Ford’s Mustang is the original pony car and for decades after its 1964 launch, it remained a rear-wheel-drive coupe with a gas-burning engine under the hood of 4-, 6-, and 8-cylinder varieties, That all changed in 2021 when Ford put the Mustang name onto a crossover (shocking!) with electric power (literally shocking!). The Mustang brand may soon grow again, with longer and taller Mustangs in the works – as in a sedan and an off-road variant. The automaker hasn’t confirmed either project as greenlit but reportedly showed off both at a dealer conference.
Back in May, CEO Jim Farley told Autocar that the new Mustang GTD, a $315,000 super pony of sorts, was a “down payment” on the future of the model. Could it be that he’s leveraging it as the new flagship of a full family of horses? It sure seems likely.
A new report from Autonews digs into the details that just took place in Las Vegas. Four different attendees evidently confirmed that we’re about to get a Mustang sedan of some sort and a long-rumored off-roadable Mustang with Raptor-like DNA.
Dealers saw a rendering of a long-rumored four-door coupe, which two of the sources said was called the Mach 4. Farley also showed a photo of an off-road “Baja” model, lifted with special tires, that he described as embodying “rugged” performance, according to the four attendees.
Both types of vehicles make a lot of sense for Ford right now. It doesn’t sell a single sedan right now and it’s already leveraged the Mustang name to help the Mach-E get off the ground floor with buyers. Doing the same thing but for a four-door sedan could ensure that the Mach 4 doesn’t flop like the Ford 500.
As we covered in a recent Autopian Asks, a Mustang Raptor (or Baja, call it whatever you want) also fits well within the family. The pony car is already well-loved and the only available V8 sports car not named Corvette available from the big three.
Stacking the deck with a slightly taller, off-road-ready pony car is just one more way to draw buyers who love the idea of something like the Porsche 911 Dakar or Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato but don’t have six figures to throw around.
According to that same report in Autonews, other Mustangs are coming into the stable too including a high-performance drop-top V8 with a manual gearbox that is similar to a Shelby model but also specifically not a Shelby model.
Finally, Vaughn Gittin Jr. is going to team up with Ford to produce a specialized EcoBoost version of the Mustang too. By my count that’s no less than four new Mustangs across at least three different segments headed our way if all of these reports come to fruition.
Those at the meeting said the Mustang news was intended to be Farley’s vision for how the company could double down on a key vehicle line while competitors dial back. No sales timelines were provided for any of the models, the people said, although dealers came away believing Ford was seriously exploring production.
I for one am all about more performance vehicles on sale and on the road.
One More Thing
It turns out that Mustangs aren’t the only thing Ford showed off at this conference. In fact, the same report says that dealers had a peek at a new Maverick-based van. At this stage, it doesn’t appear as though Ford has a specific name in mind for it but the timing is right.
The Transit Connect needs a replacement and the super popular Maverick seems like the appropriate platform to use for it. While it might not be a big seller, Ford probably recognizes how the small van market in the US is basically up for grabs right now.
On top of that, Ford reportedly showed off more information about its upcoming low-cost EV platform. While it didn’t provide specific model details, it did tell dealers that it’s considering using it for a sedan, a small truck, and a crossover.
“It was the first good meeting in five years as far as being positive and focusing on the future,” one dealer said. “It was awesome.” Farley said earlier this year that Americans need to fall back in love with smaller, cheaper EVs and this appears to all be part of the gameplan.
Images: Ford
Top graphic image: Gas Monkey Garage/YouTube
Son of a… Why call the 4 door a mustang? Why not revive the Galaxy name, or Fairlane? Hell, I’ll even let them get away with calling it a Fairlane Thunderbolt, even though it’ll be four doors instead of two. At least it’s a sedan.
“The Transit Connect needs a replacement and the super popular Maverick seems like the appropriate platform to use for it.”
Yes… the platform the Maverick is on is the correct choice. And really for a new Transit Connect, they just need one good powertrain… the hybrid powertrain used in the Maverick.
And for the 4 door Mustang, I would prefer they would use a different name… such as bringing back the Thunderbird name.
So Mustang is the new Mercury? Some serious automotive shark jumping going on here.
Interesting take! I like it.
Interesting they are looking at bringing the Transit Connect back based on the Mav. I argued years ago that they should have made the new ranger based on the old connect with an ecoboost instead of the warmed-over global midsized we ended up getting prior to them coming to their senses and adding the Escape-based Maverick.
I swear that I have seen that mustang with a rollbar and lights in a movie or something. Am I crazy?
It’s a pretty popular car. IIRC Gas Monkey Garage built it, and it has been a part of Richard Rawling’s collection for a very long time. It’s been on his TV show often, and I’m sure its made other appearances here and there which is probably why it looks so familiar. Or maybe someone just copied it for a movie.
It was in the Thomas Crown Affair!
https://www.motortrend.com/features/1512-recreation-of-the-thomas-crown-affair-movie-mustang/
In highschool, a friend’s older brother drove a ’68 Chevelle, mounted on a SWB K10 chassis. If the off-road-‘Stang was something like that, I could get behind it
Sure sure Mustang, but a Maverick based van? Now that sounds exciting!