Photo: the_kyza / Instagram
Without even putting too much thought into it, the muscle car era as we know it is coming to an end. Luckily, almost everyone is chipping in to make it a memorable send-off.
Aside from General Motors and its iconic Chevy Camaro, that is. Instead, they are ending the sixth-generation production next January after a range-wide Collector's Edition and a 56-unit Garage 56 ZL1 special edition. We sure hope that they're saving the best for last. Otherwise, they will go down in history as the ones with yet another missed opportunity.
Mopar enthusiasts, meanwhile, had no less than seven 'Last Call' special editions to choose from the 2023 model year of the Dodge Challenger and Charger. The culmination, of course, is a 3,300-unit run of the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, a mind-bending street-legal drag racer with no less than 1,025 horsepower on E85 plus a secret Jailbreak version, all thunderously signaling the end of the brand's V8 muscle cars.
Alone, Ford Motor Company will soldier on for at least a few more model years with the newly introduced S650 Ford Mustang that's allegedly ready to hit dealerships just before the summer runs out its natural course. And since August was the ripest month of the automotive year so far, with the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ, and a multitude of impressive new model introductions during Monterey Car Week, the Blue Oval joined the party with something that made fans reap tears of joy and sadness.
The Ford Mustang GTD (D comes from Daytona?) is basically a street-legal version of the Ford Mustang GT3 racecar that will compete during the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year and in other endurance competitions. It's a limited-edition, $300k (hence the tears of sadness) coupe with the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood making in excess of 800 horsepower (hence the tears of happiness) and fitted with an extensive list of motorsport-derived and other technical innovations.
Naturally, everyone has an opinion on the matter – some even lamenting the rumor mill's failure to predict that it won't be a mid-engine supercar. Most thoughts on the matter are positive, especially since Ford claims the Mustang GTD will be the fastest road-going version of the series in history. They're also targeting a Nürburgring Nordschleife time, although, at the moment, the car's sprint to 60 mph and top speed remain undisclosed.
And while thoughts bounce back and forth, they also careen into parallel universes – such as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. More precisely, Khyzyl Saleem, the virtual artist better known as the_kyza on social media, is a bit late at the CGI-slammed widebody Mustang GTD party but compensates with a ruse – while his fans were busy discussing the good and the bad of the official Mustang GTD he went to work and created an alternative.
His vision is simple – what if he had some fun and slightly altered the Mustang GT3 format to make it street-legal across imagination land? The author even acknowledged that Ford Performance did all the hard work, and the pixel master only had to remove the bonkers wing, slightly drop the stance even further, and add much larger wheels plus a stock spoiler. So, do you like it better than the Mustang GTD or not?
Mopar enthusiasts, meanwhile, had no less than seven 'Last Call' special editions to choose from the 2023 model year of the Dodge Challenger and Charger. The culmination, of course, is a 3,300-unit run of the 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170, a mind-bending street-legal drag racer with no less than 1,025 horsepower on E85 plus a secret Jailbreak version, all thunderously signaling the end of the brand's V8 muscle cars.
Alone, Ford Motor Company will soldier on for at least a few more model years with the newly introduced S650 Ford Mustang that's allegedly ready to hit dealerships just before the summer runs out its natural course. And since August was the ripest month of the automotive year so far, with the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser, 2024 Hyundai Santa Fe, 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ, and a multitude of impressive new model introductions during Monterey Car Week, the Blue Oval joined the party with something that made fans reap tears of joy and sadness.
The Ford Mustang GTD (D comes from Daytona?) is basically a street-legal version of the Ford Mustang GT3 racecar that will compete during the 24 Hours of Le Mans next year and in other endurance competitions. It's a limited-edition, $300k (hence the tears of sadness) coupe with the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 under the hood making in excess of 800 horsepower (hence the tears of happiness) and fitted with an extensive list of motorsport-derived and other technical innovations.
Naturally, everyone has an opinion on the matter – some even lamenting the rumor mill's failure to predict that it won't be a mid-engine supercar. Most thoughts on the matter are positive, especially since Ford claims the Mustang GTD will be the fastest road-going version of the series in history. They're also targeting a Nürburgring Nordschleife time, although, at the moment, the car's sprint to 60 mph and top speed remain undisclosed.
And while thoughts bounce back and forth, they also careen into parallel universes – such as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. More precisely, Khyzyl Saleem, the virtual artist better known as the_kyza on social media, is a bit late at the CGI-slammed widebody Mustang GTD party but compensates with a ruse – while his fans were busy discussing the good and the bad of the official Mustang GTD he went to work and created an alternative.
His vision is simple – what if he had some fun and slightly altered the Mustang GT3 format to make it street-legal across imagination land? The author even acknowledged that Ford Performance did all the hard work, and the pixel master only had to remove the bonkers wing, slightly drop the stance even further, and add much larger wheels plus a stock spoiler. So, do you like it better than the Mustang GTD or not?
Google News