Ford has opened the taps wide open on their promotion of the new 2015 Mustang, much like they did fifty years ago when they embarked on a marketing campaign that reached heights never heard of at the time. The 2015 Ford Mustang won't even be available to us mere mortals until fall, but they are pouncing on marketing initiatives that will expand their reach to markets both traditional and not so traditional. The company's iconic muscle car is simply everywhere. Last week the new Ford Mustang made a splash at the New York International Auto Show, where the world's eyes were focused on the 50th anniversary edition, rendering rivals nearly invisible. Ford recreated it's 1965 stunt, where they somehow managed to display the Mustang from great heights- the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building.

The Mustang's wild success and popularity fifty years ago was almost unbelievable. Certainly, it was enough to create a great deal of envy among Ford's rivals. This of course spurred them to try and match the Mustang's success, each of course failing to do so. Other companies tried to develop their own version of the pony car, and within three years there were several competitors to the Mustang, but no other even came close to matching the Mustang's sales in the 1960s. The Mustang had a formula, one that was pretty straightforward. It came in three body styles- a coupe, a convertible and a fastback. It had a variety of engine choices and a low starting price. It also came with a wide list of options that allowed buyers to personalize their Mustang. Fifty years later one would think that it shouldn't have been too hard to replicate the formula, but it seems that manufacturers back then just couldn't make it work. Chrysler actually hit the market two weeks earlier than Ford with it's compact Barracuda. As the Mustang was derived from the Falcon, the Barracuda shared DNA with the Plymouth Valiant economy car.

While the 2015 Ford Mustang has not yet arrived at dealerships, information about the convertible model has begun to appear. First of all, if you were hoping for a hard top convertible, forget about it! The 2015 Ford Mustang Convertible has a fabric roof and it comes in one colour, black. The three-ply roof has a softer appearance through the addition of a fourth and reinforcing foam insulation between the reinforcement and the top layer. The opening mechanism, developed in collaboration with Webasto, is now fully electric. It is quieter, more compact, and simpler than the electric-hydraulic mechanism it replaces. In addition, it is twice as fast, taking between 7 and 10 seconds to open, and 9 to 12 seconds to close. Unfortunately, it only works when the car is moving slower than 5 km/h. This means you'll need to pull over to the side of the road to close it in the event of a sudden downpour.

Yes, believe it or not the 2015 Ford Mustang is already available... if you play the video game Need For Speed Rivals. Ford worked closely with Electronic Arts (EA) to provide all of the technical details of the new car. All this took place several months before the Mustang was unveiled to fans around the world, under tight secrecy.