2024 Is the Year of the $300,000 Ford Mustang

The Ford Mustang is riding solo into 2024.With the discontinuation of the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro, the original pony car is the last one standing.But it won’t be resting on its hind legs.The rear of the Mustang GTD. Via FordThe Mustang was redesigned for this year and not as an electric car.It’s available only with internal combustion engines and there are no plans for an EV, or even a hybrid model.The base engine is a 315 hp turbocharged four-cylinder and a 5.0-liter V8 with up to 500 hp is also available. But one option is a bit more potent than the rest.The Mustang GTD’s carbon fiber body panels. Via FordAlong with the mainstream versions, Ford will soon be launching a Mustang GTD that’s based on the cars it will be entering in the IMSA and World Endurance Championship road racing series this season.It’s being manufactured by Multimatic, the same company that builds the competition cars and previously produced the $450,000 Ford GT supercar.Just around 1,350 GTs were sold from 2017 to 2023 and they often trade for $1 million or more on the auction circuit today.The Mustang GTD’s suspension. Via FordThe GTD starts out as a stock Mustang, but Multimatic strips it down to the bones and replaces nearly everything in the transformation. Think if it as Ford’s version of your grandfather’s axe.It gets its own supercharged 5.2-liter V8 that’s rated at 800 hp, which makes it the most powerful Mustang ever. More so even than the race car, which is restricted by regulations to around 550 hp.The $450,000 Ford GT supercar. Via FordThe body is redesigned with lightweight carbon fiber panels that are festooned with vents to help cool the motor and the carbon ceramic brakes, while also directing the air through and over the car to optimize its aerodynamics for high speed track driving.A giant rear wing is installed at the rear that can be adjusted by a button on the steering wheel to increase downforce or reduce drag as required, much like a Formula One car’s.Its high performance spool valve shock absorbers also come from the Formula One world and are horizontally-positioned within the trunk space, so pack lightly if you are planning a road trip.The Mustang’s aerodynamics. Via FordBelow them is an eight-speed, dual-clutch transaxle that’s shifted with paddles mounted behind the steering wheel, instead of a stick and pedal.A knob on the steering wheel adjusts the level of intervention of the traction and stability control systems, allowing drivers to turn them down as far as they dare.Several upgrades, including a titanium exhaust system and literally any color paint the buyer requests can be accommodated.The Mustang racecar. Via FordThat’s the kind of service you get when you buy a car that starts at $300,000, or roughly six times more than a Mustang GT.Ford CEO Jim Farley, who moonlights as an amateur race car driver, said at the GTD’s unveiling last summer that the idea of building such a Mustang “has been in my head for five decades.”Porsche has made a good business of selling competition-based road cars at similar prices, and Farley clearly sees the Mustang as a worthy competitor to the 911. Both on the street and the track.The Mustang GTD’s wing. Via FordThe two will have their first dance at the 24 Hours of Daytona in late January and a bigger date at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. So we’ll see if “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” applies to $300,000 cars.Oh, the Chevrolet Corvette will be there, too, along with BMWs, Aston Martins, etc.Ford vs. Ferrari? This time around, its Ford vs. everybody.Just not the Challenger or Camaro.

2024 Is the Year of the $300,000 Ford Mustang

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