Late 2022, Ford unveiled its most powerful, naturally-aspirated V8 Mustang to date — the Coyote V8-powered 2024 Mustang Dark Horse. Now, the 500 horsepower pony car is headed to Le Mans, officially joining the FIA GT3 category and ready to turn laps globally in 2024. But with a new look and name: the Mustang GT3.
The long-awaited racer made a rare appearance at Sebring back in March 2023, giving us a little taste of what’s to come. Now, it’s official, where the Dark Horse-based GT3 made its world debut in Le Mans, France.
Partnering again with M-Sport and Multimatic
We first reported the Dark Horse got a 5.0L engine built on a new fourth-generation Coyote V8 by the team at Ford Performance. But it appears the track-built GT3 gets a larger Ford Performance-developed 5.4L Coyote-based V8 engine, assembled by Ford’s longtime WRC partner M-Sport — a successful team with whom Ford has partnered with in the past.
Also helping to build and support Ford’s Mustang GT3 racing efforts is Multimatic Motorsports, responsible for building the legendary Ford GT. Beginning with the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona, Multimatic will also manage Ford Performance’s Mustang GT3 two-car factory race program in IMSA’s GTD Pro class.
Ford has a storied past at Le Mans and in racing, and they’re clearly teaming up with longtime partners who can get them to the podium. As Ford Performance Motorsports’ Mark Rushbrook puts it, “For a project like the Mustang GT3, we turned to two of our most trusted partners in the motorsports world to help bring this vehicle and program together.”
A naturally-aspirated V8 Mustang designed for the track
Doubling as the most powerful non-Shelby edition Mustang, the Mustang Dark Horse gains a long list of handling and performance tweaks – from strengthened camshafts and an optional active-valve performance exhaust system, to a distinctly balanced crankshaft and forged piston connecting rods we first saw with the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
But to meet GT3 targets while still remaining close to the production model, the new Mustang GT3 gains extra goods including a proper aero package, a bespoke short-long arm suspension, carbon fiber body panels, and a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox. Plus, a new Ford Performance logo designed by Troy Lee.
Mustang GT3 heads to the races with Proton Competition
First, the Mustang GT3 needs to prove its racing chops and compete in various GT3 series globally in the hands of customer teams.
And first out the gate is Germany-based Proton, throwing a pair of GT3s into the racing ring to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship beginning 2024, once it officially gets the WEC Selection Committee’s stamp of approval.
Are you interested in acquiring a Mustang GT3 to enter into competition? Ford is open to private racers and teams. If not, a good old, daily driven Mustang Dark Horse might just have to do. (Or more realistically, a Mustang EcoBoost Premium Convertible that’s twitchy fast, responsive, and more powerful than its numbers suggest.)
Ford Mustang GT3 Photos
