Crank up the Vanilla Ice!
The 2024 Ford Mustang revealed at the Detroit Auto Show is the most modern and technologically advanced version of the venerable muscle car ever built, but it has one very retro feature.
The seventh-generation Mustang is equipped with dual digital displays for the infotainment system and instrument cluster that are powered by the Unreal Engine program and can be configured to suit the driver’s tastes.
They’ll also be able to be upgraded with new graphics and skins, but the cars come preloaded with one throwback design.
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It’s a second instrument cluster design programmed to resemble the dual analog gauges featured in the 1987-1993 third-generation “Fox Body” cars immortalized in Vanilla Ice song “Rollin’ In My 5.0.” Fox was the name of the platform that underpinned the Mustang, which was shared with several models, including the Fairmont, Granada and Mercury Capri.
The screen is more inspired by the original than a carbon copy but includes a red hash mark at the 55 mph mark that was required in the days before the national speed limit was raised.
It can also be set to a night mode that emulates green back lighting, which will bring anyone who owned an original back in time.
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Ford sold over 2.6 million Fox Body Mustangs during its full 1979-1993 run, which was the model’s longest generation.
The 2024 Mustang has something else in common with the Fox Body. Its engine is a 5.0-liter V-8, but with an estimated 500 horsepower, it is more than twice as powerful as its predecessor’s.
Along with the Fox Body skin, Ford told Fox News Digital that additional heritage gauge styles will be uploaded in the future.
