It feels special and not a little surreal to finally be seated in a Mustang with the steering wheel on the correct side.
The model’s half-century of unvarying left-hookerism was unquestionably one of the things that made past versions seem alien and pigheadedly American when driven on British roads.
In making the adjustment, the car seems no less idiosyncratic, but its size and forthright sense of style are somehow easier to assimilate when contemplated from the right-hand side.
Affection for this new mid-Atlantic accent is helped along by a working knowledge of the cabin’s non-negotiables.
To be a proper Mustang, the car requires large, round dials, a symmetrical instrument panel and a tall but unimposing double-brow dashboard. These are all present and correct – and supplemented by Ford’s latest Sync3 infotainment system complete with an 8.0in touchscreen display, nine speaker audio system, DAB radio, USB and Bluetooth connectivity and smartphone integration.
The 8.0in colour touchscreen comes as standard with four shortcut zones for phone, media, climate control and — if you’ve ticked the right box — navigation. The absence of navigation as standard is noticeable on a £30,000 car, but Ford has twinned it with an uprated 12-speaker Shaker sound system as a £795 option bundle, so most Mustangs will be delivered with it on board.
