Ford is apparently giving serious though to offering a four-door version of the Mustang and it’s not a bad idea. It is certainly a better idea than turning the Mustang into another device.
The Mustang sedan – if it gets built – is to be called Mach 4, which is a much better name than Mach e, the name for the device that carries the “Mustang” name. According to a Feb. 24 trademark filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the designation Mach 4 is for “Motor vehicles, namely gasoline and electric automobiles, pick-up trucks, sport utility vehicles and their structural parts.”
But why is this a good idea?
Well, for openers, it might be the only way to prevent what just happened to the Chevy Camaro from happening to the Mustang. That being cancellation.
The Mustang two-door is like the Camaro was in that both of these cars might as well have been designed as two-seaters because their rear seats are for the most part vestigial affectations. They are not usable for seating people except in an emergency and then extremely uncomfortably. The current (2025) Mustang has just 29 inches of rear seat legroom and only 34 inches of rearseat headroom. To convey just how little that is – of both – a current compact-sized sedan such as the 2025 Honda Civic has 37.4 inches of backseat legroom and 37.1 inches of backseat headrooom.
Plus the extra pair of doors.
As anyone who has ever tried it – as I have – knows, getting into or out of the backseat of a Mustang (or a Camaro, RIP) is likely to at least temporarily sterilize a man who makes the attempt. And even for kids, it’s a hassle – because in order for them to get in – or out – the driver or front seat passenger must get out first.
Of course, this has always been true as regards Mustang and Camaro (and the Camaro’s fraternal cousin, the Pontiac Firebird, which got cancelled 23 years ago back in 2002). But what’s no longer true is that the Mustang is affordable. It – and Camaro/Firebird – once were. As a case in point, I will refer to my own Firebird, which is actually a Trans-Am. The top-of-the-line iteration of the Firebird and for that reason the most expensive iteration of this Pontiac iteration of the Camaro. When it was new – back in 1976 – you could have bought my car for $5,400. That comes to just over $30,000 in today’s Weimarian dollars.
How much does a new (2025) base trim Mustang list for? How’s $31,920 grab you?
In other words, it cost about $2k more today to buy a base trim Mustang than it cost back in ’76 to buy a top-of-the-line Trans Am. And – here comes the really relevant comparison – you could buy a new Firebird (the base trim) for about $3,900. That comes to about $22,000 in today’s Weimarian dollars.
A new base trim Mustang is thus $10,000 more expensive to buy than a base-trim Firebird was back in ’76 and that’s not counting the add-on cost of taxes and insurance, both of which are also higher in real-terms cost than they were back then. Also, a Firebird – being a Pontiac – cost more than a Camaro, which was a Chevy and so lower down GM’s hierarchy.
The point being that – once upon a time – working and middle class people could afford to indulge themselves and buy an impractical car like a Camaro or a Firebird or a Mustang because they could afford to have a practical car in addition.
Today, many working and middle class people can only afford the practical car. This is why the crossover has become the car of choice – if you want to use that word – for so many working and middle class Americans, whose choices have been winnowed down to just a few because that’s all they can afford. This diminishment has occurred because of several synergistic factors, including the cost-adding effect of government mandates (such as those pertaining to “gas mileage” and “emissions” and “safety”) as well as the cost-inflating effect of so many buyers being comfortable with debt.
Why not spend – that is, finance – $32k to drive a new base trim Mustang that comes standard with more features and amenities than used to be available in a Mustang GT when the monthly payment (for the next six years) is manageable?
But it no longer is. Because the cost of everything else – groceries, for instance – is becoming unmanageable. And that is why a four-door Mustang is not a bad idea. The extra pair of doors – and the extra room for passengers – would make the Mustang Mach 4 a practical Mustang. Far more so, by the way, than the Mach e device – because a four-door Mach 4 would not be tethered to a cord and also could probably be sold for much less than the $36,495 base price of the device. Because adding an extra pair of doors is chiefly just a matter of sheetmetal alterations.
Which ought not to be too expensive.
