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Mustang at 60: The last muscle car standing doubles down on racing
Posted by Talbot Payne on January 29, 2024
As Ford Motor Co.’s Mustang stands as the last traditional American muscle car, the automaker is hoping to be among the last standing and first to cross the finish line this weekend at the International Motor Sports Association’s Rolex 24 race at Daytona in Florida.
For the first time since 2019, the storied nameplate returns to the 24-hour race on Saturday with its first Mustang GT3 going up against the world’s best from the likes of Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette. It kicks off a major year for the automaker in racing as it seeks to grow the vehicle’s notoriety and international appeal. Plus, it’s the 60th anniversary of the first pony car.
Mustang GT3 is Ford Multimatic Motorsports entry in GTD Pro for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The vehicle qualified in the Roar Before The Rolex 24. Le Mans winners Joey Hand and Dirk Müller are joined by Frédéric Vervisch racing in No. 65. Courtesy Of Wes Duenkel For Ford Motor Co.
It all comes after General Motors Co. ended production of the Chevrolet Camaro and Stellantis NV ended production of the Dodge Charger and Challenger last month with greenhouse-gas emission and fuel-economy regulations pushing automakers to adopt cleaner vehicles. With the Chevrolet Corvette mainly a sports car, that leaves Mustang as the last in the traditional muscle-car segment, and Ford is betting on capitalizing off that.
“You’re going to attract that person who wants that American V-8, that muscle car, and we’ll welcome them with open arms and make them part of the family,” said Joe Bellino, Mustang brand manager. “But then it’s tricky, right? Because you’ll have people who really love other brands and might not want to come over here, so that’s what we are focusing on this year: How do we attract a different buyer.”
Bellino says the automaker thinks it has the solution in its seventh-generation coupe. More tech savvy than ever, the vehicle features an electronic parking drift brake, a driver-centric cockpit with tilted screens, greater customization, video game-style animations for changing drive modes and the ability to switch exhaust modes.
“You might think the segment’s dying,” Bellino said, “but it’s really expanding for us, and we can take advantage of this of this opportunity.”
The 2024 Mustang offers the more sophisticated technology of the seventh-generation pony car. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
Mustang burst to the scene in 1964, with Ford delivering more than 400,000 that first year. The 1 millionth Mustang was sold within the first two years. After debuting the seventh-generation at the 2022 Detroit auto show, Mustang’s U.S. sales rose 2.2% last year to less than 50,000 vehicles.
Still, there’s arguably no other nameplate more ubiquitous with the Blue Oval, and CEO Jim Farley said earlier this month there’s no plans to pull in the reins.
“Sixty years, and it’s changed over time,” he said at a Ford Performance event earlier this month. “We have EcoBoost, we have the Dark Horse now, and we’re going to continue to invest, and if we’re the only one on the planet making a V-8 affordable sports car for everyone in the world, so be it.”
An early 1965 Mustang convertible. The first edition of Ford’s pony car was a runaway sales hit.. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
That’s sure to make Mustang’s 8.2 million Facebook followers and more than 500 car clubs globally happy.
Kyle Markland, 23, was raised in Long Island, New York, and is a third-generation Ford owner after his father and grandfather, with each getting a little bit faster. His grandfather owned a Galaxie 500, his father a Mustang GT convertible and Kyle’s first ‘Stang is a fire-breathing 2020 GT tricked out with Performance Package and aftermarket Roush exhaust, grille and RTR wheels.
“I’m a V-8 guy,” said Markland, who moved to Detroit to work in the auto industry, where he’s gotten a front seat to how integrated Mustang is with the Dearborn automaker’s identity. “I like the sound and power. You get a lot of performance for not a lot of money.”
It’s not just Mustang owners who feel love for the brand. Its status as an icon has been cemented in popular culture in music and films like “Bullitt” and “Ford v Ferrari,” which tells the story of the Shelby Mustang.
Mustang licensed merchandise is the second most popular for Ford behind the blue oval, attracting collaborations like the one launched in December with Spanish multinational retailer Zara. The brand represents 25% of the automaker’s merchandise sales even as they have risen 23% year-over-year and 56% since 2019.
The Mustang Lego set is the most popular item, followed by pieces like the red Mustang hoodie and the tribar vintage T-shirt. There are even Mustang-branded barstools available.
“There’s just that authenticity to it, but also connection to family members,” said Maria Turner, Ford’s senior manager of global brand licensing and merchandising. “You have a lot of 18-to-20-year-old sons who are in the garage with a grandpa working on the Mustang. It’s that really deep, visceral connection that they have with the brand, because it’s been passed down from generation to generation.
“And it’s just a cultural icon, so they see it in movies, they see it in video games, they see it on the racetrack, and they really connect with that brand because it’s been in their life.”
The 1976 Ford Mustang II Cobra was part of a pony car generation downsized amid rising fuel prices and shortages. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
A majority of car buyers have turned to larger SUVs and trucks for their transportation needs. There, however, remains a market for muscle cars, especially if there’s one player, said Karl Brauer, executive analyst at auto information website iSeeCars.com.
“In the face of shrinking demand, only the strong will survive,” he said. “If Ford can take what is a very unique position in the car’s heritage and recognition and the level of icon it represents in the automotive world, it’s going from being a super iconic, historic vehicle to a super iconic, historic, unique vehicle.”
