America's first pony car - the Ford Mustang - is celebrating its 50th birthday with a swoon-worthy new design, which is heading Down Under.
Ford Motor Co revealed the 2015 Mustang on Thursday at events in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Sydney, Barcelona and its hometown of Dearborn.
It goes on sale next autumn in North America and will reach Europe, Asia and Australia in 2015.
The Mustang isn't anywhere near Ford's best-seller. Ford sells more pickups in a week than it does Mustangs in a month.
But Ford says the Mustang has the highest name recognition and highest favourable opinion of any of its cars.
And car companies count on beautiful sports cars to cast a glow over the rest of their lineup.
The Mustang's first full redesign since 2005 presented Ford with a tough task: Update and freshen an icon without alienating its passionate fans.
More than nine million Mustangs have been sold since 1964, and the car has more than 300 fan clubs around the world, including one in Iceland and one solely for owners of yellow Mustangs.
Farrah Fawcett drove a white one in Charlie's Angels; Steve McQueen raced a dark green one through the streets of San Francisco in 1968's Bullitt.
The new car takes plenty of cues from the old.
The long bonnet and sloping fastback are still there, as is the trapezoid-shaped grille with the Mustang logo from the original.
But the new car sits lower and wider, and the roof tapers dramatically in the front and back.
A right-hand-drive version will be sold in the UK and Australia, and Ford will market the car more heavily overseas.
The company hasn't said how much the new Mustang will cost. The current one starts around $US23,000 in the US. A convertible version will also be offered.
