Back in January 2022, the Ford Motor Company teased the seventh-generation Mustang with a covered racing car. The GT3 machine has recently turned its first test laps at Sebring in preparation for its 2024 competitional debut. Two factory-backed cars will take part in the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year, and the all-new Mustang GT3 will also compete at Le Mans.
Ford Performance claims in the description of the featured clip that its track weapon is based on the Dark Horse. Pretty much a GT with a few go-faster upgrades, the Dark Horse is a very different animal from the racing car once you start peeling off the body panels. For starters, we’re dealing with short-long arm suspension (a.k.a. double wishbone suspension) rather than the factory MacPherson struts and integral-link rear end.
The Tremec-supplied manual transmission and the optional Ford-developed 10R80 automatic transmission of the Dark Horse are both gone in favor of a rear-mounted transaxle. Even the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 is very different from the road-going equivalent because it’s been modified to 5.4 liters. The naturally-aspirated lump is assembled in the UK by the peeps at M-Sport.
To be unveiled at the 24 Hours of Daytona next year, the Mustang GT3 will be produced by Multimatic in Canada rather than FoMoCo at the Flat Rock assembly plant in Michigan. Yet another huge difference over the Dark Horse is the carbon-fiber body, which is backed up by unique aero trickery not available on the road car.
Ford’s motorsport division won’t stop at GT3 racing with the seventh-generation Mustang, though, because a GT4-spec model is also in the offing. The Australian Supercars Championship, NASCAR, and NHRA Factory X are in the racing car’s crosshairs as well.
The Dark Horse will indeed get a couple of racing variants, beginning with the Dark Horse S. Aimed squarely at weekend track day enthusiasts, the S is a stripped-down Dark Horse with an FIA-certified safety cage, a race seat and quick-release steering wheel, electrical disconnect, a fire suppression system, an adjustable rear wing, upgraded brakes, and Multimatic DSSV (Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve) dampers.
As for the more hardcore Dark Horse R, it raises the bar with a fuel cell, Ford Performance wheels, strategic seam welding, and special serialization that approves it for racing. The next step up from the Dark Horse R is – of course – the GT4 racecar that slots below the GT3.
On public roads, however, the Dark Horse serves as the ultimate expression of the 2024 model year Mustang. Essentially the replacement for the 2023-and-earlier Mach 1, the Dark Horse carries a suggested retail price of $59,270 sans destination charge. It and the Premium specification feature limited availability for 2024, as per the Ford Motor Company’s configurator.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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