in , , ,

S650 FORD MUSTANG: EXCLUSIVE DETAILS ON THE LAST V8 MUSCLE CAR STANDING

The Seventh-Generation Ford Mustang Will Carry On Traditions To The End Of The Decade

S550 S650 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Sketch
Original Mustang GT500 sketch

We’re in the business of obsessively reporting on muscle cars (and trucks!), so we’ve made it our mission to infiltrate our intelligence deep into any automaker that dares build them. In doing so, we were first to alert the world *checks notes* that the original seventh-generation Camaro plans were a casualty of a GM restructuring, as were the sixth-generation Z/28 and its special engine. We were first to tell the world of *checks notes* an electric Dodge muscle car coming. And we’ve only been around for *checks notes* two years. Not like it’s hard. So today, we’re here to tell you everything we know about the upcoming S650 Ford Mustang.

First thing’s first: it’s long been speculated that the seventh-generation Ford Mustang was going to use a variation of the Ford CD6 platform that underpins the U265 Ford Explorer that was introduced in 2019. This is not going to be the case. The S650 Mustang isn’t on a new platform. Rather, it’s an evolution of the S550, so think of it as a major product lifecycle refresh, more than something that’s completely new from the ground up. That means it will have a rethought exterior and interior design, and a new electrical architecture to go with it.

Expect the S650 Mustang to debut in late 2022 as a 2023 model year product.

Ford Mustang Mach-E First Edition Customers will receive a unique collectible statue for their purchase.
Image Via Ford.

No AWD Expected, A Hybrid Could Come Later

While all-wheel-drive has been extensively rumored, perhaps misreported by other outlets, MC&T sources that intimately understand the S650 Ford Mustang have told us that AWD is not immediately on the table. Spy photos that have been speculated to be testing with all-wheel-drive are simply S550 shells masking an S650 chassis, say sources.

Speculation of a hybrid model is a little scattered. Rumors originally floated that the Ford Mustang was going to go hybrid as early as 2020. That didn’t happen. Instead we got the Mustang Mach-E to help balance out CAFE regulations, and probably for the better. Recently, our friends at Automotive News stated that a S650 Ford Mustang hybrid could arrive by 2025, likely during a refresh of the model. We’re inclined to believe them.

s550 s650 ford mustang engine engines shelby gt500 predator v8
image via Ford

S650 Mustang Engines

Out of the gate, the 2023 Ford Mustang will have a familiar stable of powertrains, before a refresh in a few years that will add hybrid electrification. This means that a 2.3L EcoBoost turbo four and 5.0L Coyote V8 at the start, with the 755 hp 5.2L supercharged Predator V8 to follow. We don’t expect the 5.2L flat-plane crank Voodoo V8 to re-emerge after the discontinuation of the Mustang Shelby GT350 and GT350R.

Our sources more or less debunked the 6.8L V8 rumor for the S650 Ford Mustang, saying Unifor leaders don’t have the right information. Perhaps maybe later.

2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Review
Image copyright Matheus Pach, Muscle Cars & Trucks

S650 Ford Mustang Pricing Can’t Run Away From The Stable

It’s still too early to figure out the pricing strategy for the S650 Mustang. As we see currently, the blue-collar American Icon currently gets away with being both the most expensive base V8 entry muscle car, and the highest price ceiling of any muscle car, with the Shelby GT500 topping well above $100,000. Again, for a Mustang. As we’ve heard before, the buying demographic is getting older, which can’t be good. And while that does mean that Ford can get away with juicing the Boomers for all they’re worth, it does sort of lose the plot at the same time, as other nameplates are enjoying a younger, richer and more diverse audience.

Agreeably, Ford does have to make do with competing with a specutrum of American (and don’t kid yourself, there’s still a bright line between most domestic and import enthusiasts) performance cars with just one offering. The $400,000+ Ford GT doesn’t really count or compete in the same customer space due to the price, or the buying process. From the four-door Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody to the soon-to-be C8 Corvette Z06, the Mustang is (perhaps unfairly) tasked with representing Ford Performance by itself in this space. That’s probably why we have a 755 horsepower Mustang with an $18,000 track package. Because you’re not gonna take on the fighter squadron of General Motors or Dodge performance cars without it.

At this point Ford Motor Company has to be recognizing the need for another performance car. And one that doesn’t start at a zillion million billion dollars. Maybe that’s why the automaker recently trademarked the Thunderbird name for future automobile use. But that’s a story for another day.

