MANE Street USA; With a new skin, chassis and lease on life, the original pony car gallops into the 21st century.(Product/Service Evaluation)

Byline: NATALIE NEFF

The Mustang lives. After 40 years-25 of them with no big changes- the original pony car gets its long-awaited redo. No, the 2005 Mustang is not a perfect car. We'd change a few things if we could, and we'll tell you exactly what. But we are thrilled the 'Stang is still kicking.

Why do we care so much? After all, there are plenty of cars to satisfy an enthusiast's itch, from the M3 to the 350Z to the Boxster. Besides, we've survived for the last couple of years without a Camaro or Firebird. Surely a world without this American icon would be acceptable, no? Perhaps, but would you want to live in it?

Bloodlines count for a lot; they proffer a credibility earned only by the passing of time. And with the Mustang, its history is our history, we lovers of cars and the people behind them. Our wealth and wars, our booms and busts are writ in its sheetmetal. We won't rehash it all for you here, but the talking points go something like: April 1964, Shelby, GT350, Mach 1, Bullitt, GT500, Cobra Jet, Boss, Cleveland, Trans-Am, Super Cobra Jet, Mustang II, Ghia, King Cobra, 5.0, SVO, Cobra, SVT, 4.6, Cobra R... Put together, that litany speaks to one lusty love affair. The rollout of the '05 assures that affair will continue.

The new design is stunning in form and perfect in its interpretation and execution of Mustang-ness-and (surprisingly) not the caricature that are so many designs from the House of J. From the side, the long hood and rear deck, sloping fastback, protruding upper lip and scooped flanks-all hallmarks from the original edition that have survived over the years-look fresh in their 21st century interpretation. Even the shrunken-looking rear quarter-window mimics the vents found on the old fastback.

The rear end borrows the original's taillight design with its vertical lenses in triplicate flanking a centrally placed round badge; the front end returns to a forward-leaning honeycombed grille design and wide-set trapezoidal headlights.

The story continues inside the car, where the four round vents and instrument cluster sit in line under dual squared-off dash hoods, a three-spoke steering wheel and a vintage Mustang hub-mounted emblem defining the driver's side. We particularly like the instrument panel, its dual gauges rimmed in chrome. We can do without, however, the "industry's first available color-configurable instrument cluster.'' Adjusting it takes far too long with too many pushes of the buttons. Perhaps we wouldn't mind if it used a simple dial.