The Upcoming Ford Mustang GTD: an 800hp Supercar-Slaying Track Weapon

The Mustang GTD is set to be the new Ford flex - an 800 horsepower, DRS equipped Nurburgring stormer that beat the 7-minute lap time record

In today’s world, where cars seem to be built with the aim of saving polar bears while stuffing as many screens in the interior as possible, Ford had a single-minded focus on pushing the envelope on their world-famous gas guzzling pony car – the Mustang. The soon to be released Mustang GTD was designed with one purpose in mind: to melt the asphalt at the hallowed Nurburgring and dethrone the Porsche 911 on its home turf with a sub-7-minute lap time.

Which begs the question, why would Ford go through all the trouble? Is it them saying, “Hey guys, we know that we made an electric SUV and called it a Mustang, and we’re sorry about that, so we decided to go full send and develop what is possibly the world’s greatest Mustang”? Actually, no.

 

This is merely the latest chapter in a legacy that began in 1966, with Ford winning at Le Mans with a 1-2-3 photo finish in the iconic GT40. There’s even a Hollywood blockbuster about it—one that’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t already seen it. Fast forward 50 years, after the #68 Ford GT scooped up a class victory at the 2016 Le Mans 24h, it felt right that this legacy needed to continue after the GT was sadly discontinued in 2022.

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Enter the Mustang GT3, Ford’s attempt to get the iconic pony car to throw its hat into the endurance racing ring, which also proved its worth with a podium finish under a privateer team at the 2024 Le Mans 24h. You see? All the Mustang memes were down to driver error, not the car itself. However, Ford CEO Jim Farley had bigger plans – to take the Mustang deep into supercar territory.

“Mustang GTD shatters every preconceived notion of a supercar,” he says. “This is a new approach for us. We didn’t engineer a road car for the track, we created a race car for the road. Mustang GTD takes racing technology from our Mustang GT3 race car, wraps it in a carbon fibre Mustang body and unleashes it for the street.”

And boy, does it ever. Bespoke carbon fibre fenders, hood, trunk lid, door sills, front splitter, rear diffuser and roof merely marks the beginning of the madness. Designed in conjunction with Multimatic Motorsports, the trunk space is ditched in favour of a semi-active, hydraulically controlled pushrod suspension – not unlike one you’d find on a Le Mans race car, not a street legal Mustang. 

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that it’s one powerful beast; the 800 plus horses produced by the Coyote-based 5.2 litre supercharged V8 can do all the talking on that front. Couple that with a hydraulically operated active aero with DRS. Yes, F1 fans, you heard right. DRS. Ford now has a Drag Reduction System, which can change the angle of the rear wing and activate flaps under the front of the car on the fly, and it can also close the main wing element and flap, essentially creating a “singular” surface that helps generate downforce on the rear of the vehicle, helping keep the Mustang GTD glued to high speed corners like a gecko on a garden wall. 

Keep in mind, half the stuff mentioned here is considered illegal in actual GT3 racing, in the interest of fairness to the other competitors, of course. In the words of Greg Goodall, the chief engineer of this piece of insanity, “Our Le Mans drivers would love to have the technology Mustang GTD has for the track and street.” Enough said. 

Ford unfortunately hasn’t given us a release date for this force of nature, instead teasing us enthusiasts with the vague “early 2025”, so expect it soon. What we do know is that Ford only plans to release a thousand or so units, priced at $325,000 (approx AED 1.2 million) each. Which begs the question… who is the Mustang GTD intended for?

Well, that’s an easy answer: nobody. It was never meant to sell in volume numbers. The Mustang GTD was an engineering flex from Ford, proving that they can still take the fight to the Europeans, on or off the track, without losing their Americana flair. A flagship for the ages, and a completely berserk creation from Ford, which we enthusiasts are only too happy to see. Let’s just hope a few of the lucky owners actually drive them.

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