Ford Mustang Mach -E Twister Special shows up in China

The Chinese division of Ford introduced a special edition of Ford Mach-E at the Chengdu Auto Show. Based on the Mach-E GT, the new Twister Special pays homage to a very interesting Mustang Mach 1 from 1969.

Second half of the 1960s was a very interesting time for Mustang owners, the car was at the height of its popularity and Ford’s Special Promotions Division started offering teritorial limited editions. There was a Colorado exclusive High Country and Ski Country Mustang Mach 1, there was a California Special for West Coast and there was a Cardinal Edition for North Carolina among many others.

But one that stood out had a very interesting history. The US of 1960s and 1970s was a different place, flamboyance and excess was the name of the game. Larry LoPatin was a real estate developer who approached Ford and asked for a series of highly customized Mustangs Mach 1 and Convertibles.

LoPatin wanted to use them as pace cars and as promo cars at the Michigan International Speedway and tracks in Texas, Georgia, California and New Jersey. All those tracks had one thing in common - they were managed by American Raceways Incorporated, a company owned by LoPatin.

Deal was reached and over 100 cars were ordered but shortly after production started, Ford officials found out that LoPatin’s company was facing bankruptcy and the order was pulled. Unfortunately 96 Mustangs were already manufactured.

Ford’s Special Promotions Division was quick to turn this around and rather than scrapping the order, it diverted it to the Kansas City District Sales Office. It bumed the order by additional 90 Torino Cobras and few Ford Rancheros and the entire order was branded Twister Special.

The Twister Special edition was first presented at the Kansas City International Raceway on November 7, 1969 during the Total Performance Day. The crowds were so impressed with the cars that quite few were sold on the spot.

All 96 Mustangs were painted in Grabber Orange and got black stripes down the sides, a black stripe on the hood and unique, tornado decal on the rear panel on both sides. 48 of them run the 428 Super Cobra Jet, which was officially rated at 335 hp but actually pumped out much more than that.

The other 48 had to be equipped with the 351 Cleveland simply because the Dearborn plant wasn’t able to make enough 428s on time. The 351 made 300 hp and 522 Nm of torque which was still plenty in those days.

Apart from the paint and the black stripes, all cars had a new front with headlights re-positioned inside the grill and faux air intakes replacing them in the corners. There were new driving lights in the grille as well and the hood came with locking pins. The tail lights were flat and recesseed, the interior came with bucket seats, molded door panels, center console and the Rim Blow three-spoke steering wheel - all in deluxe black.

All 96 cars had a Shaker-scoops, 24 out of each engine were equipped with either the three-speed auto gearbox or the 4-speed manual. Power steering was standard and so were power brakes, Drag Pack suspension and a Traction-Lok differential.

And now, Ford is celebrating history with a Twister Special Ford Mach-E. There will be hard-core fans out there feeling an outrage and disbelief but the times have moved on. The new Twister Special apart from the Grabber Yellow paint and matt black graphics not only lives up to its ancestor but arguably has a way better performance.

The car is based on the Mach-E GT with 480 hp and 813 Nm of torque which is quite a bit more than the original. Acceleration of 3.8 seconds from 0 to 60 mph (96 kph) is on a brisk side of business and the WLTP range is claimed at 500 km, the EPA is less optimistic with 435 km.

Ford is clearly milking the history of the Mustang, the Chinese customers love the original Mustang and will most likely snap up this Twister Special in no time at all. It would be interesting to see Ford actually try to re-trace its footsteps and maybe introduce short-run special editions like it used to in the old days. There is nothing wrong with a little individualism in the mass production world.

For comparison - the original Mustang Mach 1 Twister Edition 428, fully restored, sold at Mecum auction for $214,500. Ford Mustang Mach-E just started selling in China with the entry model costing RMB 265,000 (around $38,400) and the GT version i spaced at RMB 369,900 (about $53,600) which is painfully way less than we have to pay for it in Europe or in the US.

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