10 Best Ford Mustangs For The Track
The Ford Mustang is a staple of the motor industry, in the sense that it is the model that made pony cars famous and created the muscle car ‘gold rush’ of the 1960s. Even though the Mustang had some low points – such as a 140 hp, 4.9-liter V8 – it has always been a testament to the awesomeness of the American auto industry.
The Mustang arrived on the scene half-way through 1964 and took the world by storm. It was a muscle car with sports car performance, but with a family sedan price. This concept revolutionized the American auto industry, and other manufacturers quickly scrambled to create their own versions – most of which arrived in 1967, by which time the Mustang had a sizable lead in sales. While the Mustang was great for cruising and challenging your buddies to a street-based drag race, the car lacked the handling to make it competitive on a track. Enter Shelby American, which gave the Mustang some much-needed upgrades and turned this blue-collar muscle car into a proper competitor. What followed were decades of great racing, with even the British joining in. Shelby continued to build their amazing versions and customers kept buying them. In 2015, Ford finally got around to giving the Mustang independent rear suspension, turning the model from a lofty muscle car into a sports car that actually handles.
The Mustang is a popular model to race in various championships – mostly due to the relative inexpensiveness of the vehicle. Here are 10 of the best Ford Mustangs to use around a track.
10 1965 Shelby GT350
The original GT350R arrived in 1965 and added some great options such as a larger carburetor, better brakes, a three-speed automatic and a Paxton supercharger. The GT350R still used the 4.7-liter V8, but pushed power to 310 hp.
The supercharger – a $670 option – boosted power to 440 hp and added a limited-slip differential to help control wheel spin. Most GT350s debuted in white with Le Mans stripes – a design which remains the signature paint job of Shelby American until this day.
9 1967 Shelby GT500
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In 1967, the Mustang saw a facelift and with it came a new engine – the 7.0-liter Cobra Jet. Again, Shelby American took this as a good thing and created the GT500 – which saw two four-barrel carburetors seated on top of the engine.
The 7.0-liter V8 – from the police interceptor of the time – produced an impressive 355 hp, and much of the exterior panels were replaced with fiberglass alternatives to get the weight down a bit. The GT500 was also available as a ‘King of the Road’ version, which apparently produced 435 hp.
8 2000 Mustang SVT Cobra R
The Mustang SVT Cobra – based on the fourth-generation Mustang – is probably the least talked-about of the various track-focused models, as it arrived just when the horsepower war kicked off again after the last of the energy crisis issues were sorted out.
The SVT Cobra R featured a 5.4-liter supercharged V8 which produced 385 hp. The body was altered with a longer front bumper with an integrated splitter and a massive wing on the rear deck. It was a proper stripped-out track car and is one of the coolest additions to the Mustang line-up.
7 2013 Shelby 1000
The fifth-generation Mustang reinvigorated the model’s popularity, but every unit suffered due to the outdated suspension and technology. This didn’t stop Shelby from taking a GT500, stripping down the engine and replacing everything with racing parts – including bolting a 3.6-liter supercharger on top.
The 5.4-liter V8 produced 1,200 hp – even though the car was called the 1000 – and it was a tough vehicle to handle. Still, it is one of the coolest Mustangs out there. If the driver is easy on the throttle and controls the wheel spin, the Shelby 1000 is a monster around a track.
6 2014 Shelby GT500
The ‘regular’ GT500 from 2014 seems pretty tame compared to the Shelby 1000, but it was still a force to be reckoned with. The 5.8-liter supercharged V8 produces 662 hp, sending all the power to the rear wheels only via a six-speed manual transmission.
The GT500 was one of the cheapest ways to get a ridiculously overpowered muscle car and in Europe, the model sold for much less than the equivalent sports car – making it a bargain. The car even topped out at an impressive 202 mph.
5 2015 Mustang GT
The sixth-generation Ford Mustang was a massive improvement over the previous generation in one critical area – it had fully independent rear suspension. This turned the Mustang from a dangerous muscle car into a dangerous sports car.
Granted, the Mustang can still easily get sideways and have accidents – as often demonstrated at car meets – but it is better controlled and can actually take corners. This makes the S550 Mustang a great and affordable track-day car – one that can easily be driven home afterward.
4 2018 Mustang GT350R
The S550 generation’s GT350 and GT350R were a complete re-envisioning of what a Ford Mustang is. Instead of just adding more power to the regular GT and calling it a day, Shelby and Ford Performance went the European route and modified the engine into something completely different.
The Coyote V8 got a flat-plane crankshaft which increased the rpm limit by around 2,000 rpm, all while gaining an additional 0.2 liters of displacement. As a result, the GT350R produces 526 hp in a glorious Anglo-American manner – perfect for a weekend track day.
3 2021 Mustang Mach 1
The GT350 and GT350R are no longer in production, so Ford revived the Mach 1 nameplate to fill the void between the Mustang GT and GT500. The Mach 1 gets some exterior styling upgrades and is currently the only way to get a manual transmission in a Mustang.
The 5.0-liter V8 produces 480 hp – 30 hp more than the regular GT – and gets the Handling Package as standard. The Mach 1 is a great sports car which exhibits all the poise of a sporty coupe with the raw noise and grunt of a muscle car.
2 2022 Mustang GT500
The current Mustang GT500 is the most powerful car Ford Performance ever created, pushing out 760 hp from a yet-again modified version of the standard Coyote V8. The 5.2-liter from the GT350 gained a cross-plane crankshaft and a large supercharger, resulting in the Predator V8.
The GT500 produces so much power that instead of a manual transmission – as is the case for all GT500s in history, Ford fit a specially designed seven-speed dual-clutch transmission to the car in order to handle the power. As a throwback, Shelby also offers a GT500KR version, producing power somewhere north of 900 hp.
1 2024 Mustang Dark Horse
The 2024 Mustang will continue to feature a V8 engine and a manual transmission in its next generation – to the delight of fans everywhere. The S650 Mustang was already revealed in 2022, and it seems to be the last surviving V8 muscle car on the market, as Stellantis and GM are axing their cars after 2023.
The Mustang will feature multiple different versions, but the top-spec Dark Horse model is the track-focused trim, which features a 500 hp V8 and a six-speed manual transmission. It also gains some aero parts on the exterior and grippy tires from the factory. Even though the age of the fossil-fuel-powered muscle car is nearing its end, the V8 Mustang will at least continue for a little while yet.
