joeyr

Ford Offers Glass Roof For 2009 Mustang

Hot on the heels of the new Ford Bullitt Mustang and the new Shelby GT500KR, America’s favorite muscle car drives into its 45th anniversary year sporting a new factory-installed glass roof. The 2009 Ford Glass Roof Mustang provides a third roof option for customers and responds to their growing desire for more natural light. Production of large sunroofs has increased nearly 200 percent in North America since 2003, according to Just-auto. The growth is driven, in part, by consumers’ daily commute time. The number of consumers with commutes lasting more than 60 minutes grew by almost 50 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The new glass roof will be available as an option on both the V-6 Mustang and Mustang GT beginning next summer.

At $1,995, the new roof provides customers a less expensive option than a convertible, without compromising the coupe’s versatility, headroom or climate-controlled environment.

“Mustang is an icon in our product lineup, and we are committed to keeping Mustang news fresh every year,” said Derrick Kuzak, Ford’s group vice president, Global Product Development. “As the automotive landscape becomes increasingly competitive, features such as a panoramic glass roof will help differentiate our products from the competition

Nearly one out of every two sports cars sold in America is a Mustang, and it remains the best-selling convertible. The new glass roof addresses the fact that 62 percent of buyers in the sports car segment are interested in a sunroof or moonroof on their next vehicle, according to J.D. Power and Associates research.

Mustang’s Glass Roof is made of tinted privacy glass, which reduces both infrared rays and vehicle cool-down time by 50 percent. A manual roller blind is built in, allowing owners to further control exposure on sunny days.

The specially formulated glass also protects interior fabric material from solar radiation deterioration and discoloration by reducing solar light transmittance. To help improve acoustics and Mustang’s interior quietness, the glass also features a layer of vinyl that reduces noise, vibration and harshness.

The glass roof Mustang is built like a coupe and has been developed to maintain the structural integrity of Mustang. The glass itself is safety glass, meaning that it shatters without sharp or jagged edges, like other automotive glass.

Glass Roof Mustangs will be assembled at the Automotive Alliance International plant in Flat Rock, Mich. The unique glass is installed at Ford’s adjacent vehicle personalization facility.

Like its coupe and convertible counterparts, the Glass Roof Mustang has endured a battery of tests measuring quality and craftsmanship.

During the development phase, production-level prototypes ran through a rigorous prove-out, including various water, air leakage, durability, squeak and rattle and vehicle dynamics tests. Top quality drives the development team – as evidenced by Mustang’s first-in-its segment ranking in the 2007 J.D. Power and Associates IQS, VDS and APEAL studies.

“Quality is a continuous process. The whole team is passionate about it, which results in our paying attention to the smallest details,” says Paul Randle, chief nameplate engineer. “Our owners have high expectations, and we always want to meet them – with strong features like this new roof option, quality and performance.”

In addition to the new Glass Roof Mustang that goes on sale next summer, two other derivatives join the Mustang V-6 and GT in Ford showrooms early in 2008:

The Mustang Bullitt returns to the streets four decades after hitting the Big Screen and features the latest in Ford Racing Technology. Inspired by the original movie car, this modern classic is designed to deliver a perfect balance of power and performance for enthusiasts, delivering 315 horsepower and 325 pound-feet of torque.

DSkippy

They must have some excellent filtering

If not...I think they'd be wiser to release this in the fall/winter time frame, then people will see how nicely it warms there car in the winter as opposed to "it turns your car into a convection oven in the summer"

If they were particularly clever, they could have thermal active tint, that would become darker in the summer and lighter in the winter allowing the car to not heat as much and warm more respectively.

MGDMike

I've got an article of an aftermarket glass roof install in a Modified Mustang here in Iraq with some information about the install. Give me a day and I'll dig it up and see if the aftermarket install has any specs or gaurentee's with it.

1 Bad Mirada

we have a guy at MF who has a glassback. I saw a glassback twister at SEMA, and ive also seen a glassback 300C, and i think that it is a pretty sweet feature...
my only concern, i dont know that there is a curtain or anything that goes along the inside...i have a sunroof in the stratus, and at times, i dont like having the sun shine in my eyes...i would think that would be a problem with the glassback.

Jeremiah 29:11

FYI- Joeyr, I went ahead and added your pictures here but with higher resolution.

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/494CCDCD838B4360AC8B41A32980B6FE.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/9E37936AF51E49DDA2A80DB371E585EF.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/17/5E1F571A702C41A7BA7616C774699FE2.jpg[/IMG]

joeyr

Thanks Jeremiah, sorry about that. I have seen pics of The 300 Glassback, but not in person.

1 Bad Mirada

the glassback that i saw at a WPC museum show last year, i believe...

TechmanBD

Classic Design Concepts makes the aftermarket Glass Back for the Mustangs. I am not sure if they make for other vehicles as I didn't look.

I personally wouldn't want it. It goes with the same concept of having a convertible, unless it stops the UV, I will burn real quick.

Mikesan

Reminds me of the current Corvette with glass roof option. I think it's a great idea. Even better if they make it removable. The aftermarket will provide plenty of insert offerings to keep the sun out when you don't want it.

Albeeno

http://www.mustangphotos.com/photopo...1/limit/recent

http://www.mustangphotos.com/photopo...1/limit/recent