When Ford announced the Mustang GTD, it opened up a gulf the size of the Grand Canyon between the most-expensive Mustang and the trim below. Six figures, 315 horsepower, one serious delta. Perhaps because nature abhors a vacuum, a supercharged Mustang Dark Horse SC is on the way to fill that gap, but even as this supercharged dual-clutch GT500 successor rolled onto auto show floors, I was worried about how expensive it would be. After all, if a regular Dark Horse can be loaded up to $88,045 if you throw pretty much the whole book of factory options at it, what’s its supercharged big brother going to cost? Well, now we know.
On Monday, Ford confirmed Mustang Dark Horse SC pricing to Motor1, and it’s enough to make your head spin. The cheapest new factory-supercharged pony car will start at $103,490 before freight and PDI, and breaching the six-figure mark is only the start. Want the Track Pack that includes carbon ceramic brakes, Michelin Pilot Cup 2R tires, and extra aero bits? That’ll be $139,990 before freight and such. Oh, and it doesn’t end there. There’s a Mustang Dark Horse SC Track Pack Special Edition with extra cosmetic bits coming for $170,970. No, that’s not a typo.
While it’s all well and good that Ford’s about to offer a factory-supercharged Mustang substantially cheaper than a GTD, $170,970 is a biblical amount of money to spend on a mass-produced variant of a car that effectively starts at $34,635, including freight in four-cylinder trim. In fact, you could buy a V8-powered Mustang from every generation for the price of a Dark Horse SC Track Pack Special Edition. Shall we go window shopping?
Right off the rip, a brand new base Mustang GT starts at $48,555 including freight, and we’re going to want at least something new with a warranty and all that here, just in case. The outgoing S550 Mustang might be a late-model car, but the thought of theoretically always having a functional set of wheels is nice when the majority of this fantasy garage exceeds two decades old. Of course, that move immediately cuts our remaining budget down to $122,415 for six generations of Mustang, or an average of $20,402.50 per Mustang. No sweat.
The S550 Mustang, introduced for 2015, was a landmark evolution in the history of the pony car. It was the first generation to ditch the live axle completely in favor of independent rear suspension across all trim levels, and the GT’s carryover Coyote V8 had more than enough grunt to take advantage. The sensible catch within our theoretical budget would be a GT with the Performance Package because it added serious suspension revisions, chassis stiffening, big brakes, and a Torsen helical limited-slip differential, among other things. Here’s one for sale in Texas with 129,084 miles and a slightly questionable vehicle history report. That front-end damage entry doesn’t really help stereotypes. Still, it’s a row-your-own V8 Mustang with factory go-fast goodies for $19,971, leaving us with a remaining budget of $102,444.
Jumping back another generation, I have a feeling that the S197 Mustang will be seriously collectable someday. Not only is the 2005 model one of the few retro cars that’s actually aging well, but it spawned some absolute scorchers. From the five-liter Coyote V8-powered Mustang GT to the Boss 302 to the FR500C race car, Ford sort of spoiled us with this one, which is why I’m picking this 2009 Mustang Shelby GT500 for this challenge. Sure, it’s not the fastest or best Mustang of this generation. It’s barely quicker than a 2011 Mustang GT, but it’s also a poster car for anyone who grew up in the 2000s. At the time, 500 horsepower was an enormous number, and Shelby’s an iconic name no matter the era. One-owner, 55,301 miles, asking price of $22,900, job done. Tempted? I did write a little buyer’s guide if you’re interested.
Okay, $79,544 remaining, four generations of Mustang to go. That’s $19,886 per car, and um, I’m about to blow the budget. Yeah, this thing’s a drop-top, but it’s still a Terminator Cobra, pretty much the defining Mustang of the entire fourth generation. Picture this: It’s 2003, the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Trans Am are down and out, and Ford throws maximum effort at the SN95 Mustang by taking the independent rear suspension-equipped Cobra and then supercharging it to 390 horsepower. This black-over-red example with 97,128 miles on the clock is up for sale in Texas for $27,000. Thank goodness the generations of Mustang preceding it are still fairly cheap.
