Ford’s fastest ever Mustang production car will be one of the most expensive and exclusive road-legal pony cars ever sold by the Blue Oval, but despite the importance of this country’s auto market and premier motorsport series to the performance model line, the record-setting coupe won’t be sold in Australia.
The Ford Mustang GTD is a GT3 racing-inspired version of the iconic pony car, and it just became the first US production vehicle to lap the Nürburgring Nordschliefe in less than seven minutes.
Think of it as Ford’s take on the Porsche 911 GT3, though the Mustang GTD is about as far removed from the regular Mustang as you can get, thanks to it bespoke suspension, wild aerodynamics and 600kW supercharged V8 engine.
While none of these elements alone would usually prevent it from being sold here, the GTD will remain out of bounds for Australians.
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That’s because it’s being built exclusively in left-hand drive, unlike mainstream Mustang variants that roll off the Flat Rock, Michigan production line for both left- and right-hand drive markets including ours.
Speaking to CarExpert, Greg Goodall – Ford’s Chief Program Engineer for the Mustang GTD – said the model’s track-heavy focus made right-hand drive manufacture a compromise the Blue Oval brand was unwilling to make.
“That’s a difficult question to answer,” Mr Goodall said when asked why right-hand drive was off the cards for the GTD.
“There’s a finite amount of money, there’s a finite amount of time. We really needed to have the team focused on delivering a single variant that was just everything it could be.
“The right-hand drive [version] just isn’t something that we were able to accomplish.
“We’re really proud of what we have and we hope that Australians can get to drive it somehow, because we care about you, but unfortunately there’s just no right-hand version at this time.”
Aussies shouldn’t be too disappointed about missing out on the Mustang GTD, however, as it will only be built in strictly limited numbers across the 2025 and 2026 model years, priced at around US$325,000 (A$508,000) in North America.
Earlier this year, Ford said it’d received more than 7500 expressions of interest for its new hero model, but not all of these buyers might get one due to the production constraints.
It’s a similar situation in Australia with the local Mustang flagship, the Dark Horse. Despite being produced in unlimited numbers in the US, only 1000 examples of the Dark Horse will be imported Down Under, and all of them were accounted for before first local deliveries took place.
This is despite Australia playing an important role in the global launch of the new-generation S650-series Mustang.
The local Supercars Championship was the first racing series worldwide to see the model on track, which resulted in a win in its debut race – albeit after the pair of Chevrolet Camaros that finished 1-2 were disqualified.
Ford’s Mustang GTD is about as close to Australia’s showroom-spec Mustang as the Supercars racer is (ie: not very).
The Mustang GTD’s supercharged 5.2-litre ‘Predator’ V8 is understood to have been taken from the previous-generation Shelby GT500 and F-150 Raptor R, making it very different to the 5.0-litre ‘Coyote’ in the regular Mustang.
It sends drive to the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transaxle, which incorporates the transmission and differential in a single rear-mounted unit.
The double-wishbone front suspension and pushrod rear suspension incorporate Adaptive Spool Valve shock absorbers and coil-over springs, helping keep control of the Mustang GTD in tandem with 20-inch wheels (shod in Michelin Cup 2 tyres) and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes.
An optional performance pack – fitted to the example which set the ‘Ring time – includes significant cosmetic changes such as front aerodynamic dive planes, a larger splitter, underbody aero, a Formula 1-style rear wing drag reduction system, sound deadening removal and 20-inch magnesium wheels.
Inside is where the GTD looks more like a Mustang GT, though the cabin comprises unique Recaro seats, bespoke display graphics, titanium gear paddles, a ‘track apps’ button and a front suspension lift button.
Behind the front occupants sits a clear window rather than seats, allowing them to view the bespoke pushrod suspension of the GTD.
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