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2015 Ford Mustang Interior Inspired By Airplane Cockpits?

If you happen to be a pilot and take a seat in the all-new 2015 Ford Mustang, don’t be surprised if you think things look a tad familiar. The inspiration for the pony car’s new interior design was drawn from aircraft cockpits and airplane wings. Ask a Mustang owner how they feel about the interior of their car, and the response will normally be lukewarm. The Mustang has never been known for high quality interior cabins, but this generation looks to change that.

“When we were doing our earlier sketches, we were using the same kind of package on today’s car, which is a much thicker, heavier-feeling instrument panel,” says Doyle Letson, 2015 Ford Mustang interior design chief. “Then we had an ‘aha!’ moment when we came up with the idea to encapsulate the airbag module inside the glove box.”

This is where the design really began to take shape, and the idea gave designers an extra four inches of room to work with when looking at the dashboard and instrument cluster. The 2015 Ford Mustang aircraft theme really took off from there (yes, pun intended).

“Encapsulating it in the door changed the proportions of the [instrument panel]. We started building some rough data around those hard points and got the feeling of this wing. We started looking at an airfoil shape,” he says. The dashboard is, in result, features “twin brows” evoking the look of airplane wings.

The theme carries over to the gauges and switches in the 2015 Ford Mustang, where the words “Ground Speed” curve with the shape of the speedometer. Very cool. Four platted toggle switches only may be flipped upwards at the bottom of the dash, exactly the same as in an aircraft. Design studios around the world began to contribute to the aura of the interior cabin, rightfully so since this is the first totally global 2015 Ford Mustang.

On the opposite side of the cockpit infused design, proponents of a “premium” look came about. It became a parallel design to the cockpit layout, while at the same time adding refinement. When push came to shove, Letson dismissed it saying, ultimately, the premium look “didn’t have that extra edge we were looking for.” And rightfully so, as the 2015 Ford Mustang isn’t exactly a BMW 4 Series. At least from the inside.

The look of the interior is a crucial part of any car, let alone a world class sports car. With this cockpit-designed layout, the 2015 Ford Mustang seems ready to take on the world’s best, and looks great doing so. Finally, it seems owners will have good looking elements to take in other than the exterior of the iconic pony car.

Sean is a staff writer for GM Authority and Motrolix. When's he's not busy taking in local automotive culture, he's probably detailing his car.

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