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Automotive

West Coast Customs teams with Microsoft to build teched-out Mustang

By C.C. Weiss
March 22, 2012
West Coast Customs teams with Microsoft to build teched-out Mustang
There's no mistaking the Micro-Stang
There's no mistaking the Micro-Stang
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Microsoft is teasing the future of possible automotive technologies
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Microsoft is teasing the future of possible automotive technologies
There's no mistaking the Micro-Stang
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There's no mistaking the Micro-Stang
An app serves to open the Project Detroit Mustang remotely
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An app serves to open the Project Detroit Mustang remotely
The dashboard is defined by driver and passenger touchscreen displays
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The dashboard is defined by driver and passenger touchscreen displays
A Windows Phone app lets you monitor the car remotely
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A Windows Phone app lets you monitor the car remotely
Windows Phone also lets you update car features like the horn tone
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Windows Phone also lets you update car features like the horn tone
The passenger side tablet can stream views from the Kinect cameras
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The passenger side tablet can stream views from the Kinect cameras
The tablet also lets the passenger surf the Web, play video games and watch movies
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The tablet also lets the passenger surf the Web, play video games and watch movies
View gallery - 8 images

What if you take the world's most iconic jock and install the brains of some of the smartest tech nerds on the planet? Well, you get the Micro-Stang by West Coast Customs (WCC) and Microsoft which takes a classic Mustang and tunes it with cutting edge technology.

Called "Project Detroit" by Microsoft and nicknamed "Micro-Stang" by WCC, the car is the epitome of old meets new. The project chooses to eschew Ford's latest styling for the much more beloved, timeless looks of a 1967 Mustang. Rather than just go with a stock classic, the boys at West Coast cut the body of the matte black Mustang off and planted it on the 2012 Mustang's chassis.

From there, they update it with all kinds of tricks and toys that the average Mustang - whether from 1967 or 2012 - will never have. Microsoft promises that the project includes "cutting-edge technology, never before used in automotive applications." That technology is drawn from the entire Microsoft range of offerings, including Kinect for Xbox 360, Xbox 360, Windows 8, Windows Phone, Windows Azure and Bing. The car also uses Ford Sync technology.

The dashboard is defined by driver and passenger touchscreen displays
The dashboard is defined by driver and passenger touchscreen displays

So far, we know of a touchscreen instrument panel, a tablet built into the passenger side dashboard, a serious set of wheel and grille lights, an external PA system, a series of smartphone apps, and external cameras. The passenger's tablet can live-stream video from the Kinect cameras outside the car and can serve as an informational and entertainment unit. Apps deliver some unique functions, including customizing things like the horn tone, window messages and interior lighting with the swipe of a finger.

Similar to the recent Ford Hackathon event, the purpose of Project Detroit is to showcase possible vehicle technologies of the future. Microsoft will release open-sourced code from the project so that developers can start working on technologies of their own.

Project Detroit will be more fully revealed on the next episode of Inside West Coast Customs, which will air on the Velocity network on Sunday. The video below is a commercial for that episode.

Source: Microsoft, West Coast Customs

View gallery - 8 images

Tags

AutomotiveMicrosoftFordSmartphonesWindowsMustangXboxApplicationsWest Coast Customs
20 comments
C.C. Weiss
C.C. Weiss
Chris joined the New Atlas team in 2011 and now serves as the automotive and campers editor, traveling extensively to gather the latest news on cars, outdoor sports gear and other innovations designed to help people experience and enjoy the greater world around them.

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20 comments
Spike Elex
Thank you Microsoft for proving once again that real power and real innovation comes in more than just a pretty package. Great Proof of Concept!
Tony Smale
Headline : West Coast Customs teams with Microsoft to ruin classic Mustang
DOC HOLLYWOOD
Ford and Dynacorn make new Mustang shells for years '64-'70 for about 15-18 thousand usd. Gonna be cool to see what the better "aftermarket" resto-mod crowd does with them. This is pretty cool.Wonder what kinda' horsepower and suspension they gave it. (?)
Rt1583
Hopefully one of these days the underbody/behind the wheels/and generally anywhere they serve no purpose lights will go out of fashion.
Also, something that would be nice is to see a vehicle that is relatively free of all this techno gee-whizzery, similar to even 20-30 years ago.
Why does anybody need a game system or any other type of entertainment other than a radio in a car? And before all you parents start screaming at me, I believe that TV's and DVD players in cars are just an extension of the baby sitting duties that were long ago passed off to TV and game systems. I, and many other people, made it through our childhood travels without technology. Children today are in no way so different that they need TV in the car.
Bigbrother Iswatchingu
Just build the Mustang like it was initially build that alone is more than enough. There are much more people looking to buy those vintage mustangs but build new and at a affordable price.
streigh
This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen. This isn't even a car, it's a big advertisement for Microsoft's wannabe iphone and ipad.
Rocky Stefano
@RT1583, I'm still completely amused at comments from people like you that assume that your likes/dislikes speak for the masses, partucularily from your age group. Well I grew up biting my fingernails in my car driving 4-5 hours one way almost every 3 weeks to see relatives. I now do the same with my children. They are not spoiled but I'll be damned if I subject them to the punishment I took in the car of listening to adult drivel for 4 hours. They can have a bloody tv or dvd player in the car thanks. What babysitting would you like parents to perform in a car on a 4 hour road trip? Sing kumbayah the whole time?
abagadol
What happens if the car gets a virus?
Rt1583
@ Rocky, I'm completely amused by people like you who get wound up about other peoples comments. It's my opinion. Nobody said you had to like it. Wonderful thing about the internet though, and this is more truth than opinion, is that forums such as this one allow people to jump in and post their opinions and move on without any concern for follow up, i.e. an attempt at conversation. Unfortunately due to this very real and very large limitation, people are reduced to putting their thoughts out there in their entirety and deal with what comes. Now, if you and I were able to have this conversation face to face, chances are that we would each still hold our own opinions but each of us may be swayed slightly to the other persons way of thinking on different parts of said opinions.
Also, I am interested in what you think my age group is and how it is that you come to be able to determine a persons age simply based on what they say.
Michael Mantion
The only car that will crash, with out even moving..
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