Ford Mustang owner Joris about the V8 imitation Mach-E: ‘Pretty funny but boy, how fake’

Wráááp! And that’s the end of the peace in the sleepy village where Joris van Stralen brings the V8 of his blue-with-white-stripes Mustang to life. At the end of the sixties there was no such thing as ‘Good neighbor mode’, with which you could lower the exhaust system so as not to completely disrupt the neighborhood. Only the latest Mustangs have such a system, and we are talking about the real Mustang, not the Mach-E that is about to leave our endurance test fleet. Today we are guests of the man who, together with his colleagues from the design department, ensures that your favorite car magazine looks great every week.

Joris is a real Mustang man, and we are curious about what he, as a purist, thinks of our electric endurance tester. A car that bears the same name as his, something that was not received with the same enthusiasm by everyone in 2019, when the Mustang Mach-E was presented. Shameless sacrilege or clever marketing? “Somehow I understand it,” says Joris. “Of course the name Mustang is a bit misused, but they must have thought that they could make an EV a bit tougher in this way. At least that’s how I think it must have gone.”

Grew up with V8

Before we let Joris make the switch from his now somewhat calmed Mustang to the whisper-quiet Mach-E, we are curious where his love for the original Mustang comes from. “When I was a kid, I had a neighbor who warmed up the V8 of his Dodge Ram for ten minutes every morning before he went to work. Some people may have found that very annoying, but I didn’t mind at all. On the contrary! So I actually grew up with the sound of a V8, which must have planted the seed for my love for American cars. My dream car was a ’68 or ’69 Dodge Charger but they are prohibitively expensive. Then I came across this Mustang a village further away and I immediately fell in love. That was in 2011, when I was 18. The Mustang was restored in the US before it came to the Netherlands. American style, so okay but certainly not perfect. At that time it still had steel rims and did not yet have white stripes. The technology is simple and you can easily tinker yourself. Not that that has to happen often, it never really bothers me.” An American with a V6 was never an option for Joris, it had to be a V8. “I never actually have the radio on, I can completely lose myself in that wonderful roar of the V8.”

Joris quite liked Mustang Mach-E at Zandvoort

The undersigned can only nod in agreement when Joris tells his story about his love for the American V8. Like Joris, I have mixed feelings about the increasing electrification of the vehicle fleet. Nothing against EVs, but it doesn’t make the driving experience any more fun. We realize that we cannot get stuck in old habits, but at the same time, as a seasoned petrolhead, it is not easy to keep up with developments in the car world. Let alone embrace it. The undersigned does not mind temporarily exchanging his electric AutoWeek Mustang for one with plenty of gasoline still flowing through the pipes. Joris is less eager, but at the same time curious about the distant descendant of his own Mustang. “I’ve driven it before,” he admits. “That was in Zandvoort, during the EV Experience. I have to say that he didn’t disappoint me at all on the track.” No bullshit today, but just a walk around the neighborhood, where after getting in, Joris first looks around with a slightly irritated look to see where all those beeps and other warning sounds come from and are good for. Welcome to the world called ‘modern car’. His annoyance is short-lived on this sunny but cool autumn morning, as he quickly changes his mind: “This is actually perfect: I have warm hands, a warm butt and a view of my own car!”

Look for the external similarities

“To be honest, I think it’s beautiful. If I had to choose an EV in this class, I would definitely go for the Mustang,” says Joris after a few kilometers. “Even though, apart from the horse emblem and the shape of the taillights, there are hardly any similarities with my own Mustang,” he adds. “If you really look, you could say that the shape of the dashboard is inspired by the original model. And the shape of the handles for the door release. But other than that it’s really just the name.”

While Joris is heated all around by the steering wheel and seat, we point out the different driving modes of the Mach-E, where ‘Untame’ gives a real V8 imitation when accelerating. Much to the driver’s amusement. “Hahaha, that’s quite funny, but boy, how fake…,” said the rightful man.

Michiel completely happy in Joris’s Ford Mustang.

Finally, we have to ask Joris the ‘million dollar question’: will he ever switch to the EV? “My sister and brother-in-law have a Hyundai Kona Electric, my girlfriend a Fiat 500e and my parents 500e Convertible. So the whole family is actually already electrified! I have nothing against it, but nothing with it either. I’ll keep my Mustang anyway. Maybe one day I will trade in my BMW Z4 Coupé for an electric car, but I still really dislike that idea at the moment.” And that name, what should Ford have called the Mustang Mach-E in Joris’s eyes? “I think mule is appropriate. The Ford Mule Mach-E, that sounds pretty good, right?”