And could be worth every cent – if it keeps the Mustang two-door from being cancelled.
Or turned into a device.
It could also give Ford – give us – what has been lost to the demented bum’s rush to “electrify” everything. That being a V8-powered, rear-drive sedan like the Dodge Charger was before it got turned into a device.
. . .
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here. We also accept crypto (see below).
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $20 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
If you like items like the Baaaaaa! baseball cap pictured below, you can find that and more at the EPautos store!
The bitcoin code is: 3GAfymoqSUbaFvY8ztpSoDKJWCPLrkzAmi if you’re unable to scan the QR code above!
I’m still pissed about the rebirth of the Charger as a four door! They took the legacy of one of the most aesthetically pleasing vehicles ever designed, in my opinion, and turned it into… that.
Unforgivable!
But hey, they sold a billion of em, so what do I know.
And they should have been made with suicide doors like the old Lincoln continental.
Maybe the mustang will do that???
It’d sell like hotcakes if the price was similar to the coupe.
I have always wondered why Chevy didn’t make a 4 door Camaro .
My fav vehicles are sedans. I would love to see a 4-door Mustang, but not look like the current Mach-e. Not sure what your are implying Eric.
I always thought the Dodge triplets were going to be the last man standing, and maintain or increase sales volume because of it, with a car that was affordable all while FCA/Stellantis printed money on them (no big changes in a long run).
But of course the socialists Stellantis killed them to their peril.
There’s not many sedans left. The Europeans still make them. Cadillac’s CT’s are awesome (own one). The Mazda 3 is a great sedan, but hard to get. My daughter was considering the 3 turbo version but they don’t exist anywhere.
Sportbacks are the trend to make sedans more appealing, and IMO the audi 5’s and 7’s are the benchmark. The Panamara is pretty cool too. Did I hear Porche is planning on making cars in the USA?
I would like to see a Mustang based on the Porsche Panamara. Kind of like a knockoff. At a price point of about $40,000 they would sell the pants off the Porsche. Ford already has the engines. I kind of like’n my 2001 Cobra SVT as a front engine 911. A poor man’s Porsche. The Panamara starts at $102,000. At that price one can buy a house in some neighborhoods. Maybe if Ford gets rid of their DEI programs they’ll be able to sell a”FORD”able cars. One could only wish that they WTF up!
The automakers must know something on the front of deregulation, or at least are starting their push back blindly.
Sadly it’s in a state of disrepair and neglect, but I could fit quite comfortably in the back of my 91′ Camaro Z28 Convertible. The square dimensions are not that great, but your ass sits down in a bucket and your knees bend more to compensate for the small legroom. Like sitting in an upholstered 5gal bucket.
This would be a good way of keeping their factories open… crap where is it made? At least it’s also keeping the aftermarket thriving by not axing it.
I always like vehicles that do a bit of stretching to be an every man’s car.
Hi Steve,
I see a big opportunity for Ford. Not only could a four-door Mustang (sold alongside the two door) fill the gap left by the Charger, it could be an alternative to the Porsche Panamera and Benz CLS, too.
Eric, you got that right. Ford should hire you as an advisor.
Hi Eric,
Thanks for the sticker and coaster!!
I couldn’t believe what I was reading (MACSW newsletter) when it said this, but I googled “headlight bulb crank no start” and geeessus.
https://online.fliphtml5.com/xtutu/nebo/#p=12
(couldn’t find an appropriate article to leave this on). That’s worse than changing the battery and needing a tow. We want the old stuff! But I recon a 4 door Mustang that’s new will sell to the rich family man who gives the car to the wife and kids, but still takes it out for a drive. Enough saaffety systems will come with it for them, but it’ll be a flop if the traction control doesn’t turn all the way off. I wonder if it’ll have a pull-up style parking brake.
You bet, Steve – and apologies for the time it took to get them to you. Also – what the Hell are you doing up this early? I thought I was the only weirdo up at this hour!
