[Dottore]

So I spent yesterday driving a friends brand new 5.0 liter Mustang on country roads. It struck me again (I almost bought one last year) what a very fine basic car this is, but how tragically marred it is by the cheap, cheap interior and the clumsy styling. (The solid rear axle is also bizarre—but I honestly didn't notice it while driving hard.)

If Ford spent just a tiny bit more money on upgrading the interior—and I mean everything in the interior (from instruments to switch-gear to plastics)—and then smoothed out the front and back ends a bit and made it a little bit more elegant—Jesus that would be a sweet car for the money! I honestly think if they did this, Ford could have another run on these cars like they did in the 1960's.

I'm currently driving a new Merc C class, and the difference in fit and finish of the interior just slays me. Stepping from the Merc into the Mustang is like stepping into a whole other cheaper and nastier era of manufacturing. The touch and feel of the thing is just bleeding awful. There's just nothing there to fall in love with.

I don't understand why Ford—which seems to be a reasonably switched on company these days—doesn't get this.

Any thoughts?