Last year, Ford debuted the latest generation of its famous muscle car, the enduring Ford Mustang. Fittingly, this was also the year of the horse, the corresponding zodiac of year as marked by the Chinese Calendar. It came to an end recently (February 18th for you Gregorian calendar types), prompting Ford to give it a thoroughly horsey send-off by sending the Mustang to China to gallop in celebration.
We’ve all fantasized about it: taking our car of choice, thrashing around the city, wishing that it could, for a day, be bereft of people, traffic, and police. Ford went ahead and brought this fantasy to life, taking the Mustang to Ordos, a city located in Inner Mongolia, resplendent in huge buildings, spacious plazas, and imposing statues celebrating the Mongolian heritage of the region. It’s a city that has the capacity to house hundreds of thousands of people, yet the Mustang has it all to itself. The city of Ordos is empty.
The reason for this massive ghost town is a small part of larger story concerning the Chinese housing boom, as nearby coal mines prompted farmers to sell land to developers, on which buildings and large municipal projects were built. Today, it’s the playground of the Ford Mustang GT, having freedom to utilize all of the 435 horsepower available from its 5.0-liter V8 engine.
It’s interesting to see the Detroit-born Mustang trotting around a city in the heart of the Steppe region, given that it’s only this year that it becomes a globally marketed car. It takes some getting used to, we suppose. In the mean time, we’re off to find ghost towns within driving distance.
