Mustang Round Up highlight – 2009 GT convertible

Celebrating 60 years since the original Mustang’s launch in 1964, more than 370 Mustangs attended the 2024 edition of the Mustang Round Up in Victoria. Hosted by the Mustang Owner’s Club of Australia’s Victorian chapter (MOCA Vic), last year’s Show ‘n Shine and State Concours event also marked the 50th birthday of MOCA Vic.

Held at the Dandenong Showgrounds on Sunday, 27 October, the 2024 Round Up featured a special display of six Mustangs, representing each decade of the car’s production to date. At least one example of all seven Mustang generations were also at the 2024 Round Up, from the popular first generation, though to the current seventh generation (S650).

These days, the fifth generation (S197) Mustang is heavily outnumbered by the sixth generation (S550) at shows, thanks to being offered in RHD from the factory, but there’s still a good number of these cars around and the example featured was one of the better ones.

What first caught our eye on this 2009 Mustang GT convertible was the ‘stars & stripes’ galloping horse grille badge. It caught the owner’s eye, too, who explained he saw the accessory online and just had to have it!

This convertible is the owner’s “summer car”, with a Mustang coupe for the colder months. He says both are driven regularly – as intended.

Purchased out of WA a few years ago, this soft top GT is pretty much stock, apart from that grille badge and a set of Inforged iFG36 18-inch alloys that complement the black paint nicely.

Being a 2009 model, this car comes from the midpoint of the fifth generation Mustang that launched in late 2004 for the 2005 model year and ran until 2014. Ford tapped into the Mustang’s history at this time, offering a ‘Bullitt’ package, as well as a revival of the ‘California Special’ first seen in 1968. Shelby GTs were back in the Mustang range, too, having been reintroduced in 2006, while selected 2009 models featured special badging denoting the Mustang’s 45th Anniversary.

GTs from this period featured a 4.6-litre V8 as standard, along with a stiffer chassis and bigger brakes than the regular Mustang V6. The V8 produced 224kW and 434Nm, matched to a five-speed manual and LSD, as seen in this car, although a five-speed auto was optional.

Shelby GTs tweaked the 4.6 to produce 238kW, but a Shelby GT500 from the same era used a supercharged 5.4-litre V8 that delivered 373kW.

To see JUST CARS’ report from the 2024 Mustang Round Up, click HERE.