Coming Soon: New Ford Mustang Specs, price and release info

Although we had to wait 50 years for it, Ford finally officially brought the legendary Mustang to our shores – in right-hand-drive format – with the outgoing sixth-generation car in 2015. And while you might have been tempted to think that a drive towards SUVs and electrification and low-emissions motoring would have killed the Mustang off, Ford says ‘not a bit of it’… because here’s the all-new, seventh-generation model. It’s still powered by a V8 engine, but now the interior is complete with a fully high-tech, screen-heavy dashboard and lots of kit. Prices are yet to be confirmed but it’s likely to be around the same £50,000 to £60,000 ballpark as the Mk6 about to be phased out, with the all-new model due to arrive in the first quarter of 2024.
· The Mustang is currently Ford’s flagship vehicle. It is a performance/sports car, sold in either Coupe or Convertible body styles. · Trims from launch will be the regular – for want of a better word – GT model, and the more track-focused, higher-power Dark Horse. · Just an updated version of the existing 5.0-litre V8 non-turbo petrol seen in the Mk6 Mustang is confirmed for the Mk7, although it is said to make more power. Gearbox choices are a six-speed manual or ten-speed automatic. · Unconfirmed outputs for the Ford Mustang Mk7 as yet, but likely to be in the 450-460 horsepower range. · Prices and exact UK specs unconfirmed as yet, but expect them to be in the region of £50,000 to £60,000. · The all-new Mustang is slated to go on sale in the first quarter of 2024.

For the fifth-generation Mustang, which launched in 2005, Ford deliberately styled it to look like the original car of the 1960s. That trend has continued, with refinements, through the Mk6 model and now continues into this seventh-gen version. To that end, it has the familiar Mustang fastback-coupe shape – although a convertible body is also available, as usual – with a large grille flanked by triple LED headlights. That ‘three-lamps’ theme continues around the back, where the tri-bar illumination for the rear clusters is a long-held Mustang signature look – kind of like the round lights on the back of a Nissan Skyline/GT-R, for instance. The regular GT family of cars can choose from 11 body colours, two of them new, while red or black brake callipers with the Mustang logo and a choice of two designs of 19-inch alloys complete the exterior look. There is, however, more signature detailing for the higher-power Dark Horse model – as its name suggests, much of its exterior brightwork is instead either black or darkened, while a new forward-facing ‘Dark Horse’ logo replaces the traditional side-on galloping mustang motif. The Dark Horse exclusively has access to another paint colour, Blue Ember, which brings the total palette to choices to 12.

The big change inside is the heavily digitised driver interface. Although the Mk6 had a digital instrument cluster and a touch-screen for its SYNC 3 infotainment, the former was housed in a traditional ‘two-tube’ instrument binnacle while the latter, well… wasn’t very big or advanced. But the new car changes all that, with a huge 12.4-inch screen display behind the thicker, flat-bottomed steering wheel segueing neatly into a 13.2-inch centre panel for the updated SYNC 4 software. Equipment highlights include wireless smartphone charging, a B&O 12-speaker sound system, and a wealth of advanced driver assist technology that promises to boost the Mustang’s formerly underwhelming Euro NCAP safety scores.

Although exact output and economy details are scarce at this stage, Ford has at least confirmed the 5.0-litre V8 under the Mustang Mk7’s bonnet is a “new Gen IV engine providing even greater response and performance”. Previously, the regular GT Mustang V8 made 450 horsepower and faster derivatives, like the Bullitt and Mach 1 models, had 460 horsepower. The new engine features a new induction system, while elsewhere the steering has been enhanced with a quicker ratio for better cornering. The two gearboxes from before, a six-speed manual and a ten-speed automatic, are carried over, while other equipment here includes a Performance Pack with bespoke 19-inch alloys, a sport limited-slip differential, 19-inch Brembo brakes and an Active Valve Exhaust set-up. Ford’s MagneRide active suspension will be an option on the GT, although it’ll be standard on the Dark Horse, as will the Performance Pack – and the Dark Horse is a model which, although we have no firm numbers, will have even more power than the Mk7 GT.

Prices for the new Ford Mustang haven’t been confirmed yet. When the Mk6 went off sale in the UK, a 5.0 GT Coupe was £50,315-£52,315, depending on which gearbox it had, while the Convertible was £3,500 more model-for-model. A California special edition of the Convertible was more like £55,500-£57,000, while the Mach 1 – probably the equivalent of the incoming Dark Horse – was in excess of £60,000. It is not unreasonable to imagine that the Mk7’s prices will either be the same or even a bit more than these figures.

Probably the big one is the Ford Explorer, an all-electric SUV that’s all-new to the company’s line-up. It has also just released its latest version of the Ranger pick-up truck, complete with a demented Raptor flagship version, while an electrified Puma compact crossover and a revised Kuga are on the horizon too. No replacement for the Fiesta, though; after 47 years on sale, the last Fiesta rolled off the production line in July 2023.

Audi is readying a new A5 for 2024, which will likely include S5 and RS 5 high-performance variants – both of which could be considered Mustang rivals. Also, Mercedes has made the bold move of replacing four model lines and replacing them with just one – the forthcoming CLE Coupe is a car designed to span all of the old C-Class Coupe, C-Class Cabriolet, E-Class Coupe and E-Class Cabriolet lines. No doubt the CLE will soon spawn an open-top derivative to go up against the Mustang Convertible, while AMG will also likely get its hands on the CLE and give it the sort of power to bring the Mustang Dark Horse out in cold sweats. Beyond that, BMW’s 4 Series family continues as a rival for the Ford.

There’s no doubting the seventh-generation Ford Mustang really looks the business on the outside, while the continuation of the combo of a 5.0-litre V8, rear-wheel drive and a manual gearbox option makes the American sports icon something truly unique in modern motoring. The Dark Horse also looks like a cool new addition to the Mustang canon, so really the only big question marks relate to three things: how much is the new Mustang going to cost?; will the Dark Horse actually gain any power over the old Mach?; and how intuitive is that massively tech-heavy interior going to be? Mustang traditionalists probably ain’t gonna like it, but if it has smooth and easy-to-use interfaces, it could be a game-changer in the long history of this venerable Ford.