Ford Mustang loyalists have been salivating  for a full year, ever since execs spilled the tea that the iconic pony would get a facelift that even Joan Rivers would envy. Ford has had to tread carefully, though, in conjuring up its new, fierce design: it dare not ruffle the feathers of longtime Mustang lovers by un-buffing their beloved muscle car. The stallions under the hood of the Mustang, after all, couldn’t be replaced by mere mares! Designers also had to create eye-candy that looked modern and sexy enough to make Chevy Camaro enthusiasts turn their heads in the Mustang’s direction. And the next-gen vehicle had to be more fuel-efficient to boot.

Enter the 2015 Ford Mustang!

Thankfully, Ford didn’t sell out and transform the hefty ride to make it look more Euro. Instead, the company stayed true to the Mustang’s roots. The 5.0 liter V8 pushes plenty of mad power, boasting 420 horsepower and 390 ft-lbs of torque. The V6 Mustang kicks it down just a notch, but the rush that it provides via 300 horsepower and 270 ft-lbs of torque will snap a head back just the same.

But hold your horses!

The 2015 Ford Mustang also comes with an optional, state-of-the-art, 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine. Ford says that the greener offering, which uses a unique intake manifold and turbocharger, will still enable the vehicle to kick up quite a bit of dirt with its 305 horsepower engine and 300 ft-lbs of torque.

For decades, the Ford Mustang has gone wheel-to-wheel with the Chevy Camaro, and to be fair, the Camaro has kicked the Mustang’s tailpipe in annual sales over the last three years. Word on the street is that the Camaro gives good face because its design is sleek and up-to-date. Those same tongues have said that the Mustang, in comparison, was just too retro and didn’t make Gen Y’ers stop dead in their tracks. Furthermore, as folks across the globe became greener, demands for fuel efficiency rose to the top of practically everyone’s wish list, and the Mustang fell a smidge short in that department, too.

The number one goal of 2015 Mustang designers was probably to snatch the purses of those potential Camaro buyers — and from the looks of things, that may very well happen.

Leave it to the folks at Ford to develop products that have shaken up the automotive world in a huge way. With its latest and greatest Mustang — a model that celebrates its 50th anniversary next April — Ford continues its tradition of producing a pony that blazes an increasingly hot trail across the globe.

Stay tuned for a complete overview of the all-new Ford Mustang, including details on the 2015 Ford Mustang Convertible!