The new Ford Mustang California is a £52k drop-top available in the UK

This is a special edition convertible that celebrates a sunshine-heavy state on the west coast of America... destined for a land that’s almost interminably grey and overcast. Welcome to the Ford Mustang ‘California Special’.

It takes its cues from the lovely 1968 Mustang California Special (which in turn took its cues from the ’67 Shelby GT notchback), and is thus only available as a drop-top V8. Nothing wrong with that.

As per the original Cali Special, this new car gets a black honeycomb front grille furnished with a red ‘GT/CS’ badge, side stripes, more GT/CS logos, and a ‘California Special’ script that isn’t visible in low light, but beams in stronger sunlight. Good luck finding that in Britain.

There’s a larger front splitter, and the option of rear side air scoops, along with nine colours including ‘Grabber Blue’ and ‘Cyber Orange’. You get 19in five-spoke carbon grey alloys, while inside there are heated/cooled seats as standard, ‘Miko’ suede door cards, red stitching, and some more badging.

Further inside, there’s that familiar 5.0-litre V8 up front still delivering 444bhp and 390lb ft of torque, a six-speed manual with rev matching and of course, rear-wheel drive. 0-62mph takes 4.5 seconds. The ‘Stang’s other regular goodies include adaptive dampers and a limited slip diff.

“The California Special is a huge part of the Mustang’s legacy in America and it symbolises so much of what Mustang stands for,” said Matthias Tonn, Mustang chief programme engineer for Ford Europe. “It’s about time customers here got to experience the unique California Special blend of style, performance and driving fun.”

Prices start at £52,105. Fancy it?