The last “people’s” car with a proper V8 engine will not disappear anywhere, the interest in it continues and the manufacturer knows it

Considering the mindset of the entire car company, this is a remarkable state of affairs and a remarkable attitude, but in the end we can only be happy. Ford’s competitors have cleared the same field, and the blue oval now apparently enjoys the fact that you can’t buy anything other than a Mustang in the same class with an eight-cylinder.

Ford itself effectively declared war on its most popular internal combustion models three years ago and continues to purge them with remarkable vigor. There is amen with Mondeo, there is amen with Fiesta and the water will be shut off for Focus in about 8 months. If we consider what the Fiesta was and what the Focus is, it would be appropriate to expect that such a Mustang, i.e. a sports coupe with powerful, most typically eight-cylinder engines, will long be “dead”, or it will at least be a three-cylinder hybrid with CO2 emissions fictitiously approaching zero. But the reality is different.

The new generation of the car recently arrived with a perfectly traditional concept including a V8 engine and is also sold in Europe, even here. With a price starting at CZK 1,591,900, it is not exactly a cheap product, but at a time when the basic Škoda Kodiaq 2.0 TDI 4×4 costs CZK 1,170,000, it is not expensive either. It’s guaranteed to be the only V8 car available like this, and in the US we still dare to call it the people’s car – there the ‘Stang starts at $30,920 with the four-cylinder and $41,960 with the eight-cylinder. That is CZK 725,000 for the EcoBoost version and CZK 983,000 for the GT variant. This is golden Prague on wheels, fantastic offers for 2024.

Considering Ford’s aforementioned stance, one would expect that this car exists by mistake and is guaranteed to be the last to live on borrowed time, but the reality is different. The head of Ford, Jim Farley, despite his “green tendencies”, is a fan of the Mustang, and the head of the Blue division, Jeff Marentic, who only has internal combustion engines under his thumb, sees a huge opportunity in this, of course. The traditional competition from Dodge and Chevrolet has ended completely, or at least with V8 engines, and the attention of all fans of American ponies and muscle cars cannot logically be focused on anyone else.

“It’s sad that the competition is leaving, but it’s an advantage for us,” Marentic said pragmatically in an interview with CNBC, adding that the automaker will continue with the Mustang and the GT version aka V8 as long as it’s legally possible. “For people looking for a true American sports car, the Mustang is there,” he added. He is said to be thinking about its future, but there is no deviation from tradition on the table yet – the role of the electric car is played by the embarrassed Mustang Mach-E, the hybrid version has not yet arrived and it does not seem that it should arrive.

In addition, demand remains stable. Even as interest in traditional body styles is waning, even as automakers push more and more smaller and electrified engines on customers saying people want it, even as sports coupes are on the wane, the Mustang has held its own since 2020, and its eight-cylinder version even dominates sales. Currently, the V8 engine is chosen by fully 52 percent of American customers, more than half of it is also represented in Europe, after all, nothing else is sold in our country today. And even the demand for right-hand drive versions in Great Britain, Australia or Japan is not going anywhere. And so the eight-cylinder Mustang won’t disappear anywhere either.

Ford is probably the last car company from which we would expect this, eight-cylinders are counting their last days even for expensive brands, which could theoretically offer them indefinitely as a symbol of prestige. But we have to appreciate it all the more. So for once: Thanks, Ford!

The new Ford Mustang is still available with an eight-cylinder, even here. The top of the range in Dark Horse design is also available here – for CZK 1,871,900 it’s still a dream offer. Photo: Ford

Source: Ford

Peter Miller

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