IS THE MONOCEROS HYBRID MUSTANG THE CAR FORD SHOULD HAVE BUILT?

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Truth With Speedzzter has long advocated the concept of a high performance electric hybrid Ford Mustang.

However, instead of developing an such a game-changing halo car, Ford Motor Company has wasted Mustang’s period of exclusivity, mostly killed the SVT brand, and focused on expensive ripoffs in concert with Shelby, such as the wimpy Shelby GT and the Shelby GT500KR.

Now an aftermarket tuner may have taken up the challenge of building the high performance Mustang of the future.

Roush?** Nope.

Saleen? Nada.

SMS Supercars (Steve Saleen's new outfit)? Sorry.

Shelby? Surely you must be joking.

How about Palm Harbor, Florida's Edward Monfort.

Who?

Edward Monfort is known in the insular, high tech world of electric cars. He made a little ripple in the EV world in 2007 at EVS23 with the announcement of an all-electric Mustang Ronaele 300e. The 300e was an electrified version of the gasoline-powered Ronaele tuner Mustang – a late model interpretation of the Foose-ified “Eleanor” from the remake of “Gone in 60 Seconds” (tm)

(Which apparently bred a little litigation between Denise Halicki and Monfort. By the way, “Eleanor”, "Ronaele" (which reads "Eleanor" in a mirror) “Gone in 60 Seconds” and the other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective holders (who are not affiliated in any with “Truth With Speedzzter”) and are used here under the fair use provision of U.S. Copyright law. In other words, Carroll, Bill, Denise, Edward – DON’T SUE US!).

The vaporware specs of the Ronaele 300e were impressive: 150 m.p.h. top speed (limited by gearing, with a claimed 200 possible); 100-200 mile range, depending on battery configuration. And the future promise of an ever hotter 600e with 2,000 lbs/ft of torque.

The catch was, of course, price. Monfort’s “Reddy Kilowatt” (tm) racer costs a staggering $80,000+ over the price of a normal pony car.

No word on how many “Electro-stang” buyers have signed up.

Now, it seems that Monfort is up to something that is a bit more affordable.

A back-of-the-book advertisement in the somewhat obscure >“Mustang Enthusiast” magazine proclaims “The Future Really Is Here.” Picturing a bee-colored Ronaele Mustang (purportedly starring in 2009's “The Fast and the Furious 4") and festooned with the obligatory tuner “babe” (albeit not in the de rigeur swimsuit pose that some sexist tuner companies seem to believe helps sell product), the ad claims that “THIS MONOCEROS HYBRID MUSTANG CAR OF THE FUTURE will get unheard of gas mileage, have more horsepower than a GT 500 – and will be as green and cool as they come.”

It further claims that a “single part” will turn “an existing 2005 and up Mustang . . . into a gas saving supercharged Hybrid.”

Of course the ad doesn’t identify what that “single part” is.

But it claims that for a mere $39,000 (including the car), you’ll get over “500 total horsepower” a full factory warranty (on some models), 45 m.p.g. on a 250 mile trip and 100 m.p.g. as a commuter car. An optional “race mode” will yield 0-60 times in less four seconds (no price given for that option).

Other than that, the ad and website are sparse with the specs.

--Is it a V8 or a V6?

--How is that “single part” (presumably a computer-controlled electric motor-generator), fitted into the drivetrain?

--Is there any high-voltage electric energy storage?

--Is there any regenerative braking?

--What are the control integration strategies?

--How much does the modified vehicle weigh?

--What does it run in the standing-start quarter mile?

--How many gs will it pull on the skidpad?

The website mysteriously claims that the secret part is “an add on unlike anything we have ever seen in the auto industry.” In other words, stay tuned.

Not much for all of those “Willie Wiredhands” (tm) in EV land to mull over yet.

Yet if Monfort and Monoceros pull this off, perhaps they have built the hybrid Mustang that Ford should have built.

WILL FORD MOTOR COMPANY BE THE LAST OF THE DETROIT THREE STANDING

Autoextremist blogger Peter M. DeLorenzo pans in RANT # 468 the apparently fading prospect of a GM-Chrysler merger and raises the possibility that Cerberus will shuck Chrysler to Carlos Ghosn at Nissan/Renault.

He concludes that this means the end Chrysler as anything other than a shell of its former self.

“Chrysler will be the first to go, and GM – as unthinkable as that might be - is teetering on the brink of oblivion.”

“And Ford? Well Ford just may be the last American car company standing when this is all done playing out”

A GM-Chrysler merger always raised eyebrows among the automotive and business press for obvious reasons. Too many dealers, too many brands, too many workers, too much product overlap, and not enough money or time to work it all out.

As some writers have pointed out, the history of mechanized automobility is littered with failed mergers: e.g. Auburn-Cord-Dusenburg, Packard-Studebaker, Hudson-Nash (a/k/a American Motors . . . although it did take about three decades for that one to totally flop) and, of course, DaimlerChrysler.

It should be recalled that GM is a conglomerate built on mergers.

That was part of GM's strength. Back in the days of divisional autonomy, GM’s market hegemony was unassailable. But GM jettisoned brand uniqueness, turned to corner-cutting “badge engineering” and vapid marketing schemes, and, thus, lost the essence of what made its individual brands strong. Of course Washington D.C.’s three decade regulatory jihad and blind-eyed fumbling on the Japanese invasion of the U.S. auto market didn’t help.

DeLorenzo’s comments are hardly just more “smog on the information superhighway” (as former SVT in-house propagandist John M. Clor asserts that all automobile blogs are). Instead, DeLorenzo may be right.

But the real question is, will the Ford that survives (if it does) still build anything that anyone but appliance motorists care about?

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.

** Thankfully, Roush Racing has signed a contract extension with Ford Motor Company, so perhaps the last of the Detroit 3 will also be the last of the Detroit 3 still racing.