Grunty’s Goodbye: 1996 Mustang GT
Sometimes, castings retire for one reason or another. There’s reasons such as lost toolings to other reasons such as licensing issues. This time, we’ll talk about one that was retired... just because it had to be. This... is the 1996 Ford Mustang GT.
Designed by Patrick Schiavone, Emeline King and Bud Magaldi with a facelift done by Doug Gaffka, the fourth generation Mustang was produced from 1994 to 2004. This was the first major redesign of the Ford Mustang’s platform in 15 years. Internally designated the SN-95, the Mustang was based on an updated version of Ford’s Fox platform, and was the very last vehicle to be produced on said platform. The 1996 Ford Mustang GT was fitted with the now-ubiquitous 4.6L Ford Modular V8, being the first car to use the 4.6L engine; it also featured stiffer suspension, dual exhausts and larger 16 inch (41 cm) wheels. Of the 135,620 Mustangs produced for 1996, 17,917 were convertibles.
Okay, now that we’ve gotten the abridged history of the ‘96 Mustang GT out of the way, let’s get to the real reason why you’re here.
The 1996 Mustang GT was designed by a man you may have heard about, although I feel he is quite possibly one of the least known Hot Wheels designers: Michael Kolins.
Michael Kolins is one of the designers where information on him is very difficult to find. However, what is known is that he designed from about 1996 until the early 2000s. Some of the castings he designed include:
• 1970 Dodge Charger Daytona (1996 New Models, 1996 – 2003, retired) • Ferrari 360 Modena (1999 First Editions, 1999 – 2010) • Ferrari 365 GTB/4 (2000 First Editions, 2000 – 2011) • Ferrari F50 Challenge (1999 First Editions, 1999 – 2013) • Ford F-150 (1997 First Editions, 1997 – Present) • GP-2009 (1999 Pro Racing, 1999 – 2016) • 1999 Isuzu VehiCross (2000 First Editions, 2000 – 2004) • '64 Lincoln Continental (2000 First Editions, 2000 – 2013) • Lotus Elise 340R (2000 First Editions, 2000 – 2009)
This casting was introduced in 1996 as a First Edition in the red paintscheme as shown above, alongside eleven other models, including the 1970 Dodge Charger Daytona (also designed by Kolins), Rail Rodder, Volkswagen Drag Bus and the Road Rocket.
This casting is quite heavy, for it has a metal base.
The rear of the casting also features a high level of detail not present on most cars of the period, featuring the Hot Wheels logo on the wing and “MUSTANG GT” tampoed onto the rear bumper.
As with most Michael Kolins castings, the interior detail of this casting is outstanding, with fully-detailed seats and a nicely molded shifter lever.
This casting is most often seen as a convertible, however, there have been two releases where this casting is retooled to become a hardtop; the hardtop is actually a simple plastic insert colored in certain places to make the appearance of a “convincing” roof. This version was only released in FAO Schwartz boxed sets.
The 1996 Mustang GT enjoyed the privilege of being released quite often when it was in the lineup, but ultimately this casting was doomed in 2003 for one reason, and one reason only: the Final Run Series.
The Final Run Series started in 1999 and acted as what I would consider a very glorified funeral for a casting; Hot Wheels would give these cars special tires and paint, in exchange for vowing to never produce them again by cutting their toolings in half. The 1996 Mustang GT was unfortunately one of the castings to fall victim to the Final Run Series; in my opinion, this was likely one of the most popular castings to fall victim to the cutter’s torch. As the fourth batch of cars to be Final Run, having been introduced in the 2003 series, the 1996 Mustang GT will never be seen again in the Hot Wheels lineup unless a new tool and die is created for it, which I believe is highly unlikely. The Final Run Series itself has been on hiatus since 2006. In total, the Alien had twenty-eight releases, including both hardtop versions.
The casting was intended to be Final Run first in 2002 along with the above few castings; however, the series was not released as intended, with only three cars (Porsche 928, Oshkosh Cement Mixer/Spin-Out and the Firebird Funny Car) being released. The casting was then thrown into the 2003 Final Run Series with the 9 unreleased cars from that series, along with three other new cars: Porsche 911 Carrera, Auburn 852 and the GM Lean Machine. I’ll cover the GM Lean Machine in a separate post.
With large slabbed sides and often receiving silver headlamps, the 1996 Ford Mustang GT was often one of the most detailed castings of the time. It will be dearly missed by me (and probably others) and I hope Hot Wheels will do a recreation of a SN-95 Mustang convertible in the near future.
I hope this post has given you a better idea on this pony car’s small Hot Wheels counterpart. As usual, I’d write something like this any day.
- Grunty