What's Next for the New Mustang? Future Performance Variants

The new 2024 Ford Mustang arrives with a more powerful Dark Horse edition with around 500 hp, but we expect even more performance models to arrive in the future.A Shelby GT500 has topped the range for the past two generations, so it seems like a good bet that the seventh generation will also receive a Shelby-branded flagship.The Bullitt will likely make a return, while the Boss 302 nameplate could be brought back for the first time since 2012.

The seventh generation of the Ford Mustang has finally arrived packing the familiar Coyote 5.0-liter V-8, and while Ford hasn’t revealed horsepower figures just yet, we expect the 2024 Mustang to improve on the outgoing GT model’s 450 ponies. Ford has also unveiled a special performance edition right off the bat, with the Dark Horse taking the 5.0-liter up to a projected 500 horsepower and linking the motor to a standard six-speed Tremec manual gearbox. But the Dark Horse won’t be the only high-performance Mustang for this seventh generation, and Ford has a rich history of special Stangs to draw upon for its latest iteration.

The 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Michael Simari|Car and Driver

Odes to Internal Combustion

Ford has confirmed that 2022 will be the final model year for the Shelby GT500, powered by the Predator supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 with a monstrous 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque. But since the previous two generations have offered a Shelby-badged model from the factory, we believe the GT500 will make a return, likely pumping out even more power and even wilder looks than the current chiseled and bewinged GT500. The next Shelby-branded model could arrive closer to the end of the seventh generation’s production run, possibly as an ode to the internal-combustion engine before emissions regulations put it out to pasture.

Along with a GT500, we predict a lesser performance model will slot in between the GT and the Shelby. The Mach 1, which eked an extra 20 hp out of the GT’s V-8 for a 470-hp sum, will continue for 2023 as a final vestige of the sixth generation. We don’t expect the Mach 1 trim to return anytime soon on the new version, since it had been on a 17-year hiatus before being relaunched in 2021.

The new 2024 Mustang Dark Horse

Ford

Instead, the Dark Horse seems to be taking over the midrange performance Mustang’s spot. We would also bet on a return for the Bullitt, which has appeared on the last three generations of Mustangs, dating back to 2001. The sixth-generation Bullitt turned the Coyote engine up to 480 hp and matched that with understated looks, and a seventh-generation Bullitt would probably ring in around 500 hp.

The 2012 Mustang Boss 302

THE MANUFACTURER

Is the Boss Coming Back?

We also think the Boss 302 nameplate could be revived. It reappeared in 2012 on the fifth-generation model, producing 32 more horsepower than the GT of the time and featuring a six-speed manual and a revised suspension, but also a stripped-back interior. It’s due for a comeback and could act as a more basic, track-focused model underneath the Dark Horse. The Dark Horse nameplate might also spread to the electric Mustang Mach-E crossover, as a step between the 346-hp models and the 480-hp GT.

Time will tell which of our predictions will come true, but at the moment we are simply happy that the V-8 American icon is living on for another generation.

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