Ford Mustang celebrates its 59th birthday with new toys

Posted by Talbot Payne on April 19, 2023

Mustang turns 59 young this week and it’s celebrating with new toys.

Ford’s iconic muscle car, born in 1964, is bringing to market its seventh-generation 2024 model that boasts the most horsepower ever from its 5.0-liter, normally-aspirated V-8 engine. The old dog is learning new tricks like a remote revving feature so owners can wake up the neighbors without ever leaving their house.

For the first time, Mustang gets its own Instagram account—@fordmustang—to keep fans abreast of the latest in ‘Stang culture and fashion. And Ford’s Performance division introduced a Mustang NASCAR pace car that will pace the field for seven races this year.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Pace Car debuted April 16 at Martinsville Speedway.

“We’re proud of the entire Mustang family, what it represents to Ford and especially our passionate Mustang owners and fans,” said Dave Bozeman, the automaker’s vice president of enthusiast vehicles. “It’s our commitment to serving Mustang’s global community, from Atlanta to Adelaide.”

Such relentless marketing and innovation — and an uninterrupted model run since its birth—has made the sleek coupe the best-selling sportscar in the world for the last 10 years according to S&P Global Mobility. Sold in more than 100 countries, Mustang is an American badge with global recognition like Coca-Cola, iPhone, and Jeep Wrangler.

Mustang’s home market boasts the car’s biggest sales volume, with 78% of global sales. That included a return to No. 1 in the U.S. muscle car wars in the first quarter of this year after being outsold by the Dodge Challenger the past two years. Mustang sales of 14,711 through March marked an increase of 5% year-over-year increase, with a significant demand bump expected for the new pony car when it hits showrooms this summer.

Other markets also saw sales growth in 2022, including a 17% increase in Germany, 14% in Britain and 7% in the Middle East.

How Remote Rev works on the 2024 Ford Mustang.

Getting older also means losing some friends along the way and the Mustang will be the last V8-powered pony car left in the U.S. market come the 2025 model year. Under pressure from government emissions regulations, Dodge is canceling the successful Challenger coupe after the ‘24 model year and Chevrolet is nixing the Camaro.

The Mustang survives in part thanks to its electric stablemate, the Mach-E. The first SUV and battery-powered vehicle from the Mustang sub-brand, Mach-E helped Ford accumulate enough government emissions credits to enable the continued manufacture of the V8-powered hellion. The Mach-E, too, has gone international and is available in 39 countries.

 With the segment to itself, the 2024 Mustang isn’t holding back.

The sixth-generation car was a huge success, taking the badge international and wrestling back the No. 1 sales spot from Camaro (before Challenger leapfrogged them both in 2021-22). Still, the outgoing ‘Stang was criticized for its soft lines and the 2024 aims to fix that with a more muscular, chiseled design.

The 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse will be available this summer.

To emphasize its macho personality, the new car adds a ferocious, 500-horsepower, V8-powered Dark Horse model to the lineup (the standard, V8-powered GT model will have 486 horses). It’s the first new Mustang model since the 2001 Bullitt was unveiled.

The Mustang will continue to offer electronics advancements unheard of six decades ago, including a drift mode and the aforementioned remote revving feature. That feature can be operated from a distance using the key fob so that owners can rev the eight-holer to as much as 5,000 rpm.

True to its roots as an affordable sportscar compared with European exotics like a six-figure Porsche 911, the 2024 Mustang will start at $32,515 with a 2.3-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder engine under the hood.

Since its inception, Mustang has been synonymous with racing. Mustang kicked off its birthday week by unwrapping a new pace car Sunday for NASCAR’s Martinsville, Virginia, stop. Dressed in Grabber Blue and light bar, the V8-powered Mustang GT brought the field of Mustang, Camaro and Toyota Camry NASCARs to the green flag.

A timeline of the Ford Mustang across its 59 years.

“We’ve had great success racing Mustang globally, including winning last year’s NASCAR championship,” said Ford Performance Motorsports boss Mark Rushbrook. “Racing leads to better products, and seeing the Mustang GT setting the pace at NASCAR makes this connection even stronger.”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

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