Back in 1968, the movie classic Bullitt hit the silver screen, wowing audiences with an almost 11-minute car chase through the streets of San Francisco. Bullitt snagged the Academy Award for Best Film Editing in 1969, no doubt thanks to its raucous automotive battle between Steve McQueen’s green Ford Mustang and the baddies’ black Dodge Charger. Now, five decades later, the Blue Oval is resurrecting memories of the famous Bullitt Mustang with this custom special edition.
Now, normally we aren’t the biggest fans of special edition vehicles. They tend to over-promise and under-deliver, and rarely look all that great. The 2019 Bullitt is different. We love how this thing looks. In a world where wings and extra body pieces run rampant, the Bullitt keeps a style that’s clean and mean. And green.
Dropping cover at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show alongside the original ’60s Mustang that provided the inspiration for its creation, we think the 2019 Bullitt Mustang is a custom exterior that’s done right – it brings history and prestige, faultlessly paying homage to the Steve McQueen hero car, while still keeping it all firmly rooted in 2018. It comes with nothing extraneous, enhancing what’s already there, rather than simply tacking on extra “stuff.” Read on for the details.
The Full Story
“The lines on this thing are all aggression and muscle, oozing with performance vibes front to back.”
The 2019 Bullitt Mustang starts with a very solid canvas, namely the sixth-generation Mustang that dropped back in 2015 and got an update just last year. The lines on this thing are all aggression and muscle, oozing with performance vibes front to back.
From there, Ford debadged the thing, giving it a cleaner, sleeker appearance. Complementing the badge-less body panels is an equally clean front grille, which arrives with a glossy black insert sans running horse, perfectly matching the rest of the body.
Speaking of which, the whole thing is draped in a shade of Dark Highland Green, matching the original’s hue. You can also get yours in Shadow Black if so inclined, but really, how can you not get yours in green? The color works really well to balance it all out, finding just the right blend of color and black accents. There’s a few chrome accents as well, but they’re only added in a few choice locations, which, interestingly, actually enhances their impact against the black and green.
“The whole thing is draped in a shade of Dark Highland Green, matching the original’s hue. You can also get yours in Shadow Black if so inclined, but really, how can you not get yours in green?”
In the corners, you’ll find large 19-inch wheels in the classic “torque thrust” five-spoke design, finished in black with a polished rim. Behind the wheels are large red calipers.
In the rear, you’ll notice the Bullitt doesn’t come any sort of wing or spoiler. We adore this design choice, as it makes the whole thing look that much more streamlined, giving the eye a chance to take in the wide, low appearance of the sixth-gen ’Stang’s tail. Black exhaust tips round it off.
Hell, it looks great inside too, where the retro-style layout works perfectly with the theme. There are tasteful “Bullitt” logo door jam plates, and, per tradition, it’s got a manual gearbox, with a white cue ball shift knob as a cherry on top. Even the 12-inch LCD screen finds a nice spot in the mix.
“Hell, it looks great inside too, where the retro-style layout works perfectly with the theme.”
“As a designer, it’s my favorite Mustang – devoid of stripes, spoiler and badges,” said Darrell Behmer, Mustang chief designer. “It doesn’t need to scream about anything – it’s just cool.” We couldn’t agree more.
Of course, if you did wanna make it scream a little bit, there’s the long skinny pedal on the right, which makes a direct connection with the 5.0-liter V-8 under the hood. Output levels are rated at “at least” 475 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, with top speed clocking in at 163 mph top speed, 8 mph more than the Mustang GT.
Tasteful, quick, and undeniably cool – well done, Ford.