2010 Ford Mustang GT

Even during my super-late-night commute home from the office, I couldn't help but notice the extreme improvement in interior materials offered by the '10 Mustang. Still, I think I actually prefer the previous design, which was very horizontal and very retro. The exterior face-lift has taken a similar turn for the modern, but my pangs of nostalgia are absent in this case. After observing the wild blue paint, though, the pain in my retinas was very real. Unfortunately, the bright color also pretty much ensures that you'll have a hard time getting away with any of the shenanigans that the Mustang GT is so adept at. Helping assist those hoonerific temptations is a supercool metallic shift knob that's an improvement--both in feel and appearance--over those in earlier fifth-generation Mustangs. But it still doesn't feel as intoxicatingly tight as the awesome (and sometimes Hurst) shifters in some of the ballsier Mustangs such as the Bullitt, the GT500, and assorted Roush and Saleen derivatives. Overall, this was a very strong face-lift, but based on the early reviews of the 2010 Chevy Camaro, it's unlikely that the refresh will keep Ford ahead of Chevy for very long. Rusty Blackwell, Copy Editor