Ford, Brauer added, sees the value of that, even if it’s not something that fits nicely into a spreadsheet.
The fifth-generation Mustang bowed in 2005. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
Transforming industry
As standards for carbon emissions become stricter and noncompliance leads to larger financial penalties, that becomes a tougher sell. Dodge is going the electric route: In the fall, it will begin production of an all-electric Charger “muscle car,” though its STLA Large platform can support multiple kinds of powertrains. The Charger will join the likes of the Tesla Model S Plaid.
Ford has said it will be carbon neutral by 2050 and signed a commitment to be all-electric by 2040. The manual 5-liter, eight-cylinder Mustang Dark Horse performance variant with a combined 17 combined miles per gallon produces 535 grams of greenhouse-gas tailpipe emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. That’s compared to 341 grams per miles and 26 miles-per-gallon fuel economy on the 2.3-liter, four-cylinder Mustang with an Ecoboost engine. Ecoboost represents just under half of sales.
“We’ve made that very capable while still keeping the fuel-efficient part of it,” Bellino said. Still, with the Dark Horse delivering 500 horsepower, and the Ecoboost Fastback 315 horsepower: “It’s not just a economy play for us. It’s a strategic partner lineup.”
Ford hasn’t said when it could introduce an electrified Mustang coupe. It sought to build off its reputation when it introduced the all-electric Mustang Mach-E SUV in 2019, garnering enthusiasm as well as some criticism from coupe-committed fans. U.S. sales of the electric variant rose 3.3% last year to almost 41,000.
2024 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles are displayed at a Ford dealership Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024, in Broomfield, Colo.David Zalubowski, AP
The vehicle shows Ford has the technology for performance-focused EVs, though the auto industry is recalibrating EV sales expectations in recent months. Ford cut $12 billion in planned investment for electrification, stating demand was missing expectations even as it was growing. So, just because Mustang may not be first to market with an all-electric muscle car doesn’t mean it’s necessarily at a disadvantage, Brauer said.
“Ford can easily move from electric back to internal combustion and move Mustang onto electric in two years or 15 years from now,” he said. “They still have that option. When they have the market and demand, whenever that happens, they can still do that.”
The 1979 Ford Mustang Cobra debuted as part of the fourth-generation lineup, known for its Fox body platform. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
Racing reputation
The gas powertrain for now is allowing Ford to extend its commitment to motorsports this year. In 2024 alone, Mustang will race on five continents from NASCAR to Formula One. There isn’t an African series on the docket for now. As for Antarctica, “We’re working on it,” said Mark Rushbrook, director of Ford Performance.
The GT3 was built at the Mustang plant in Flat Rock and has been upgraded to be a racecar, including being boosted to a 5.4-liter engine. Its first test will be one of its toughest with the 24-hour race at Daytona, Rushbrook said, emphasizing the need for consistent laps. He’s expecting a 1-minute, 46-second lap time. Qualifying had an average lap speed of about 120 mph.
“We race to win,” he said. “We know that it’s going to really test the car, it’s really going to test the team, and we’re just looking forward to a good competitive race against some of the best manufacturers in the world.”
That’s important since Mustang sales went global in 2015, and as the old adage goes, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday.” That doesn’t apply just to the muscle cars either: NASCAR races famously attract parking lots of Ford’s cash-cow F-150 pickup trucks.
“It engages them,” Rushbrook said, “and brings them into the brand and lets them see what Ford is as a company, our products, our people and more broadly than just the Mustang that they see racing on the track.”
Racing in professional series down through grassroots races, drag racing to drifting and more, Mustang also shows its versatility, Rushbrook added.
Ford does compete in the World Rally Championship with a hybrid Puma crossover, and it’s working with Oracle Red Bull Racing in preparation for F1’s move to hybrids in 2026. It’s partaken in individual races for electric vehicles, though not a series at this point.
“Those were great for us, because we’re learning we can build exactly what we want,” Rushbrook said. “We can learn exactly what we want. We’re not limited by rules or regulations, and then we can create whatever within reason, we can create any spectacle that we want to tell a story and connect people to, whether it was a Mach-E or a Mach-E 1400 or an electric Transit van.”
Drivers Chris Mies, Mike Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell are in the No. 64 Mustang for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Courtesy Of Ford Motor Co.
Ford also is encouraging Mustang owners in the motorsports action. In June in Ohio, it’ll start its Mustang Challenge to pit Dark Horse R racers against each other. Prizes include a $100,000 scholarship toward racing in Mustang GT3 or GT4 to identify new talent.
Sportscar nuts like Chris Sadek, 56, of Bloomfield Hills, think Mustang’s commitment to racing has helped its longevity.
“That Ford is committed to motorsport is something I think about as a buyer,” he said. “It’s the original pony car and they have dominated with Shelby models. Back when I was in high school, everybody had to have the 1980s Fox body V-8 Mustang.”
Sadek himself has owned European jewels like the 2004 BMW M3, 1986 BMW 635 CSI and 1978 Mercedes SLC. But when the 2015 Mustang GT350 arrived with a Ferrari-like, flat-plane crank V-8 making 526 horsepower and track-focused Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, he had to have it.
“I bought the GT350 because I wanted to track it,” said Sadek, who will be watching the Rolex 24 this weekend. “It’s a great car and I like the direction of models like the BMW M3, Porsche 911 and Mustang to making all-around sportscars.”