Is This The 2009 Ford Mustang?

With the muscle car wars already beginning to heat up this summer, speculators have been doing there level best at speculating on what direction FoMoCo will be boldly moving towards for the 2009 model year of it's hard-charging pony car.

Some claim it'll look similar to the Giugiaro Mustang from this year's LA show, with others claiming it'll get a shooting brake re-make. All the rumors do seem to suggest at the very least it'll receive a bit of a front face lift to tighten the skin over the sagging Sid Ramnarace and J Mays "retro-futurism" exterior in an attempt make it look more like the PYT it wants to be when compared with the new-to-the-block Camaro and Challenger.

In addition to the collagen implant in front, there are mumblings of a retractable hardtop in the offing. Under the hood, there's rumors the GT version will be tweaked with output going up to...

...the 350-horsepower range -- and maybe more. Well, at least more in the fervent hopes and dreams of Mustang-lovers everywhere. Though no spy shots have yet been snapped of this horse in the wild, Autobytel has an illustration, courtesy of Priddy & Co., of the direction they think it's going to take. – Ray Wert