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Bullitt Edition Mustang Specs Released

By Turbonius J. Monkey | November 7, 2007

I suppose this new Mustang is largely a styling exercise, but I like it, I like it a lot in fact. I’d write it off to being old, my distaste for customizing and aftermarket doodads, but I’ve always had a thing for the vehicles that didn’t have to scream “I’m Mother Effin FAST!!!” in your face. Hence I’ve almost always preferred a car with a clean and understated look. The soon to be available Bullitt Edition Mustang from Ford appeals to me on that nature. In a world full of horrendously winged and decaled and fart can mufflered WRXs, Civics and Scions it really is nice to lean back and enjoy a car that looks great without looking like it’s trying at all.

(more plus pictures after the jump)

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The name Bullitt comes from the the Steve McQueen movie of the same name. This movie gained fame for the legendary car chase in which McQueen himself drove a rather plain looking green Mustang fastback. With Ford’s Bullitt edition we have a car that harkens back to the era of the film with its lack of identifying badging. According to the Ford press release the common practice in filmmaking was to remove manufacturer badges. No blue oval Ford badge, no pony in the grill. The perhaps unintended effect was a car which was both purposeful in appearance and at the same time stealthy. The original movie car was Highland Green, today’s Bullitt sports Dark Highland Green which is exclusive, having only appeared on the the 2001 Bullitt edition Mustang but you can get one in black if you really want.

So logos have been kept to a minimum. Typically this would be marketing suicide but the Mustang is one of those instantly recognizable icons. Not retro in the truest sense of the term but rather genuine. If you could transport this car to 1970 nearly anyone seeing it would know it immediately it was a Mustang. I’m hard pressed to think of a single model that existed in the 60s other than Porsche’s 911 that would be so readily recognized in its present day form.

OK, so I said it was largely a styling exercise but the ’08 Bullitt promises more than just understated good looks. Motivation comes courtesy of a 4.6 liter V8 now delivering 315 horses and 325 pound-feet of torque. A newly designed cold air intake plays a part in making that power. Suspension as well has been tweaked for an even more sporting nature and a strut tower pace reinforces torsional and lateral rigidity.

Expect a retail price of $31,075 when the Bullitt Edition shows up in January. Your extra money gets you a dash more performance, a dash more handling and a bucketload of cool. Don’t wait around though a production run of 7700 will go pretty quickly when Mustang and McQueen fans start buying these up.