Here’s a total blind item, but yesterday we mentioned that there’s a very special event we were attending during Monterey Car Week. We’ve got a little more information and it seems like a very special iteration of the Mustang will be revealed on Thursday. What is it? I’ve got a few guesses.
First, here’s the image that’s on the invite:
It only shows up for a second and vanishes. It’s quite clearly the modern Mustang logo, just redone in carbon fiber. The 2024 Ford Mustang GT is already quite the car, with Thomas noting:
Even taking minor quibbles into account, the 2024 Ford Mustang GT is the best Mustang GT yet. Effortlessly quick, incredibly easy to live with, and completely devoid of truly serious vices. The rough edges of America’s pony car have been polished off, much like the personal growth we undergo as we age.
Then, of course, there’s the Dark Horse and Dark Horse R that’s getting its own racing series. Here’s what the Dark Horse R nose looks like, with a flat badge:
Here’s an even more closeup/closeup:
So that’s probably not it, though it’s possible (even though the secrecy wouldn’t make any sense).
Given the proximity of the Mustang to Laguna Seca, is it wild to think that maybe Ford is resurrecting the Laguna Seca moniker used on the Boss 302 Laguna Seca Mustang from 2012 to 2013? These highly limited high performance pony cars are some of the most sought after and admired models.
The Boss 302 came in two forms: The ‘regular’ Boss 302 took the then-new Coyote 5.0-liter V8 and gave it a new intake manifold, new cylinder heads, hotter gams, larger valves, and some other tricks to squeeze out 444 horsepower. It was such a cool project that a Ford marketing exec snuck out to California for the reveal. From a Car And Driver test of the vehicle:
[He] didn’t have to fly to California for the debut of the Mustang Boss 302. No one told him to. He came anyway. “I’ve been driving my own Mustang right through the past two Michigan winters thinking about this project,” he says. “From a business standpoint, the Boss 302 shouldn’t have happened. But it happened. My dream for the car was that it would make a lot of money for a guy street racing. It should be a car that winds up on YouTube doing something illegal. I’ve been waiting 20-plus years to launch a car like this.”
That exec, of course, is current Ford CEO and occasional visitor Jim Farley. Hmm…
Along with the Boss 302 came the even faster and racier Laguna Seca version with Recaro racing buckets, a Torsen limited-slip diff, and a big x-brace where the rear seats are supposed to be. Only 750 of those were made.
Of course, I’m making a huge leap from Ford is showing a carbon fiber badge to a new Laguna Seca (Dark Horse Laguna Seca?). It could also be the long rumored Mustang Raptor. That would also be dope. What do you think it is?
Update: According to Ford Authority sources, this new Mustang is a mid-engine Mustang:
As a matter of fact, this upcoming mid-engine Mustang has already been shown to a select group of individuals in Las Vegas, who got to see the vehicle yesterday, August 14th, 2023. The public reveal will occur this Thursday at a special event in Pebble Beach, California. Sources say the vehicle will be built by Multimatic and it will be a Mustang branded vehicle, but it does not utilize the S650 platform.
Damn!
What if it’s the GTD pro imsa car announcement?
I have a photo of it, just don’t know how to post it
Hopefully it looks better than Chevy’s midengined effort…
Oh dang, I was right!
Not sure how I feel about a mid-engine Mustang if the front engine ones are still going to be around. It better have a very distinct naming scheme or non-car nuts are going to get confused. I’m thinking Cobra or Daytona for anything mid engined
Ford already shit on the mustang name by calling a midsize crossover a mustang.
A mid-engined racecar is a step up
I mean, you right
The first Ford to wear a Mustang badge was mid-engined!
https://www.supercars.net/blog/1962-ford-mustang-concept/1962_ford_mustangiconcept2/
>hotter gams
I get it, but that’s probably not the word you were aiming for
Check out the gams on that Mustang!
Yeah! My first thought was Great Gam Gam from Beerfest.
Could it be a 7.3L “Godzilla”stuffed into the S650 chassis?
Son of Boss 429 (technically 445ci)?
Be still my heart!
Taking a Godzilla and reducing the stroke to bring it to 429 cid would let it rev a bit more.
According to my feed, Ford Authority is saying it may be a mid-engined Mustang.
Like the GT is kinda returning, just now as part of “the Mustang family?”