I would probably be interested in a four door Mustang. Wish they would use a different name than Mustang, but it is what people now a days know.
But it will likely be 25-30k too expensive, the V8 hard to get or not available at all. Insurance way too expensive to boot. Sigh……
What next……a six door F150?
Well, probably, Xsnake. With a 2′ bed and 6′ side walls.
A police package 5.0 version would probably double sales
Sigh, still out of touch with the marketplace.
Ford has toyed with the idea of a four door mustang since the 1960s. Through much of the Mustang’s run there has been a car on the same platform with four doors. Falcon, Maverick, Fairmont, etc.
If there is a four door Mustang, hopefully it will be set up like the Maverick/Comet was. Two different wheel bases. A single wheel base will probably have the two door traditional version looking funny.
The one person comfy in the back of a stang would be keiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvv dwarf.
A four-door “Moose-Tang”, IF it’s gasoline-engine-powered, and starts with that 2.5 liter turbocharged four-banger, then moves up to a V6 (V8 is useless for what’s essentially a snazzier “Tortoise” (Taurus)), that’d be fine. Just don’t NAME it “Mustang”. Take the name “Maverick” from that ill-conceived “device” and apply it to the latest Ford that shares a platform with the Mustang, as did the Maverick, like its predecessor, the Falcon (and Falcon Futura) from 1964½ to 1973, when the ‘Stang went over to the Pinto platform. That much-maligned version STILL could have been something, as the 70-73 ‘Stangs were rather excessive (some favor them over other versions, to each his own, I guess) in size and weight, IF it’d had an actual “performance” engine. Even a then 165 (Net) horsepower 302 four-barrel would at least have moved the Mustang II at a decent clip. Instead, it took until when, 1976, to even get a V8, and even then, it was the anemic version with the TWO BARREL that put out a whopping 135 ponies? A “pony car” should have LOTS of Ponies!
Remember when a Thunderbird was a two door, popular sporty car ??….and then they made it into a big bloated turd….One would have thought they would have learned from that…
The square bird sold very well. That’s what Ford learned.
The executives could not care less about the demise of the sporty version when the new bigger car made so much money.
There are plenty of 1965 Ford Mustangs out there at classic car sales, the price range is 33,000 to 65,000 USD fully restored.
If I win the lotto, I’ll buy 20 of them.
I could raffle off 19 of those classics and donate the proceeds charity where 99 percent of the funds would be siphoned into a private bank account somewhere in the ether.
Just buy a car lot and sell them there, be gone in no time. Rinse and repeat, or have a website and the classic Mustangs in safe storage. A no-brainer there, only if I win the lotto for 279,000,000 dollars.
Mustang Sally would want a 1965 Mustang.
I hate the 4 door charger and will hate a 4 door mustang. It will be every bit as stupid and ugly as the 4 door Porsche.
Why do you keep calling things, “Devices”? In this instance it is called A CAR, you idiots.
No, moron, the automotive INDUSTRY refers to all electric vehicles as ‘devices.’ Author is just following the rules they created.
“An electric device is any device or equipment that operates using electricity as its source of power or energy. It is designed to perform specific functions or tasks by utilizing electrical energy.”
It appears all that “straw spinning” has led to a dizzying effect.
Your device is probably a hamster.
With a tiny codpiece.
Hi Rumple,
I distinguish between a device – battery powered – and vehicles, which have engines.
A Mustang 4 door is a good idea. Much like the Porsche Panamera was a good idea. The Mustang would be an inexpensive competitor to the Porsche. It could be build much like the Porsche with a rear hatch.
If I was in the market I definitely would look into this but I already own a Mustang. I bought my 2001 Mustang Cobra SVT convertible used for about $14,900 back about 15 years ago when it had about 26,000 miles. It currently has 35,000 miles as I use it only for entertainment purposes. My slightly modified Cobra SVT has JLT cold air, Magnaflow exhaust, Eibach lowering springs and Maximum Motorsports camber caster adjusters, Terminator wheels etc.I don’t think I’ll be trading it in for a new Mustang anytime soon. However If I had Jay Leno’s money and his garage space I would do it.
