Upcoming Ford Mustang GTD Shares Race Car DNA

There’s a good reason that the upcoming Ford Mustang GTD production car looks a lot like a roadgoing race car. It more or less is.

Expected to drop next year, the Mustang GTD is a sharp departure from other production Mustangs, even the Dark Horse. With a carbon-fiber widebody, massive wing, and a semi-active suspension, the GTD is clearly intended to be a track toy.

There’s a big difference between looking the part and performing like a race car, though. That’s why Ford has partnered with Multimatic to pattern the GTD off of the Mustang GT3 racing program.

According to Car and Driver, a street-legal version of the Mustang GT3 race car was planned more or less from the beginning. You can thank Ford CEO and racing enthusiast Jim Farley for that. It’s been somewhat of a passion project for him.

A Business Case for High Performance

No matter how passionate the CEO is about a project, there has to be a business case for it. According to Mark Rushbrook, the global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, there was. Since Mustangs are now being sold throughout the world, Ford wants Mustangs racing on tracks everywhere, every weekend. It’ll help build the brand.

That also means a roadgoing version of their GT3 race car. After all, the 911 GT3 RS has been
wildly successful among Porsche aficionados across several generations. Why should they have all the fun?

The Mustang GT3 race car is itself derived from the Dark Horse. For the Mustang GTD, the race-spec additions were modified for hybrid street/track use by Multimatic, who also developed the GT3.

Situated in Moorseville, North Carolina – the heart of NASCAR country – Multimatic knows a thing or two about motorsports. They’ve also developed the Bronco DR to tackle the intense SCORE Baja 1000, as well as the Ford GT Mk IV for endurance racing. It’s this close relationship with Ford that allowed the Mustang GTD road car to take shape.

Of course, don’t expect to get your hands on a Mustang GTD any time soon. They’re set to drop for the 2025 model year, and production will be ultra-limited. With an asking price projected in the neighborhood of $300,000, it’ll be the most expensive new Ford Mustang ever.

Photos: Ford

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Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.
He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.
In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.
You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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