Pony Car to Thoroughbred: The Ford Mustang GTD's 800-HP Evolution

By Dean Kirkland

Published 8 months ago on

September 27, 2024

Ford's 800-horsepower Mustang GTD epitomizes the American supercar revolution. (Ford)

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Hark back to 1962, when Ford executives were sitting around a table, probably nursing their third martini lunch. Lee Iacocca, looking like he just stepped out of a Mad Men episode, threw out an idea: “What if we build a car for the youth market? Something sporty, but affordable. We’ll call it… the Mustang.”

Dean Kirkland Portrait

Dean Kirkland

Central Octane

Fast forward to April 17, 1964, and the Mustang launches at the New York World’s Fair, instantly becoming a cultural icon. Six decades later, Ford decides the Mustang’s mid-life crisis should involve morphing into a supercar. Because why not?

Enter the GTD: The Pony Gets Jacked

The Mustang GTD, showing off its rear assets at Pebble Beach. That wing isn’t compensating for anything; it’s just letting everyone know this pony means business. And judging by the crowd, the message is received, loud and clear. (Dean Kirkland/GV Wire)

I caught sight of the GTD at Pebble Beach, and it’s like seeing Bigfoot riding a unicorn — rare, majestic, and a little unbelievable. The GTD sat on the concept lawn, looking like it wanted to eat lesser cars for breakfast. Standing next to this beast made me want to take it down the freeway, leaving tire smoke and shattered egos behind.

This isn’t just another muscle car with supercar aspirations; this is Ford’s declaration that they’re done playing nice in the supercar sandbox. The GTD is to the original Mustang what The Rock is to your average gym-goer — same species, but a different league. It’s like Ford looked at the European supercar scene and said, “Hold my beer.” Bourbon, more likely.

The price? This Mustang is expected to start around $325,000 when it becomes available in late 2024 or early 2025, Ford will only produce a limited run of 1,000 or so Mustang GTDs.

The Heart of the Beast: 800+ Horses of Pure American Muscle

Welcome to the GTD’s engine bay, where 800+ horses are packed tighter than sardines in a can. This is a mechanical mosh pit where physics goes to crowd surf. If Rube Goldberg and Carroll Shelby had a love child, this would be it — beautiful chaos with a purpose. (Ford)

The GTD boasts a supercharged 5.2L V8 packing over 800 horsepower. This engine isn’t just a powerhouse; it’s a middle finger to physics. It’s built for speed, capable of vaporizing rear tires faster than you can scream “bald eagle.”

This V8 is packed with cutting-edge tech, including a flat-plane crank for high-revving madness and forged internals tough enough to survive an apocalypse. Ford’s aiming for a sub-7-minute Nürburgring lap, proving they can blend American muscle with European finesse.

Handling: Mustangs Learn Ballet

This Mustang isn’t all about straight-line speed. Ford’s engineers pulled off some wizardry by sticking the transmission at the rear axle, giving the car near-perfect weight distribution. It’s like they sent this Mustang to ballet school and taught it to pirouette through corners.

The GTD’s skeleton: where 50/50 isn’t a coin toss, it’s a weight distribution masterclass. Front and rear locked in perfect balance, like a seesaw at a bodybuilder convention. (Ford)

A carbon fiber driveshaft, adaptive suspension, and brakes that could stop time make this car a corner-hugging machine. The GTD doesn’t just handle curves; it obliterates them.

Aerodynamics: Sculpted by the Wind (and a Few Wind Tunnels)

The Mustang GTD: America’s 800-hp middle finger to European supercars. It’s a pony car that traded its hay for haute cuisine, got a Ph.D. in speed, and now teaches Newton’s laws a thing or two about force. (Ford)

The GTD’s been on a carbon fiber diet, with body panels that look like they were chiseled by Michelangelo — if he were obsessed with speed. The front splitter is aggressive enough to trash-talk lesser cars, while the rear wing is Ford’s announcement that it plans to dominate every track it touches.

And don’t forget the titanium Akrapovič exhaust. If you’re going to wake up the neighborhood, might as well do it with an exhaust note that sounds like Pavarotti gargling thunder.

Interior: Where NASA Meets Gran Turismo

Welcome to mission control: where luxury meets lunacy. This cockpit’s got more screens than Times Square and enough buttons to make NASA jealous. Just don’t spill your Big Gulp — you might accidentally launch the ejector seat. (Ford)

Inside, the GTD is more like NASA’s idea of a nightclub than a car interior. The 12.4-inch digital cluster and 13.2-inch touchscreen run Unreal Engine graphics, making you feel like you’re driving inside a video game. The seats? High-tech straightjackets, designed to hold you steady while you flirt with the laws of physics.

Jekyll and Hyde: From Street to Track at the Push of a Button

Track Mode is where things get wild. One push of a button, and this street-legal supercar drops 40mm, transforming into a track-dominating machine. It’s the mullet of supercars—business in the front, party in the back. One minute you’re cruising to the golf course, the next you’re setting lap records.

With a targeted top speed of 202 mph, this Mustang is faster than gossip in a small town. Zero to 60 happens somewhere between “Holy” and “Cow.” The quarter-mile? Timed with an atomic clock.

Conclusion: America’s 800-Horsepower Declaration of Independence

The GTD after hours: even parked, it looks ready to break the sound barrier. Those tail lights aren’t turn signals, they’re warning lights for approaching speed limits. (Ford)

The 2025 Ford Mustang GTD is what happens when American engineering drinks a six-pack of Red Bull and picks a fight with physics. This car isn’t about restraint; it’s about excess.

From its humble origins as an everyman’s sports car to this track-eating beast, the Mustang has evolved into a symbol of American ingenuity’s refusal to settle. With the GTD, Ford isn’t just adding a new chapter to the Mustang story — they’re writing a whole new book, one in tire smoke and thunderous exhaust notes.

Whether you’re a Mustang loyalist or a skeptical European supercar fan, one thing’s clear: the GTD is here to shake things up — with all the subtlety of a fireworks display on the Fourth of July.

About the Author

GV Wire Producer Dean Kirkland is the founder and director of Gas and Gears, an independent film production company that has produced numerous television series and feature films, including the award-winning documentary “Racing Through The Forest” (2014).