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The Complete Mustang
Warner Vision/Warner Vision . R4 . COLOR . 50 mins . G . PAL

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When it comes to classic American cars, the Mustang has got to be top of most any list – or at least damned near the summit. Created by Ford in the early ‘60s in what sounds almost Lego-like fashion from the Falcon parts bin, it quickly established itself as an icon, with 100,000 shiny, chrome-laden
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Round and round we go...
examples sold in its first four months of life. The fact that you could order it in about a zillion different forms option-wise no doubt helped its runaway success, however it seems the main reason the Mustang became such a sales winner lay in its tapping a new market – that of an affordable sports car for both the young and second car markets. It also provided great competition for the wholly more ostentatious Corvette. It was the right car at the right time, in fact it was more than a car – it was a lifestyle! (Well, so went the sales pitch…)

Speaking of the ways used to flog the Mustang, one of the beauties of this slice of somewhat vehicular pornography is its inclusion of many of the ‘60s television advertisements for the car. These offer a fascinating insight into how marketing has – and hasn’t - changed over the years for those interested in the subject, and are joined here by much footage of beautifully restored examples of the many and varied models throughout the years, from the original releases to the licensed Shelby Cobra models (with a detour into other cars from the famed racing driver such as the GT40), through to the meatier Boss models and on to the pale imitations of the marque released in the ‘80s.

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Well, the moon and stars are cute...

Presented with a very American voiceover – kind of apt, considering - The Complete Mustang covers the history of the car right through to the late ’80s in a way I daresay most fans would appreciate – with much attention to the classics, and pretty much glossing over those lame-arse later models which were basically Mustangs in name only.

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  Audio
  Extras
Contract

Another ancient VHS handballed onto DVD, anybody expecting great video quality here is delusional. Admittedly the full frame transfer does contain much archival footage from the ‘60s, so the fact it’s around at all – speckles and blobs included - is a good thing. However, the newer footage also suffers, with a general lack of clarity and washed out, sometimes bleeding colour, plus the odd slight case of aliasing here and there.

Audio accompaniment is a decidedly mono Dolby Digital stereo mix, offering nothing in the way of wow or the grunt you’d hope for considering the subject matter on offer. Still, the voiceover is clear, as is – sadly – the same interminably crap version of Wild Thing that featured in similar releases on the Corvette and Harley Davidson motorcycles (I was way too nice to it last time), which would have The Troggs swearing more profusely than on those infamous Troggs Tapes.

Extras junkies have no cause for excitement, with a rather perfunctory biography which offers up little not dealt with in the feature, plus 13 centrefolds – oops, photographs – of various Mustangs from through the years.

While the disc may be nothing flash quality-wise, the content should be of great interest to any aficionado of this classic American four-wheeled grunty thing. Just think; the Mustang is also the only automobile to have gained Tiffany & Co.’s seal of approval. Hmm, I wonder if they make those gorgeous duck-egg blue boxes big enough?


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  •   And I quote...
    "Should be of great interest to any aficionado of this classic American four-wheeled grunty thing…"
    - Amy Flower
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Pioneer DV-535
    • TV:
          Sony 68cm
    • Receiver:
          Onkyo TX-DS494
    • Speakers:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse RBS662
    • Centre Speaker:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECC442
    • Surrounds:
          DB Dynamics Eclipse ECR042
    • Subwoofer:
          DTX Digital 4.8
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard RCA
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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