The Limited Edition Performance Vehicle Was Designed in Parallel with the New Mustang GT3
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If race fans thought the recently revealed Ford Mustang GT3 that will compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship starting in 2024 was something special, wait until they get a look at the road-going version of the iconic pony car.
Ford Performance made fans of the legendary American sports car salivate Thursday night by revealing the 2025 Mustang GTD, a “race car for the road” inspired by and based on the Mustang GT3 competition car that will debut at the 2024 Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Named for the IMSA Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class, one of the classes in which the Mustang GT3 will be fielded, the limited-edition Mustang GTD is packed with what Ford calls “technology that goes beyond racing” in a quest to take on the most renowned production performance cars in the world.
The Mustang GTD, a street-legal performance car, features a supercharged, dry-sump 5.2-liter V-8 engine targeted to produce 800 horsepower, mated to a rear-mounted, eight-speed, dual-clutch transaxle. The car features hydraulic semi-active suspension that can vary spring rates and ride height settings for track or street conditions, as well as active aerodynamic technology.
It’s all clothed in “aerodynamics driven” carbon fiber bodywork with prominent vents and a substantial rear wing that literally screams “race car for the road.”
That carbon bodywork, along with a carbon fiber driveshaft and available ceramic brakes, titanium exhaust and magnesium wheels, reduces weight to improve vehicle dynamics in the ultimate quest for lap time.
“The hardware has been carefully selected and developed to enable blistering lap time performance,” confirmed Greg Goodall, Ford chief program engineer, “The target for this project was clear – go much, much faster than we’ve ever gone before, with a targeted sub-7-minute Nürburgring (lap) time. This makes it the fastest roadgoing Mustang ever from Ford.”
The Mustang GTD was developed in great secrecy in a skunk works in Allen Park, Michigan, with the project driven by Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company president and CEO. A self-proclaimed car guy, Farley occasionally races a Mustang GT4 in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and competes in vintage racing.
“Mustang GTD represents the very best of Ford Motor Company and what our team needs to do every day,” Farley said. “This is what happens when we take what we’re good at and push the boundaries to see where the bubble stops. It represents the essence of the transformation we’re going through at Ford, from software to special edition cars.
“This is our company,” he added. “We’re throwing down the gauntlet, and saying, ‘Come and get it!’”
The GTD was created in collaboration with Multimatic, a longtime partner of Ford Performance that handled the development work for the new competition GT3 and GT4 versions of the Mustang, as well as the Ford GT that competed in IMSA from 2016-19.
“We are extremely proud of our work on the Mustang GTD,” stated Larry Holt, executive vice president, Multimatic Special Vehicle Operations. “It showcases our state-of-the-art DSSV spool valve suspension technology, with features not even allowed in racing. The Mustang GTD sets a new benchmark for road-going racers, and we can’t wait for clients to experience the thrill of driving it.”
As a strict two-seater, the Mustang GTD’s chief objective is track performance. But the interior will be trimmed in premium materials, with Miko suede, leather and carbon fiber, highlighted by titanium trim pieces made from retired Lockheed Martin F-22 parts.
Every Mustang GTD will start life in Michigan at Ford’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant south of Detroit, before its transformation at Multimatic in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The car will carry a price commensurate with its exclusivity, starting at approximately $300,000 MSRP.
For those interested in acquiring a Mustang that Farley says “shatters every preconceived notion of a supercar,” deliveries are expected to start in the last quarter of 2024.