Ford Mustang Dark Horse '24
To be sold in Brand Central.
#Road Car
The "Dark Horse" variant of the latest Mustang is a bleeding-edge, track-ready supercar that puts it as an international sports racing car first before it is the familiar muscle car that it always was.
Ever since its inception in 1965, the Ford Mustang has been a beloved and well-known pony car easily fitting in to the muscle car genre, and whatever anyone thought of it, it was easily one of the best-selling sports cars spanning over six generations, whether it was used as a practical sports car, or even a status symbol.
It was also thanks to Carroll Shelby which enhanced the Mustang's appeal through motorsport, with numerous Shelby iterations of the Mustang taking it to whole new levels, especially in most SCCA leagues, where Shelby-tuned Mustangs and even Boss Mustangs dominated the circuit. Mustangs in motorsport would also continue to be a familiar sighting in IMSA GT and the SCCA Pro Series during the 80s and 90s, and in modern times, both NASCAR and FIA GT4.
Fast forward to 2022, the seventh generation of Mustangs was introduced with a new focus in mind: pure motorsport. This was further exemplified during its unveiling, known as the "Stampede", where they introduced a special model known as the "Dark Horse", and proposed many racing versions of the new Mustang such as those in FIA GT3, GT4 and even V8 Supercars.
The Mustang Dark Horse was built as a track-focused model which harkens back to the Boss 302 Mustang from a decade earlier, featuring the most refined version of the Coyote engine technology, a 5.0-litre V-8, producing exactly 500hp and 418 lb-ft of torque, which Ford claims is the most powerful non-Shelby Mustang ever created. Transmission choices range from a six-speed manual or a ten-speed paddle-shift transmission.
It also features numerous aerodynamic improvements such as a fixed rear wing, aggressive fenders, as well as a finely-sculpted splitter and skirts for enhanced downforce in order to become the master of technical circuits. Couple that with an aggressive track suspension kit and setup, consisting of well-tuned sway bars, shocks, strut towers and braces, as well as six-piston Brembo brakes, and for the first time for a non-Shelby Mustang, carbon fibre wheels, and you've got a machine that's built for maximum precision.
Track-only models such as the Dark Horse S with significant weight reduction and full race equipment, as well as the even more hardcore Dark Horse R, with its own IMSA-sanctioned racing series, are also on offer as well, effectively turning the road-going Dark Horse into a homologation model in its own right.
To sum it all up, the Mustang Dark Horse is built as a love-letter to Ford Performance's passion for racing, especially with the fire of their competitive spirit that continues to burn brightly even after the past 60 years. What was once a pony car that had become an international icon has now become a true international sports racing machine ready to take on the world.
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