it is going to look like it has a MASSIVE black hole in the front. It will be following the modern trend of gargantuan, and mostly fake, front grills. Some car companies like to call these massive grill front designs bold. Maybe they are bold, but they don't look good. Bold does not necessarily mean good.

Luckily, the car hasn't been released yet. Based on the photos (and the general pathetic trend of comically oversized grills), I think it is likely the S650 is going to look bad compared to the S550. However, until it is released, there can be some shred of hope that Ford will be "truly bold" and release a car that just looks good and doesn't follow the fad of the moment.

Along with others more qualified than myself, I feel that a design that you accept as attractive upon first sight is already old and dated.

To be truly new and different, a design needs to not use currently employed design cues. It should shock the senses when you first see it.

IMO.

 

[DeluxeStang]

Along with others more qualified than myself, I feel that a design that you accept as attractive upon first sight is already old and dated.

To be truly new and different, a design needs to not use currently employed design cues. It should shock the senses when you first see it.

IMO.

Exactly, a design that's loved by everyone upon being revealed is generally seen as being just ok years later. Good design pushes boundaries.

Sponsored