Ford could soon be battling for Bathurst glory with a Mustang of a very different kind.
The Blue Oval has teased its upcoming Mustang GT3, which will be eligible to take on Porsche, Bentley, McLaren, and Ferrari in endurance events such as Australia’s own Bathurst 12 Hour.
You’ll have to wait a while, though. The Mustang GT3 isn’t due to make its debut until 2024, which means it’s likely to be based on the next-generation model instead of the current car. Power will come from a 5.0-litre Coyote V8 engine.
“Mustang was born to race from the start and we’re thrilled to introduce the GT3 version to compete head-to-head against some of the greatest manufacturers in the world,” said Mark Rushbrook, Ford Performance Motorsports global director.
“With 58 years of global endurance racing heritage, including NASCAR and Australian Supercars today, we are ready to take Mustang to the next level of global performance.”
The GT3 racer bears no relation to the Gen3 Supercars racer debuted at the Bathurst 1000 in 2021.
Automotive News reports the new Mustang, codenamed S650, will arrive for the 2023 model year. That indicates it’ll debut in 2022.
The news came out of a meeting in Dallas, Texas between Ford executives and a large group of dealers, where the executives shared Ford’s product plans.
A hybrid model is reportedly slated for 2025, though it’s unclear if this will be a series or plug-in hybrid and what engine it’ll be mated to. The S650 will reportedly have an eight-year lifecycle, roughly the same as the previous two generations.
The platform isn’t set to change much compared to the current S550, which entered production in 2014.
The US outlet reports the Mustang could, however, gain the option of all-wheel drive.
That would be a first for the Mustang. Of its two American arch-rivals, the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, only the latter offers all-wheel drive and only with the base V6.
Ford currently offers the Mustang with a choice of turbocharged 2.3-litre four-cylinder and naturally-aspirated 5.0-litre V8 engines, with a naturally-aspirated 3.7-litre V6 sold elsewhere shelved back in 2017.
In Australia, the four-cylinder High Performance puts out 236kW of power and 448Nm of torque, while the V8 produces 339kW and 556Nm in the GT and 345kW and 556Nm in the Mach 1.
Current Mustang
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