So I guess means eventually Ford will sell only Mustangs, Broncos, and F-series pickups. Sigh.
Mid engined Mustang? Ooooooooh!
Branding issues aside, that sounds cool.
In the future, all restaurants are Taco Bell and all cars are Mustangs.
Actually, that’s a future I’d be in favor of.
I duuno…I’m not too confident in my ability to figure out the three seashells.
Mustang Raptor? Why the heck not!
Hoping for a Boss 302, expecting a ‘dark’ version of whatever the electric one is called..
Dark Horse S
*whispers*
The S197 Boss 302 is one of the best performance per dollar values on the market right now
…with that out of the way, it sure would be cool to see it come back. I’m also crossing my fingers that the Voodoo V8 makes a triumphant return because it’s a spectacular engine. It’s…definitely not the most reliable of the assorted Mustang V8s but I don’t care. It revs out to 8,000 RPM.
But I have a bad feeling this is going to be a stupid Mach E thing to try to drum up interest for them since they’re not selling. I don’t think they’re going to announce a new Mustang variant this early in the model cycle, especially since they launched it with the Dark Horse.
I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. Mach E something or other.
“My dream for the car was that it would make a lot of money for a guy street racing. It should be a car that winds up on YouTube doing something illegal.”
Jim Farley is an asshole.
I was a little surprised by/don’t totally get that quote myself. When I think of a Boss 302, I think of Parnelli Jones, a uniquely American road racing series, and a factory race car meant to be driven by professionals.
I always took his sentiment more as meaning he didn’t want collectors buying them and sticking them away in bubbles, they were supposed to be driven and/or abused a little.
I like your take, hope it’s true. Just seemed odd to not reference track use in some way. Woulda thought Ford was too focused…after all, at this point, it’d clearly made the decision to produce the GT and reenter endurance racing.
There are plenty of ways to express that sentiment without using illegal and dangerous activities. He chose not one, but two, of the wrong ways.
He swings a bat around in meetings and points it at people when he wants them to talk. I’m not saying that makes you an asshole, but…
Does he bash someone’s head in occasionally, Al Capone style?
Is he truly a leader without bashing heads?
Three-row Mustang Mach-E the size of an Expedition
Maybe it’s the second coming of the ’80s SVO Mustang idea, except this time with a ecoboost V6 (but hopefully still with that cool offset hood scoop and bi-wing spoiler).
But it’s probably just another member of the Mustang “family”…a slightly sportier variant of the Mach-E I bet. Mach-E Boss-E trim. Sigh.
Can’t be a SVO without a high-output 4 cylinder. I guarantee Ford can get 400hp out of the 2.3 Ecoboost. I still say Ford would rather forget the original SVO. And I say that as the owner of a 1986 about 25 feet behind me. Hell, we got 350 whp out of the SOHC Lima in it and a lot of other people have gotten way more than that.
I’d be fine with a performance version of the 2.3, esp. if a manual would be available!
I was just trying to think outside the box, as Ford might…what would be around/readily usable, something to generate interest, etc. Be cool if some of the SVO’s handling goodies were available too…didn’t they have Koni adjustable dampers standard?
Yep. Also a Hurst shifter, 4 wheel disk brakes and a few other special items.
I see you, fellow SVO owner (two of them about 100 feet to my left).
Hi, Stinger! The clutch, PIMP and several other parts came from you.
So, a Mustang SHO?
Of which, looks aside, that would be SWEET.
I also own a 2013 SHO. The 3.5 Ecoboost is a great engine, maintenance issues aside, but it’s just not right for a reborn SVO.
Which is why I’m saying SHO, and not SVO.
Using “idea” means, to me, that they’re thinking that they’re going to do a performance version of the Mustang that’s not a V8, and the only next logical step is one of the twin turbo V6’s Ford’s been using for years.
I’m just imagining a Mustang SHO: a lightweight Laguna Seca-esqe car with the 2.7 EB (or 3L, if it also has the lighter CGI block, because IIRC, the 3.5 uses iron) would be cool af.
Yea, but the SHO has always been a four door. Don’t get me wrong, I think the 3.5 would be awesome in a Mustang, I’d just call it something else. Oh, did the article mention Raptor Mustang? No, don’t do that either.
Resurrect the Grande trim. Haha!
I was thinking just what you were – what would Ford do that it isn’t currently, as as way to generate interest?