Ford has taken the automotive world by surprise with its unveiling of the Mustang GTD, effectively a road-legal version of the Mustang GT3 race car designed to “take on the best of European sports cars.”
The 2025 Mustang GTD has been developed alongside Ford’s Mustang GT3 which is set to make a return to Le Mans next year, with the company adding that it has been designed to go even faster than the race car that it’s based on.
It’s been developed by the same team responsible for the Mustang GT3 with the aim of becoming the fastest roadgoing Mustang to date with a sub-7-minute lap around the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Underneath that long, aggressive bonnet, Ford is targeting power outputs in excess of 595kW from the 5.2-litre supercharged V8 which revs out to a 7500rpm redline.
The specialised 5.2-litre V8 has picked up a dry-sump oil system for the first time in a roadgoing Mustang, with an imposing soundtrack provided by a bespoke titanium exhaust with active valves.
Power is thrown to the rear wheels via a new carbon fibre driveshaft paired with an eight-speed automatic transaxle for a near 50/50 weight distribution.
Underneath, there’s a set of adaptive dampers with hydraulic springs allowing for a 40mm lower ride height in track mode, alongside a four-inch track extension over the standard Mustang GT.
Up front, there’s a short-long arm suspension setup, while the rear receives an integral link pushrod and rocker arm setup with adaptive shock absorbers and coil-over springs.
The Mustang GTD comes riding on a set of 20-inch forged aluminium wheels – with the option of forged magnesium wheels – wrapped in rubber measuring 325mm front and 345mm at the rear, with a set of carbon ceramic brake rotors hiding in the arches.
Inside, the cockpit has been updated with a set of Recaro race seats, suede, leather and carbon fibre trim, as well as 3D-printed titanium interior highlights made from a retired Lockheed Martin F-22 figher jet.
Ford says that Mustang GTD will be available in the latter stages of 2024, or more likely the start of 2025, with prices standing at a commanding USD $300,000 (around $468,000 with today’s conversion rate).
“Mustang GTD shatters every preconceived notion of a supercar,” says Ford’s President & CEO, Jim Farley.
“This is a new approach for us… we didn’t engineer a road car for the track, we created a race car for the road.”
“Mustang GTD takes racing technology from our Mustang GT3 race car, wraps it in a carbon fibre Mustang body and unleashes it for the street.”
