Mustang at Le Mans: America’s pony wants to conquer Europe

Posted by Talbot Payne on June 24, 2024

Le Mans, France — At the drop of the green flag Saturday at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the #77 Ford Mustang race car surged past the #66 Ferrari 296 and #92 Porsche 911 to challenge the #70 McLaren 720S for the GT3 class lead.

Come again?

Ford has opened a new chapter in its iconic Mustang’s history as the affordable sportscar did battle against the world’s elite supercars at this year’s premier international endurance race — and on the road. As the Mustang GT3 finished an impressive 3rd and 4th in its Le Mans debut before the 8.5-mile circuit’s packed grandstands, fans also got to ogle the street legal, 800-plus-horsepower Mustang GTD that is taking aim at the Europe’s supercars. From the $40,000 Ecoboost convertible to the (estimated) $300,000 GTD, that’s a lot of bandwidth for the world’s best-selling sportscar.

The Ford Mustang GT3 on track during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The automaker is producing a street-legal version, the 2025 Mustang GTD.The Ford Mustang GT3 on track during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The automaker is producing a street-legal version, the 2025 Mustang GTD. Chris DuMond, Special To The Detroit News

“This is part of our transition of Mustang from an American muscle car to a global sportscar,” said Will Ford, Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr.’s son and the general manager of the Ford Performance division responsible for Ford’s racing programs. “We are competing against the world’s best supercars while keeping Mustang true to its roots as an affordable sportscar.”

With a new generation of Ford family comes a new generation of Ford Mustang. The seventh-gen model is now sold in 144 countries around the world, including continents like Europe where Mustang’s distinctive, V8-powered performance — and corresponding high cost — is considered a premium alternative to Continent favorites like Porsche and BMW. Due to high European auto taxes and emissions fees on V-8s, a Mustang GT can cost anywhere from about $70,000 in England to over $120,000 in France.

Anders Nannerup lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and owns four Mustangs, including this 2022 Mach 1. He traveled to France for the 24 Hour of Le Mans.Anders Nannerup lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and owns four Mustangs, including this 2022 Mach 1. He traveled to France for the 24 Hour of Le Mans. Courtesy Of Anders Nannerup, Anders Nannerup

“If you are buying a Mustang in Europe, then it’s got to be a V-8,” said Anders Nannerup, 57, who owns a 2022 Mustang Mach 1 and drove 16 hours from Copenhagen, Denmark to attend Le Mans this year. “But if you buy in Demark you can expect double the price as in America due to import taxes.”

What has not changed across Ford’s generations is the passion to race. Founder Henry Ford competed in the Grosse Pointe Sweepstakes race to raise money from investors, Henry “The Deuce” Ford II took on Ferrari in the 1966 Le Mans and won in the Italian stallion’s backyard (inspiring the Oscar-winning, Hollywood hit, Ford v Ferrari), and Ford returned to the Circuit de le Sarthe in 2016 to win again in class on the 50th anniversary.

Now a new generation of father and son are teeing up their pony cars. It’s Mustang vs. Everybody.

“We’re thrilled to bring Mustang here to race, and frankly so are the organizers,” said Bill Ford, Jr. “Mustang is such an iconic vehicle around the world.”

To prove his point, Le Mans’ signature downtown parade on Friday before the race featured numerous classic Mustangs from French collections, including a yellow 1971 Mustang Boss 351.

Mustang brand manager Jim Owens talks Mustang GTD at Le Mans on Saturday with Ford pony car owners. Henry Payne, The Detroit News

“We race all around the world for our brand. The once constant with Ford Motor Company through our entire history is that we have always raced,” Executive Chairman Ford said in the Le Mans paddock Saturday before the 24 Hours. “We were born on the race track. There is real connection between Mustang and customers. People love Mustang.”

Denmark owner Nannerup fell in love with Mustang as a high school exchange student in Oregon. He now owns four — all V8-powered — including a 1968 model, a 1985 and a 2012 in addition to his latest Mach 1.

“I really like the 2022 body style, which harkens back to 1969. Great looks, good power,” said the former president of the Denmark Mustang Club, which has an estimated 1,600 members.

That was apparent at Ford’s display in the Le Mans “Manufacturer’s Village” — a sort of mini-car show where automakers display their production cars. The Ford display was mobbed all day Saturday with fans eager to get a glimpse of the 2025 Mustang GTD — essentially a road version of the Mustang GT3 racer on track —but with a livable interior.

Bill and Will started plotting this day back in 2015 when Ford debuted the last (sixth) generation Mustang and marketed it to dozens of foreign markets for the first time.

“Le Mans is the Indy 500 of European racing,” said Will Ford. He pointed to the increase in fan interest over the past decade, evidenced by this year’s total of 329,000 spectators. “When we came here in 2015, attendance was 250,000.”

Credit in part Ford and numerous other performance brands — Cadillac, Chevy Corvette, Lamborghini, BMW, McLaren, Porsche Penske — that have taken advantage of common GT-class racing rules in Europe and North America to create a 62-car field featuring some of the closest sportscar racing in motorsports history.

When Ford introduced the new Mustang ahead of the Detroit auto show in September 2022 in Hart Plaza, Bill Ford shared with fans what his team had been plotting for years.

“When this car was being conceived, the first question I asked the team is, ‘Will it race at Le Mans?'” the executive chairman told reporters. “‘And if the answer is no, go back and give me another answer.'”

The anticipation o Ford’s debut here this weekend not only attracted fans from Europe — it brought Mustang owners from the United States.

“It’s relay cool to see the Europeans cheering on the Mustang V-8,” said Kevin Clabert, 44, of New Orleans, who collects Fords that include a 1926 Model T, a 1965 Shelby Mustang and a mid-engine 2020 Ford GT. “And with this GTD, Ford is showing that it is leading the way in investing in cutting-edge industry tech.”

If the Mustang GT3 racer’s goal is to beat Porsche at Le Mans, then the GTD’s goal is nothing short of challenging the industry’s production performance standard, the Porsche 911 GT3 RS — and its 6:44.8-minute lap around the famed 13-mile Nürburgring race track in Germany.

“This is an extremely athletic Mustang,” said Mustang brand manager Jim Owens of the GTD that will be open to order across the globe from North America to Europe to the Middle East. “It’s more Pat Mahomes than Ben Roethlisberger. It will change hearts and minds about American muscle cars.”

Scottsdale, Arizona’s Chip Beck, a Mustang GT350 and Ford GT owner, is moderator of the U.S. Ford GT Forum and came across the pond to join Mustang’s European invasion. He has his eye on a GTD.

“The Le Mans car, the GTD, this is the whole ball of wax,” he said with a smile. “People here in Europe buy V-8 Mustangs to create a stir. And now Ford is racing a Mustang here that people want to drive to work every day.”

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

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