Earlier this year, Ford announced it was bringing back the Mach 1 name.
“Hurray”, thought all classic muscle car fans, as they collectively imagined a really nice, tweaked, V8 Mustang. Then Ford put the knife in; it wasn’t going to be a Mustang. Nor was it going to be a V8. Or even have an engine at all. In fact, it was going to be a performance battery-electric SUV.
Well, get ready for that knife to be twisted around a bit. According to information obtained by Autocar, the Blue Oval is putting the Mach 1 name onto a compact crossover. A front-wheel drive compact crossover, in fact.
Autocar details that the Mach 1 is, in fact, based on the new C2 platform. This is the chassis that underpins C-segment vehicles like the Ford Focus.
Ford recently announced that it will phase out passenger cars in the North American market, in favor of crossovers and SUVs. It’s only keeping two models: the Mustang and, curiously, the Focus Active (above).
As the only remaining car available to FoMoCo based on the C2 platform — the existing Kuga/Escape CUV uses the older C1 platform — it seems likely that the Mach 1 will be a derivative of the Focus Active. As a result, it’ll also probably be front-wheel drive.
It’s likely that the car, available late next year, will actually be rather good. The Focus itself is one of the leading contenders in that sector worldwide, and battery-electric vehicles are proving to have amazing performance potential. With ranges now exceeding petrol-engine cars and fast chargers springing up everywhere, electric is coming into its own.
We just can’t imagine that Ford could have picked a more different vehicle to apply the “Mach 1” name to. Perhaps it’s Opposite Day in Dearborn…
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