For children of the 2000s, Mystichrome is one of the craziest, coolest colors ever put on a production car, and one that perfectly augmented the wild character of the supercharged Mustang Cobra. Twenty years later, the iconic color is back, but with a catch — you can’t just get it on a regular Mustang Dark Horse or GT.
See, it’s not Ford itself that’s offering Mystichrome, but RTR, the Ford-affiliated tuning and drift car company. See, RTR is launching both an extended color palette program and a Porsche-style Paint To Sample program, with Mystichrome falling under the former program along with colors like Rosso Scuderia and Signal Green.
So wait, what exactly is Mystichrome? No worries, it’s been 20 years since the color was last laid on a series production car as a regular option, so it’s totally understandable if some of the lore and awe have faded over time. Back in 1996, Ford came out with a color-shifting shade called Mystic, and while it was cool to watch shift from purple to green to gold, it was also a legal nightmare as its formulation originally contained pigments used by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
For a follow-up in 2004, Ford ditched the federally controlled pigments and loaded up on cool tones with a green-to-purple-to-blue-to-black flip color called Mystichrome. Formulated with BASF Chromaflair pigments and sold as part of a $3,650 appearance package, Ford only made 1,010 Mystichrome 2004 Mustang SVT Cobra examples, making this a rare and coveted color today.
While the return of Mystichrome is incredibly cool, it also comes with an incredible price tag. This is a $15,995 paint job that first requires buying the $17,995 Stage 2 or $29,995 Stage 3 package, and a new Mustang GT to put all of this stuff on. Go heavy on the options, and you could be looking at a six-figure Coyote-powered Mustang. Wow. For the record, Paint to Sample on a new Porsche 911 will run a buyer $14,190.
An extended palette RTR Stage 2 or Stage 3 Mustang GT is a serious financial commitment to a color, but for the right buyer, it could be exactly what they’re looking for. This is a boutique car for a few truly dedicated people, as tuner specials often are. However, for those with the means and will to break away from the pack, we salute you.
(Photo credits: RTR Vehicles, Cars and Bids, Ford)
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! There’s a Porsche color that uses the same holographic material as Euro notes, too: https://www.rennbow.org/porsche-colors/PythonGreenChromaflair
A completely base GT is now $45,000. So we’re talking 80-90k ish when all is said and done for this at minimum. For a fucking Mustang. I personally like Mustangs and get that there are a lot of people that are really passionate about them. But dear god…I certainly can’t imagine spending that much on a Mustang, and if I did it would be on a rare factory special like a GT500 or GT350R.
Is it just me or is the Mustang kind of losing its status as a working class hero? To me a Mustang is something you buy in a barebones spec for $35,000, drive within an inch of its life, and cross your fingers that you don’t wrap yourself around a tree or blow out the transmission. Between the rapidly rising costs, stuff like this, and the upcoming GTD I can’t help but feel like we’re losing the plot a bit.
The ecoboost has over 300 horsepower and is $32,000. The maverick’s price is going up to $28000 and it will still be the cheapest vehicle they offer. The prices going up is not the problem with the economy it is the wages not going up with them!
When I was a wee lad I distinctly remember an old man ranting at the clouds when they had a Mustang GT on display at Costco for $20,000. “I bought my Cadillac new for $20k!”
Inflation happens. A base GT is below the sticker for a bunch of 3-row family trucksters that sell by the boatloads.
Urban Bamboo ChromaFlair was a $95,000 option on 911s.
Need to slap that paint job on my diesel geo metro convertible.
No to be fair………and balanced (s/o Some More News) a Mystichrome Porsche would run under the Paint To Sample Plus which is a $31,070.00 option and not the plebian $14,190 Paint To Sample
another fan of the Cody Showdy, I see
Even if I could just give my Mustang to RTR for the paint job without any other customizations, methinks $15K for an admittedly awesome paint job is just a tad* too much.
*actually, a whole fucking lot
It costs around that much to spray any car that color. I knew of someone who had their 2004 Mach 1 painted Mystichrome and it was in the $15k range. Ford sent someone with the paint and they waited while it was being done and then left with all remaining to make it more difficult it identify how it was made, supposedly. Or at least, that was the story they told.
My understanding is that these colors that “flop” aren’t as hard to match as they originally were, because body shops now have spray guns that can use magnetism to orient the direction of the particles in the paint. We have a Braised Copper Penny Scion xB and the times it’s needed paint work, they’ve matched it really well. Maybe the Mystichrome is different, though.
RS 4.0 Torched Penny! nice
Yep! Bought new, now just under 100k miles. Since it’s now been in CA for the past 7 years, I suspect it’ll outlive me.
Good info! I always thought it was a dumb fad for trailer queens because it couldn’t be matched, but if it can now, while still not my taste, it’s definitely cool.
Mystic was great- but i love it on the 95 Lincoln Mark VIII, called Chameleon on that. Much like its 4v 4.6, the mustang stole its paint for 1996
TVR also used it, because of course they did. A TVR speed six is such a shy a retiring vehicle you really need it to stand out a bit.
I think they used it on the Speed 12 prototype, even.
Such an awesome paint color. But I would be terrified to own it. Good luck with paint chip repair or blending a panel.
Ford is still too cowardly to put this color on the Mach-E.
I assume like with the originals, the after-sale service, should it be needed, will be a nightmare – tightly controlled paint availability, restrictive paperwork to prove it’s actually yours, and a lot of lead time needed to secure it.
Ford would put Mystic on anything back in the late 90’s, if you were willing to pay for the expensive option. When I was delivering pizza in high school (’98/’99), there was a guy in town with a Mystic painted Windstar. He would always give you a bigger tip if you complimented the paint job on his van.
Ex GF back in the day had a Mystic Probe GT, and that thing was a hoot to rip around in for its time.
I bet!
What an absolute legend.
He actually was a bit of a legend around town!
I don’t think it works as well on the S650 as it did on the SN-95s, where it indeed does look amazing. Something about it just belongs on that era of car.