The Fox Body Mustang might be the greatest generation after the first one. It started off as a sleek vision of the ’80s that just didn’t look back, and finished its run handing out knuckle sandwiches to Corvettes courtesy of five liters of mayhem. It’s no surprise that nice examples fetch big money, but you can still find proper dirtbag-spec projects. This slightly dusty 1986 Mustang GT convertible up for sale in Long Beach is something of a time capsule, from the period-correct chrome fender lips to the rear wing. It’s a proper project, but it has the right engine, the right five-speed transmission, and the right price of $5,500.
Alright, Mustang II time. The least-loved generation of Mustang, but one that pretty much nailed its briefing. Not only was it downsized right on schedule for a decade of fuel crises, its independent front suspension quickly became a hot-rodding mainstay. While variants like the King Cobra would eventually put chest hair on your chest hair with malaise-era stickers-and-stripes machismo, this weathered 1977 Ghia model is calling my name. It’s a historically accurate depiction of the mid-’70s pony car, an automatic California runabout that’s an unquestionable survivor. Sure, the vinyl top might be shot, and not everyone’s a fan of patinated paint, but it’s such a cigarette-haze snapshot for $3,500. What’s under the hood? A small block of some sort, probably a 302 Windsor. Good enough to get the job done.
Two project cars theoretically acquired leaves us $43,544 to go big with a 1965-to-1973 Mustang. The thing is, Detroit restyled its cars so often during this period that each pair of years is dramatically different. The classically pretty original, the more aggressive 1967 model, the wide ’69, or the borderline-personal-luxury-coupe of the early ’70s. Look, can you blame me for being cliched here? This 1965 Mustang coupe might not be a Highland Green ’67 fastback, or a yellow 1971 Sportsroof, but there’s just something right about it. That blue paint with the vinyl top, that matching interior, that borderline agricultural three-speed manual, that cromulent 289-cubic-inch V8. It’s a bit like watching a replay of the cosmic big bang – it all started here. However, it’s not listed for north of $40,000. Its selling dealer is only asking $26,997.
I don’t doubt that the new Mustang Dark Horse SC will be astoundingly quick. We’re talking more than 700 horsepower, a dual-clutch transmission, a familiar heart with some fresh speed tweaks on top. However, for the price of its most expensive variant, seven different V8 Mustangs and more than $16,000 to spend on driving them home is a full spectrum of experience. Fuel-injected, supercharged, carbureted, automatic, manual, coupe, convertible, fast, slow, every decade, every era. It’s all here. Not a bad way to spend the better part of $170,000. Of course, it’s a lot easier to store and stay on top of one car rather than the needs of seven, but man. A fully loaded Mustang Dark Horse SC Track Pack Special Edition is just so much money, I’ll take the family tree instead.
Top graphic images: Ford, Autotrader sellers, Craigslist sellers, cars.com seller
It feels like Ford is trying to make the Mustang into a 911, and I’m not sure thats gonna work.
Astute observation I think – it’s like Ford is now replicating the VW Beetle/Porsche 356, 911 trajectory but within a single model instead of two different ones.
I rationally get it (and love the racing connections), but I reflexively recoil at America’s small-d democratic performance car hitting such a pricetag. Wasn’t that long ago that if you worked for a living, you could pretty easily afford a V8 (or mid-level) Mustang. Now, as it’s morphed from a pony car to a sports car, that seems to be – slowly -slipping away.
I find it interesting how a Corvette ZR1 is a hop, skip, and a jump away ($15k more) with substantially more everything in terms of performance. It sure does look nice however, but 170k nice? 8 ball is telling me to ask again.
Hitting the 8 ball is what Ford marketing people did to create a $170K Mustang.