2005-2009 “S197” Ford Mustangs: Compelling Pony Car Bargain
The 2005–2009 model years of the fifth-gen “S197” Ford Mustang is a “retro-styled” car that is now becoming vintage in its own right. It’s a Mustang that looks like an actual Mustang—and it goes like hell in almost every iteration. Even in today’s white hot market, fifth-generation Mustangs are the place where savvy Mustang buyers should be looking.
The concept car previewing the S197 debuted in Detroit at the 2003 North American International Auto Show, and was in most respects a production car.
It was probably the most successful piece of automotive retro-futurism attempted up to that point. Designer Sid Ramnarace—working under the supervision of J Mays—succeeded where others had failed, capturing the essence of an iconic car without veering into caricature. Praise was almost universal. Car and Driver editor John Phillips joked that for model year 2005, Mr. Ed had turned into Secretariat. You could quibble about the quality and finish of some of the interior materials and the retained live rear axle, but it worked just fine; composure was so contemporaneously impressive, the aforementioned C&D first drive concluded that “the GT exhibits a blend of compliance and response worthy of a BMW. Nice job guys.”
While there’s nothing particularly hateful about the base V6 cars—and in fact they make more power than many of the Fox-body-era GTs—you don’t need me to tell you that it’s the V8 that you want. The 4.6-liter three-valve, SOHC modular V-8 in the standard GT cranks out 300 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque, significantly brawnier than even the hottest non-Saleen Fox-body variant, the SVT Cobra R from 1993.
Like all used cars, values for the 2005–2009 “S197” Mustangs are up, but a quick look at ads for Mustang GTs wearing under 100,000 miles reveal prices in the low-to-mid teens. In comparison, nice Fox-body cars seem to start exclusively in the high teens, and climb quickly into the twenties for cars with better equipment and lower mileage. Manual S197s bring a premium, as do the California Special and the Bullitt versions, but not huge ones.
The fifth-gen Ford Mustang might just be remembered as the last right-sized, analog Mustang—a worthy successor to the original from 1964.
(photo credit: Ford)
