Is this Ford's new V8 Supercar?
Is this the Ford’s next V8 Supercar?
It’s the sixth generation of Ford’s iconic Mustang and it had its reveal Thursday night in Sydney simultaneously with five other global venues.
It will go on-sale in Australia in 2015, the year before the locally-built Falcon sedan is scheduled to cease production.
When the Falcon does die, Mustang will become Ford Australia’s only V8 performance model and therefore the prime candidate to become the basis of its V8 Supercar.
Of course V8 Supercars would first have to expand the technical regulations of the category to allow two-door coupes to compete.
It’s a move that has been discussed, although in only preliminary terms at this stage. The backers think it would not only potentially benefit Ford but also plenty of other brands that have ‘halo’ two-door performance cars.
We’ve reported the discussion previously here.
“I expect it is going to look pretty bloody sexy,” enthused Ford Performance Racing boss Tim Edwards of the new Mustang. “It would be pretty exciting to race it if that’s the direction they decided they wanted to go.
“The coupe thing would be fantastic, we could just roll back to 1977 and do the one-two thing with the two coupes,” said Edwards, referring to the famed Moffat Ford Dealer Team triumph in Falcon XC Coupes.
“The dream is getting better and better.”
Of course, the Mustang does have Australian touring car racing heritage; Ian Geoghegan won four of his five Championships in first generation examples, while Dick Johnson raced a Group A third generation Mustang in 1985 and 1986.
At Thursday night’s launch Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano was tight-lipped on the prospect of a V8 Supercar Mustang.
“I haven’t even thought about that,” he said.
Graziano is at Sydney Olympic Park with his new marketing, sales and service vice president Graeme Whickman for the Sydney NRMA Motoring & Services 500 to take in the action at the Championship decider, with both FPR Pepsi Max factory drivers Mark Winterbottom and Will Davison a chance for the title.
It will be Whickman’s first ever V8 Supercars event. Graziano last visited the Championship at Mount Panorama where FPR’s contract extension was announced and Winterbottom and co-driver Steven Richards went on to win the race.
The new Mustang will come to Australia as both a fastback coupe and convertible. Power options will be a 2.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine and 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V8.
