Spy Shots: Ford Focus Hatch and Station Wagon Undergo a Facelift

Ford is applying a makeover to the entire range of its Focus series, which our spies seized in five-door and hatchback forms on separate occasions while undergoing tests in Europe.

The front of the car will take the brunt of the cosmetic touchup, likely adopting Ford's familiar gaping grille that brings to mind Aston Martin models.

The cover-up of the hatchback's other side suggests changes to the rear as well, though, we don't know if they'll be as extensive as the front. Whether Ford will do the same to the tail of the station wagon model remains to be seen, as this prototype did not sport any updates.

Previous spy pictures of the interior indicate a refreshed center console and new buttons on the dashboard.

We've also heard rumors about the return of the high-performance RS model to the range after the presentation of the facelift wearing a tuned version of the 2015 Mustang's 2.3-liter turbocharged engine with somewhere around 350hp.

Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoopS

PHOTO GALLERY

Shelby Coupe and Convertible Listed on Ford 2015 Mustang's Lineup

It looks like Ford won't waste any time to enhance the range of its new 2015 Mustang when it goes on sale late next year, as according to a purportedly official "2015MY Ford Body Code Types" chart that trickled to the Mustang6G forums, there will be a Shelby Coupe and Convertible.

Regarding the Shelby versions of the 6th generation Mustang, the word on the street is that, they will carry the Shelby GT350 moniker with a recent screenshot from Ford’s dealer promo order system that popped up the SVTP forums supporting the story.

The poster of the screenshot noted: "So I just went to order 2015 promo stuff, they list all 2015 models for vehicle photographs and guess what, there is a Shelby GT350 listed!!!!!!! oh by the way, this is dealer promo stuff so its legit, not a shelby ship thru package."

An older report from MustangDaily had said that, the new factory GT350 will use Ford's 5.0-liter Coyote V8 offering more power than the 420+hp GT, but less than the insane GT500 of the outgoing Mustang with its 662-horsepower blown 5.8-liter V8.

As far as the other models in the 2015 Mustang range, the chart does not list the 305hp+ 2.3-liter turbo engine as an option, but this could be explained by the fact that Ford may offer it as an upgrade to the V6.

PHOTO GALLERY

Ford Explains How it Kept the 2015 Mustang Hidden from Paparazzi and You

Looks like Ford isn't at all fond of spy photographers,  and the same probably applies to any of you looking to snag a picture of a future Blue Oval car. And since we are on the receiving end of the photo-subject, it rubs on us as well.

In a freshly released video, FoMoCo explains how it worked to keep the 2015 Mustang "hidden in plain sight" from spy photographers, or as the company calls them, "paparazzi".

This is a recurring theme in the video as well as Ford's press release that states: "Professional photographers – who prefer to stay in the shadows or trees – acknowledge they can wait anywhere from minutes to months to catch a prototype, and patience is a virtue."

Dave Pericak, Mustang chief engineer, had this to say: "The professional photographers all know where the cars get built and where they get tested. One photographer we see frequently parks in discrete locations with a view of these facilities, just waiting for something new to emerge.”

Vehicle engineering manager Tom Barnes, who took the first fully covered new Mustang out of the factory in June this year, says that photos of the car began popping up on automotive websites in less than an hour after he hit the road – we assume he means these spy images.

“After spending weeks refining the camo package for the Mustang, it was a bit frustrating getting snagged by the paparazzi almost immediately,” said Barnes. “On the other hand, when we saw the photos later that day, it was a relief to realize you really couldn’t tell what the car looked like.”

We beg to differ on that last statement as we had a pretty good first idea of what the new Mustang would look like almost a year before the first prototype hit public roads – remember these renderings from Josh Byrnes?

We'd like to hear to what you, the readers think about all this. If any spy photographers would like to chip in, you can leave your comments below too, or if you prefer, send us an email and we'll post it here.

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