There’s a new variant of the S650-generation Ford Mustang called the GT/CS, with CS standing for California Special. This two-thousand dollar package adds a bunch of ugly blue shit to an otherwise pretty Mustang, including grille ducts, wheels, blue badges, blue leather and stitching inside, and a side stripe package. Ford revived the GT/CS as a trim package in 2007, and has been consistently offering it on new Mustangs since. Some have looked pretty okay, but this one is a real swing and miss scenario.
When Ford first launched the California Special in 1968, it was exclusively available from dealers within the state, created by the Ford Dealers Association of California. With a few Shelby trim pieces and a GT/CS specific stripe package, the car looked custom and interesting. Production was only available for about half a year, and just shy of 5,000 examples were built. It’s a neat piece of Mustang history.
This blue trim package can be added to any Mustang GT, whether coupe or convertible, automatic or manual. It can be ordered from any dealer in the world, so it isn’t limited to California.
The Mustang GT California Special will make its public appearance at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 16, but you can already build your specification and place an order for the car on the Ford website.
I can’t help but feel that Ford could have done something meaningful with its GT/CS brand. The California Special was originally developed in 1968 to appeal to California custom culture buyers, a truly west-coast sect of car buyers that didn’t exist anywhere else. Ford had an opportunity to unveil a limited run of California-only Mustang plug-in hybrids or battery electric sports cars here, maybe matching the original 5,000 unit GT/CS production run.
Ford says the entire Mustang lineup will be electric within five years, and even spent significant time and money developing a hybrid Mustang for 2024 (that has since been scrapped). This could have been a great way to get people accustomed to the idea of a Mustang with a plug. I might have even taken a flight to California just to overpay for one.