After a long hunt fraught with many dead ends, the shooters at KGP Photography caught this highly revealing look at the face of the ’15 Mustang.
The need for optimum engine cooling and aerodynamic efficiency has provided an unobscured look at the next-generation Mustang's hood and front fascia. Photographed during high-speed, high-performance tests at a race circuit, Ford engineers removed every shred of the Mustang prototype's heavy camouflage from the A-pillar, forward. The degree of influence that Ford's Evos concept has had on the next Mustang's production front fascia design is now clear.
How Much Evos Do We See in the Mustang's Face?
While the influence is clearly there, the hypermodernity and show-car flash of the Evos concept has been tempered by the Mustang's musclecar ethos, bringing the design back closer to the old school. The shape of the grille opening is very similar to the Evos, but the concept's smooth finish gives way to a chunkier treatment on the production Mustang. The grille work is set deep within the outer aperture, with two angled, vertical posts set wide at the corners bringing in some of Ford's Kinetic design influence. The galloping Mustang logo can be seen prominently at the grille's center, slightly obscured by tape.
How About Those Headlights?
While the headlights are covered in black tape—hiding any sign of their internal design—their shape and placement are still visible. Although not as long and slit-like as on the Evos, the Mustang's headlights clearly have an Evos influence, and a modernized design when compared to the current model. As suggested earlier, the headlights have a Ford Fusion feel, but they have an appropriate "Mustang" essence and seem well integrated into this prototype's design.
Does the Hood Design Suggest Power?
The gaping grille sweeps back into a complex, shapely hood design, with a strong, prominent shelf stretching back from the headlights, and a nicely contoured hood bulge outlined by some sharply chiseled elements at its outer edges. Signs of two panels placed on the hood—just outside of the central bulge—suggest some form of vents or other design flourish.
The prototype's front bumper vaguely follows the Evos concept's stylized lead, but the Mustang gets a far more chiseled, defined treatment. The wide, low-center air-intake gets angled, up-turned corners, leading into large, flared outer intakes. The outer intakes get complex surface development, flaring out into the side and top of the front bumper, while jutting out at the bottom into sharp points before rejoining the center intake. A slim diffuser sits under everything else on the front fascia, adding complexity to the design while planting the nose for the proper musclecar stance.
What Else Can We See?
The chiseled front diffuser continues into sharply creased side sills, adding some real definition to the lower flanks. Those sills continue around into the rear bumper, sweeping up into the bumper's rear valance, ultimately framing in the Mustang's round, dual exhaust tips. While the rear end remains thoroughly camouflaged, there is more definition around the rear bumper, promising an equally focused, purposeful design at the rear as on the front.
There are also signs of a sharp character line running along the Mustang's belt line, terminating into the front fender about equal to the top of the wheelwell.
Photo credit: KGP Photography