What Is the Mustang Centennial Edition?
Last Updated August 8, 2023 | Andrew Boyle2003 was a big year for Ford — it had been exactly 100 years since the company’s founding. To celebrate, special Centennial editions were created for many of its most popular and iconic models.
Hitting showrooms in the spring of 2003, the Centennial Edition Mustang featured a number of exterior and interior upgrades. The Centennial Edition was available only in black, hearkening back to Henry Ford’s famous quote about the Model T — “a customer can have a car painted any color that he wants, so long as it is black.”
Mustang Centennial Edition Features
The Mustang Centennial Edition was based on the 2003 GT, which featured a 4.6L V8 built off Ford’s Modular engine platform. Both a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic overdrive transmissions were available. All Mustang Centennial Editions were equipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS), traction control, and a dual exhaust.
Other than this, however, upgrades to the Mustang Centennial Edition were almost entirely cosmetic and included:
Exterior: In addition to the aforementioned all-black paint job, the Mustang Centennial Edition was outfitted with special premium 17” alloy rims, a commemorative deck lid and special side badging not found on the plain-Jane Mustangs.
Interior: The Mustang Centennial Edition got two-tone Verona-grain Imola leather seats with power lumbar support, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a premium sound system with a six-disc CD changer.
Aside from the car itself, anyone who purchased the Centennial Edition Mustang received a commemorative watch and keychain, as well as a specially bound copy of the book The Ford Century: Ford Motor Company and the Innovations that Shaped the World by Russ Banham.
Pricing and Sales Information
The Mustang Centennial Edition was available as a $995 upgrade over the stock GT. Out of a planned production of 3,000, a total of 2,040 units were built — 1,323 convertibles and 717 coupes. Anyone interested in purchasing one will be happy to know Mustang Centennial Editions — as well as special Centennial Editions of the Focus, Taurus, Explorer and F-Series pickup — can often be found for sale, usually for no more than the cost of comparable GT equipped with the premium package.
Image Credit: netcarshow.com
