IMAGINE a merry-go-round where all the ponies are Ford Mustangs. In their gaily colored tack, each looks a little different, but they are all kind of the same. As the years pass, maybe you jump on, ride for a while, and fall off. If you get tired of your mount, or if it gets mange, another Mustang is always rounding into view.

Except there are fewer ponies now. Our subject this week, the 2021 Ford Mach 1 Premium—eyes lolling, tongue out—enters the lineup while three other, special-edition Mustangs leave the carousel: the Shelby GT350; Bullitt and the Performance Package Level 2. The Mach 1 is, in fact, a mélange of retired horse meat, incorporating the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter V8 from the Bullitt; the Tremec-manufactured six-speed manual transmission with the twin-disc clutch from the GT350; magnetic dampers, stiffer sway bars and front springs from the Performance Package 2; and—on those graced with the optional Handling Package—what Ford calls the “magnetic swing spoiler with a Gurney flap.” Squirrels call the front splitter the Scythe of Doom.

“ If it can’t blow the doors off a Tesla, why does the Mach 1 get out of bed? ”

In other words, to many, the perfect Mustang. Yet with all the assembled motorsport kit, the Mach 1 isn’t knocking down any records. Car and Driver recorded 4.3 seconds from 0-60 mph and a 12.6-second ¼-mile, with the manual gearbox. Like the previous generation of Chevrolet Corvette, the Mustang’s traction is limited by weight transfer: The front-engine car can sling only so much of its weight rearward over the driven wheels during those first instants at full honk.

Born on the cusp of disruption, the Mach 1 is a post-petroleum baby. While heroically quick by legacy standards, it is quietly outrun by any number of electrics, in the field or in the pipeline—including Ford’s own Mustang Mach-E GT, due this fall. It’s just the nature of the mechanisms.

CABIN FEVER While tempered and track-hardened with top-shelf parts from previous specialty Mustangs, the Mach 1 also enjoys the services of large, comfortable Recaro seats (optional).

CABIN FEVER While tempered and track-hardened with top-shelf parts from previous specialty Mustangs, the Mach 1 also enjoys the services of large, comfortable Recaro seats (optional).

So if it can’t blow the doors off libby tree-lovers in their Teslas, why does the Mach 1 get out of bed in the morning? It’s there, between the lines of Ford’s press release, which dares to invoke the word “nostalgia.”

A page has turned. It’s one thing to sell technically obsolete products. It’s another to lean into it. The Mach 1 is an example of nostalgia consumerism—a purchase that feels good, not because it functions better but because it reminds purchasers of the good old days. Wooden boats, classic motorcycles, typewriters, vinyl records, vintage arcade games, fountain pens, tube amplifiers and now, high-performance Mustangs—all privilege the past over the present, the hedonic and sentimental over the functional and rational.

As but one example, consider the Mach 1’s fuel economy, an EPA rated 14/22 mpg, city/highway. Who knew so many missed the days of the Carter Administration? And bear in mind, your mileage will vary, as mine did, as I wound out the big V8 as often as my neck could stand it. The Mach 1 would get better fuel economy on the back of a flatbed truck.

Moi? To paraphrase couturier Edna Mode, nostalgia distracts from the now. And it’s inevitably revisionist. Having lived through the period of Mustang history being exalted here—the early ’70s, say—I assure you there is nothing remotely authentic about the Mach 1’s manual transmission except the cue ball on the shifter. It’s way too smart, way too good. For one thing, this infallible, flick-of-the-wrist six-speeder—with ring release to engage reverse—incorporates automated rev-matching, so drivers don’t have to heel and toe (brake and press the gas pedal simultaneously with the right foot) during vigorous downshifting.

Like a certain Ducati I rode, and about as quick, the Mach 1 allows drivers to bang upshifts without breathing the throttle. Other trackside training wheels include launch control with line-lock function, which can hold the car with the engine spooled at optimum rpm until the driver releases the brake. The twin-disc clutch might be vibranium.

FOLLOW MY CUE The Mach 1’s vintage-feeling, white cue ball shifter tops a Tremec six-speed manual transmission, incorporating no-lift upshifting and rev-matching while downshifting.

FOLLOW MY CUE The Mach 1’s vintage-feeling, white cue ball shifter tops a Tremec six-speed manual transmission, incorporating no-lift upshifting and rev-matching while downshifting.

Back in my day, sonny, Mustangs had axle tramp and crap brakes and we liked it. If you had told us Mustangs would one day have magnetically actuated dampers and front-brake discs the size of trash can lids, our brains would have swelled out of our ears.

Even discounting the symbolic baggage, the Mach 1 is heavy. The 3,868-pound curb weight includes a well-padded interior, the big-block engine and transmission and lots of cooling circuits for engine oil, transmission and rear differential. This added heat-shedding, Ford says, will help support sustained hard driving on a racetrack. Or a Cars and Coffee in Portland.

Considering the Mach 1’s ornery disposition otherwise—the rattlesnake quick steering; the buckboard-stiff suspension; the surrounding and suffusing rumble—I’m surprised Ford didn’t deploy its most obstreperous engine: the 5.2-liter V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft, formerly housed in the GT350. A flat-plane crankshaft—with 180-degree angle between crank throws—allows the engine to breathe better and rev higher so it produces more power per displacement. They are rare in passenger cars because of their inherent undamped secondary vibration and noise. And yet for a car like the Mach 1, a flat-plane’s shivering, hair-trigger rage seems on point.

Fitted with a more civilized cross-plane V8, the Mach 1’s vocals are not as oaken-sounding as the GT350’s—more guttering storm drain than hammering gavel. Nor does the 5.0-liter spool up rpm as quickly or rage as hard as the 5.2-liter. But it’s got volume.

The exhaust plumbing comprises dual 5.2-inch stainless-steel catalysts with resonators, exhaust mode valves, dual mufflers and dual-quad stainless exhaust outlets the size of softballs.

When all 420 lb-ft are on the pipe (4,600 rpm) and the thrust and noise, induction roar and blaring exhaust are all being pulled by the same silver string tied to your right toe—bbbwwaahhhhhhhh!!! Huh-bbbwwaahhhh!!! Oh lordy, it makes a jubilant sound. I saw old men turn and straighten as if to salute me.

Sure, your average Tesla grocery-getter may be quicker, but the Mach 1 will make you a local hero.

Probably.

2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 Premium
TREAD LIGHTLY The cast-aluminum wheels included in the Handling Package create a three-dimensional effect, Ford says. The wheels are 1-inch wider but two pounds lighter than the standard option. Also pictured are the Mach 1’s optional six-piston, 15-inch front brakes.

TREAD LIGHTLY The cast-aluminum wheels included in the Handling Package create a three-dimensional effect, Ford says. The wheels are 1-inch wider but two pounds lighter than the standard option. Also pictured are the Mach 1’s optional six-piston, 15-inch front brakes.

Base price: $55,300

Price, as tested: $64,495

Powertrain: Naturally aspirated 5.0-liter DOHC V8 with four valves per cylinder, port and direct injection, independent cam timing and cross-plane crankshaft; six-speed manual transmission with twin-disc clutch; rear-wheel drive with limited-slip differential.

Power/torque: 480 hp at 7,000 rpm/420 lb-ft at 4,600 rpm

Length/width/height/wheelbase: 188.5/75.4/54.3/107.1 inches

0-60 mph: 4.3 seconds (Car and Driver)

Top speed: 168 mph

Curb weight: 3,868 pounds

EPA fuel economy: 14/22/17 mpg, city/highway/combined

Cargo capacity: 13.5 cubic feet