20191122 福特新款电动野马SUV

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Ford Mustang - an American classic known for its sleek and sporty profile - is about to kick off a new chapter. After years of secrecy, Ford plans to unveil an electric SUV that it's described as Mustang-inspired. NPR's Vanessa Romo reports the big reveal is happening tomorrow in Los Angeles, days ahead of the annual auto show there.

VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE: Gary Hankins says he's been obsessively checking Google for more than a year for news about the car. It's been especially tricky, given Ford has been super secretive and only on Thursday announced the SUV's name - the Mustang Mach-E.

GARY HANKINS: I'm really looking forward to Sunday.

ROMO: Ford's classic hush-hush strategy has worked to amp up interest in the legendary car that was introduced more than 50 years ago. What is known is that it'll be on the market sometime in 2020, and it's part of the company's $11 billion investment in electric cars. It's estimated range is a whopping 300 miles on a single charge. That was enough to make Hankins go absolutely gaga, according to his friends. And the fact that Ford says it's Mustang-inspired...

HANKINS: Oh, that's really icing on the cake.

ROMO: Without even a chance to kick the tires, Hankins says he's angling to get on a preorder list. It'll be the fulfillment of a teenage dream.

HANKINS: I was in high school in the '60s when the Mustang came out. And I would love to have had a Mustang. Couldn't afford one.

ROMO: He's got a lot more money in the bank now. And Hankins' committed to only driving electric cars.

HANKINS: Well, here I am now, 71 years old. I'm finally getting my Mustang.

ROMO: The only official peak of what the SUV will look like is a vague swooping blue outline on Ford's website. But just last week, eagle-eyed car enthusiasts spotted what appears to be a camouflage test model. Pictures show it's a fairly compact and sporty version of an SUV.

CAMILO PARDO: If an SUV could speak, first thing it would say is - I want to be a Mustang.

ROMO: That's designer Camilo Pardo. He's the former head of Ford's Living Legends studio and the chief designer of Ford's GT, a pricey performance car. He says hardcore Mustang fans should manage expectations when it comes to any family-friendly crossover. But he suspects the reimagined version will possess three essential iconic elements.

It's got to have the big grill in the front.

PARDO: It's supposed to look intimidating, like it's out to get you.

ROMO: He says the headlamps have to have a classic frowning shape.

PARDO: It makes it look like it's got the personality of an angry animal.

ROMO: Then, of course, the unmistakable tail lights.

PARDO: So it's always been kind of a fun thing for the designers to come up with - how can you make it modern? What's another creative way to indicate those three little bars?

ROMO: Based on the sales track record of most electric cars, it's unlikely this Ford model will prove as popular as the 1964 original. That had one of the most successful product launches in American history. Gail Wise remembers the frenzy around the campaign. Ford recognizes Wise as the first person in the U.S. to buy the car. She was 22 and wanted a convertible. The salesman said he had just the car.

GAIL WISE: He said, but come in the back room with me. I have something special to show you. And in the back room under a tarp was a sky light blue Mustang. And I was like, wow. That's for me.

ROMO: It was two days before the car debuted at the New York World's Fair. He wasn't supposed to sell it, but he did.

WISE: For $3,447.50.

ROMO: Fifty-five years later, she's still got the sky light blue beauty. Wise knows she's biased, but she wonders if being Mustang-inspired will be enough to make Ford's new venture an icon, too.