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A Faster Horse: The Mustang Story.
We touched on the film, A Faster Horse in previous posts , but it’s not until now, we have seen the film in its entirety.
By this point, every Mopar fan has probably switched over to another channel, but bear with us on this one as the film doesn’t just embody Ford and the Mustang, but also the whole American car industry as a whole to a point.
As one point in the film, the Mustang engineers say the whole American car industry really wants all-American car manufacturers to succeed in some way.
The title of the film comes from the infamous quote supposedly said by Henry Ford, ‘If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.’ There’s always arguments if Henry Ford actually said this or not, but this is not really the point here.
The film centres around the redesign of the 2015 Mustang for its 50th anniversary and around Chief Engineer Dave Pericak and his staff.
It’s pointed out from the start, not just glimpses into the Mustang history and where it came from, but the very delicate and precise route the car must follow from its initial design to the showroom floor. One wrong decision can cost dearly.
The film regularly juxtaposes from the present to the old, like shots of the old and the new production lines, the new model and the old.
Reading one critic’s review of the film, saying that there was no ‘drama’ and it was full of mostly doughy, middle-aged engineers, misses the point.
Getting the Mustang precisely right for 2015, wasn’t just throwing out another product, but the weight of expectation from the public, the company and the general self expectation of furthering a classic.
The individuals focused on in the film, have to be levelheaded, logical and stoic to be successful in this area. High drama and high emotions are not the traits wanted at this level, so you are seeing the barebones, methodical, decision-making that is made at this level. It’s the process and that’s what is the most interesting.
More than anything though, the film highlights how much the car means to everybody involved.
It’s almost like the release of the 2015 Mustang is just the icing on the cake. The emotion and passion that is put in every day for years by company workers and the public who devote themselves to these cars makes the Mustang extra special, just like the dedicated following with other models of car, no matter who makes them.
I’m not a great Ford or Mustang fan, but the film gets quite emotional by the end as you can clearly see the passion and dedication put in by everybody, so when you see a group of people who give their all to an endeavor, it has to be commended.
If you’re a car guy or girl, no matter if you’re Mustang fan or not, this is well worth a watch.
Currently available on Netflix or Amazon.
Movie homepage – http://fasterhorsefilm.com/
For all muscle car parts – http://fastmusclecar.com/muscle-car-parts/
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