Most car designers typically look to animals or fighter jets for inspiration when they’re working on a new model. But Ford’s main influence for the 2018 Mustang came from a galaxy far, far away.
For the 2018 model year, Ford gave the Mustang a face-lift, with the most noticeable change coming in the form of a more angular front fascia. The Blue Oval’s design team made these tweaks to make the pony car look more menacing, so it took inspiration from none other than Darth Vader, according to Autoblog.
Ford design manager Melvin Betancourt recently told Autoblog that design elements from Emperor Palpatine’s errand boy’s helmet clearly are visible in the Mustang’s updated front end.
“When we were designing the new 2018 Mustang, the team wanted to make the new model look more aggressive, and one place where we found inspiration was one of the most famous screenplay villains of all time,” Betancourt told Autoblog. “The angled nostrils and contours of Darth Vader’s mask became the inspiration for the Mustang’s new fog lamp scoops and front-end shape.”
While most people prefer sports cars to have flowing lines that are considered traditionally beautiful, we frankly love ones that have sharp lines. That said, we’re concerned the influence of the dark side is the last thing the Mustang needs.
Videos of Ford Mustang owners nearly taking out crowds of people at Cars and Coffee events are too numerous to count. So, we’re afraid the new Vader-inspired ‘Stangs will be less inclined to avoid bystanders.
All photos via Ford