Getting in and out of a convertible is easier as one could just jump in and out.
Yes, a better Mustang might have a 3L 6cyl engine 4 doors, adult usable AND/OR easily removable or foldable rear seats that leave a flat cargo bearing surface between front seatbacks and rear HATCHBACK.
Alas, this is far too universally practical and affordable to be considered in clown world.
Nothing kills snob sense quikrn a hatchback. Just too damn usable.
Ford developed the Lincoln LS as a “four door Mustang”, but the company changed its mind about sharing that platform between the two models in the mid 00s and sold the design off with Jaguar.
“Unfortunately, it was short lived”
Fortunately it was short lived.
Fixed it for you!
Misplaced comment in response to the 85’ Mustang LX LTD POS
Only old people and cab companies enjoy four door cars.
LOL
Cops. The Explorer as police car is not practical in many city areas, and the maintenance has proven to be expensive.
Sure, why not. Ford already baxterdized the name Mustang when they made the ugly and stupid EV version.
Cancel it. Better to have the memories of what once was rather than to have a 4 door Mustang.
The Porsche Panamera is just a 4 door 911 by another name. It literally looks like a turd. I don’t care how fast it is or how well it steers and handles. It is a desecration of the Porsche brand even more so than the Macan and Cayenne.
I used to be a huge Porsche fan. Now I don’t care if Porsche lives or dies after they backed away from making sports cars to making SUV’s. Don’t even get me started on the Taycan and what a failure that is.
Better to die with your boots on than to live like a slave.
I disagree as I actually like the Panamera. If I could I would own a air cooled 911 for my sports car and the 4 door Panamera as the practical all around car. The 911 air cooled would be non turbo and be in the last years of that type. The insurance would be insane.
I’ve always heard that Coprophilia was a thing.
Never heard of that and had to look it up. If that’s what some people like then that’s okay with me because this is actually a Libertarian site.
May your ling cod dwell in cleft places
That’s what she said out there in Seattle.
It’s PNW humor.
What you did hear and more in those drinking establishments on nights out.
As someone who owned two Mustangs (a 2000 and a 2013) I have grave doubts about the Mustang becoming a four door sedan. Perhaps it might work like the last generation Challenger/Charger at Dodge, perhaps not. IF the internal combustion engine powered New Gen Charger comes to pass we can see if two doors and four doors off the same platform still sell.
Speaking of CUVs we just bought our first one yesterday: A brand new Hyundai Tucson. It replaces our 2019 Hyundai Sonata which got totaled by a hit and run driver who rear ended my wife’s car, spun it, and kept on driving.
Per her insistence we get something that “rides high so she can see the road” a sedan was not in the cards alas. I did think the current Sonata is quite the looker, if they’re still around in a couple of years I may be a “responsible adult” and replace the Challenger with one. Luckily the Tucson drives more “car like” and has ample leg room.
Just sitting in the dealership watching the new iron move past the windows outside I saw one Elantra sedan on a test drive versus our CUV and multiple others. Perhaps a 10:1 ratio. Ford is going to fight an uphill battle with a sedan off the Mustang.
No animosity meant toward your wife but I’m so tired of this ““rides high so she can see the road” BS.
There is no correlation between being in a higher riding SUV and reduced accidents as a result of being better able to “see”.
This BS is what has led to the massive market transition to SUVs & CUVs. But in reality this need to “see” is just a natural response to vehicles becoming more claustrophobic as belt lines rise, rear decks rise, and A/B/C pillars thickened due to onerous “safety” regulation.
If this were better ability to “see” true, let’s take it to the logical extreme. Just buy a dump truck. You’re way up there and can “see” over the sea of traffic.
This country has lost its flipping mind!
Dude, I’ve had this “discussion” with my wife for the last year and a half when she first announced, with a dramatic flourish, that she was “Done” with the Sonata and wanted a new car. 🙄
I will give her credit: I told her “YOU want a new car? YOU pay for it out of your bank account.” I told her that since the Sonata was barely five years old. And she did. So it’s her decision and her monthly payment written on her checks.
I’ll say this: were it me, and I was paying every last penny, well there was a sharp looking 2025 Sonata on the floor in black with a full glass “moonroof” that looks pretty darn sharp, almost like a cheaper Lexus or Audi. But getting back to the Ford Mustang and a future sedan, the Sonata suffers the “Incredible disappearing trunk” that other sedans, and a future Mustang sedan, suffer from. The Sonata is nice and comfortable (I sat in it) but where do I stash all the stuff we’d take on a vacation?
(My wife stuffs our vehicles like the Joads leaving Oklahoma in “The Grapes of Wrath” when we travel)
So with the rear seats down we’ll see how much luggage the Tucson swallows.
Well, from Sparkey’s guide to marriage:
1) If I need an opinion from you, I’ll provide you with one.
2) Never forget you’re a guest in a mans world (don’t wear out your welcome)
3) An idle women is the devils workshop
In all seriousness, modern cars are too low to enter/exit comfortably. The kids Mazda 6, I have to roll out of it with my hand on the pavement to avoid screwing with my back. The other extreme modern trucks. Our ‘91 Silverado just perfect height. A new one? Rolled up next to me their door handle was about eye level with me sitting in the ‘91, no thanks.
LOL…Sparkey’s Guide to Marriage.
Why do I have the feeling that the Commander does a lot of eye rolling? 😉
Humm, she does complain about eye strain that may explain it!
From the Government guide for citizens.
1) If we need an opinion from you, the media will provide you with one.
2) Never forget you’re a guest in the Goverment’s world (don’t wear out your welcome . . . We will cage you or kill you)
3) An idle citizen is the devils workshop. Particularly the men. Give them sportsball, video games, monster trucks , and Wrestling. Keep them divided, especially against their wives and children.
“Dude, I’ve had this “discussion” with my wife for the last year and a half. . . “
Well you tried. 🙂
The cops need a sedan with a big engine to replace the Charger.
Impeachment killed the Crown Vic reboot six years ago.
‘Pontiac Firebird got cancelled 23 years ago back in 2002.’ — eric
The internet recalls the Firebird’s actual date of death as September 25, 2001.
https://tinyurl.com/2ez4m9nj
A memorial service is planned in Eric’s garage this year. (B.Y.O.B.)
Set the date Eric . I’m in
I dunno man – the rear two seats were enough for what I wanted back when I had this car – getting a couple kids in and out. And they loved it (falling into the bucket seats). The formula for a successful mustang isnt that complicated. Fun, brash, loud, and cheap…. Im afraid they are messing up on the last point, and adding 2 more doors will just make it more expensive.
I miss those big doors on the old sedans. That all ended when the IIHS began testing for side impact in 2001. That giant B pillar became necessary to pass the test.
BTW, they upped the test in 2021:
“Obviously, these results aren’t great, but they’re in line with what we expected when we adopted this more stringent test,” says IIHS Senior Research Engineer Becky Mueller, whose research formed the foundation for the new test protocol.
So when all the cars pass the test, make the test harder. Thing is the main reason for the increase in side impacts was short time yellow lights due to red light camera tickets.
I really find that B pillar on my shoulder uncomfortable on long trips. No way to stretch to the left. And this on a largish vehicle that claims to seat 5 adults comfortably.
Don’t we miss 4-door hardtops, which were distinguished from 4-door sedans by deleting the frames around the front and rear side windows. Here’s a 1961 Impala hardtop, with the windows down to erase the boundary between inside and out.
https://tinyurl.com/mr8wnvcw
This is an architectural trend now for tony houses in north Scottsdale — tall floor-to-ceiling windows that slide aside at the touch of a button, making your Sonoran desert dwelling into an instant open-air ramada.
But you can’t buy a car like that because it ain’t saaaaaaafe.
When we ride around, ride around this old town
In a beat up car, with the windows down
People look at her and they look at me
They say that man’s sure living in luxury … in luxury!
— Solomon Burke, Millionaire
Gorgeous car! You would even be able to see out from the inside.
The best barn find of my life was a 66 Buick Super Wildcat 4dr hardtop. That had some of the absolute cleanest/sexiest lines I ever saw on a 4 door.
The car was in a local shopper paper, advertised as needing an engine. I showed up and as the old couple’s door rolled up the sunlight hit the 1/4 inch of dust on the new white paint and black vinyl top. I fiddled a bit and realized the engine was mechanically fine and it just lacked spark. I told them that, and offered them an absurd, insulting $50, and they took it. A $3 set of points and condenser, and I was off down the street, R12 AC blasting and Buick logo tissue dispenser gleaming under the dash.
‘A dealer-installed dual quad option could be ordered instead of the standard single four-barrel carburetor found on the big [Buick Wildcat] V8.’
One carb barrel for each cylinder. Simple maff! 🙂
Got one O them setups, if you get wood for the quadrajet moan you’ll positively lose it over the sound of 2 AFB’s, on a 425 nail head, winding out past 4000 RPM. Of course, you can also hear the gas gurgling out of the tank, but some things are worth the price.
Bring back the 1974 Dodge Polara, as spec’d by the Mount Prospect, IL PD:
* Cop Motor (440 V8, made prior to catalytic converters, so it runs fine on regular grade gasoline)
* Cop Tires (whatever heavy-duty Michelins, Goodyear, or Firestone. Actually, Cooper, though less known, had the best reputation of all)
* Cop Shocks (as well as the rest of the frame and suspension being up to “snuff”)
Whaddaya say, do we bring back this gas-guzzling BEAST?
Fix the cigarette lighter!
The way local TV stations in Arizona hype such stupid real estate snobbery in such a climatic shithole is insane. Glaringly insane.
I would say it couldn’t sell worse than the Mock-E but, I don’t want to tempt the motor gods.
Ford might want to got the route of Mazda’s RX-8 and put two suicide doors in back and add about 4 inches to the wheelbase and use that for rear legroom. Just a thought.
2+2 designs have ruined ever sports cars they were ever applied to.
They look like crap, they sell like crap. They add weight. They still don’t add enough room for the back seats to be useful.
If you need more space, buy a real sedan (or whatever nowadays) and stop pretending you’re still cool in a 2+2.
The Jaguar XKE was even ruined as a 2+2.
“The problem with Americans is they think a Mustang is a sports car.” – Norm Crosby circa 1966
LOL – fully aligned to that comment!!!
One exception, 911
Real race cars don’t have back seats
REAL race cars only have one seat.
;^)
Ford has previously built a 4 door Mustang…the 1985 LTD LX!
Unfortunately, it was short lived – and that was in a sales environment when sedans were best sellers.
I hope Ford approaches it cautiously, as it is fact that sedans just don’t sell in today’s market. A recent example – from a decade ago – would be the Pontiac G8/Chevrolet SS. (Although the SS wasn’t available in a lower/V6 trim level after Pontiac got axed.)
Perhaps they can fill the void left by the recent departure of the Charger/300.
Best of luck to the Blue Oval crew.
I had an LTD2 for a year. I never realized it was mustang based, but I do know that with the V6 it would easily get over 100mph.
For some reason mine was a deer magnet, and while I’ve mostly avoided tangling with rats on stilts, that car seemed to see one tying on the rising Sun headband and charging into it nearly once a month.
Unibody took that much of a beating from the deer?
I believe, aside from the Panther platform, the rest of the RWD cars of the 80s were Fox body based. LTD/Marquis, Futura, Fairmont, Capri and T-bird/Cougar twins all shared variants of the same platform.
Markets flooded with nearly new Sprinters and their hotrod murcan clones for right around $50k. Lotsa legroom for up to 12 people.
Cmon kids despite your Temporary Delight Syndrome its still 2025 and what was aint comin baack.