Anyhow. Pricing pressure is a real thing, and it’s hard for us to digest the appeal of a six figure Mustang in a world of mid-engine Corvettes and 800-plus horsepower Mopars that are going for a better deal. But we know hybrids and other new technologies only add to the cost of development, so be on the look out for an MSRP jump on midrange to high-end S650 Mustangs.

Ford Mustang Mach 1 Coyote V8 Engine Engines
Image via Ford.

The S650 Mustang Will Be The Last ICE Muscle Car Standing

Our sources described the lifecycle of the S650 Mustang as one that will be the finish of a long bridge towards electrification. In other words, Ford Motor Company will “sweat the asset” and it will have a long lifecycle; eight years, in fact. Just like the S550, which entered the fray in 2014. Some analysts pin the electric Ford Mustang to emerge by 2028, but 2030 seems like the more likely outcome. The end of the decade feels far enough away, but the clock is ticking in what feels like a speed run mode. When that time approaches, the last of the internal combustion engine muscle cars will have rolled off the assembly line.

General Motors and its “All Electric Future” has the Camaro as we know it reportedly giving way to an electric performance sedan. Across town, the new French overlords pulling the strings at Dodge have the brand completely rethinking the Charger and Challenger formula, as electric vehicles. By 2024, it’s an extreme likelihood that the S650 Ford Mustang will be the last American muscle car with an internal combustion engine. This makes us recall the sage words of Ferdinand Porsche, which say that “the last car built on earth will surely be a sports car.” In this case, the last V8 muscle car will be a Ford Mustang.

In a way, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure as hell rhymes.

2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 Review
Image copyright Matheus Pach, Muscle Cars & Trucks.

Written by Manoli Katakis

Muscle Cars & Trucks was founded by Manoli Katakis - an automotive media veteran that has been covering the latest car news since 2009. His journalism has uncovered dozens of major product changes, updates, plans, and cancellations long before automakers were ready to make things official.

Some highlights over the years of his reporting include the uncovering of the Zora trademark before anybody else reported on the coming of a mid-engine Corvette, as well as the dead-accurate reporting of the coming of the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, two years before it hit the market, and even before the debut of the concept vehicle. This type of reporting has immediately continued here, with reports of the original seventh-generation Camaro plans being shelved, as well as what's in store for the Chevrolet Silverado.

Some of his work can be found on massive automotive media outlets, such as Motor1. He also has been a guest on the 910AM Radio Station with Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne, as well as the enthusiast-oriented Camaro Show podcast.

Over the years, Manoli has interviewed various automotive industry titans, leaders, and people that make things happen otherwise. These include figureheads such as GM CEO Mary Barra, GM President Mark Reuss, automotive aftermarket icon Ken Lingenfelter, Dodge firebrand Tim Kuniskis, along with various chief engineers of vehicles such as the Ford F-150 & Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro & Corvette, and many more.

At MC&T, Manoli is taking his journalism expertise, deeply planted sources, driving abilities, and automotive industry knowledge to new levels, covering more vehicles and brands than ever before. This is the place where you will continue to read groundbreaking stories about American performance vehicles, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles. Here is where you’ll also read insights and quotes from various automotive subject matter experts on the latest relevant products, as well as some of the latest official news from their manufacturers.

Fun facts: he also once beat Corvette Racing driver Tommy Milner in an autocross with a Chevrolet Bolt EV. The biggest vehicle he’s ever driven is a John Deere mining truck. Besides a go-kart, the smallest vehicle he’s driven has been a Hyundai i10. He’s also spent time in the cockpit of various American performance vehicle icons, including the fifth-generation Chevrolet Camaro Z/28, Dodge Challenger Demon, and Ford Mustang GT350R. He has reviewed dozens of trucks, SUVs, and performance vehicles over the years.

One of his favorite new vehicles on the market today happens to be the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison. He is also a card carrying member of the Sports Car Club of America, and regularly participates in Detroit Region autocross events.

25 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. @joyce M Layne: Great positive and constructive comment. I don’t think FORD gives a rats what you think. The current Mustang is the best selling sports car in the world. Why don’t you go found your own car company to make your dream real?

  2. I hate the front of the Toyota looking S550 Ford Mustang. It’s a slap in the face to this muscle cars history and heritage. The rear end of the S550 is outstanding reminds of how goofy they made the S197 rear end look for the 09-12 model. Just off. Thankfully they revised it in 13-14 model with different lights which made it pop and look better. Come on Ford. The from and rear bumpber have to look equally great like the 72 Mach 1 though it’s not a most sought after mustang but it was great looking in Steven Seagal Marked for Death….ugh that movie made me love that version. Don’t C8 the S6

  3. On the contrary, history DOES repeat itself. Ford has done this before. Most people don’t realize that the SN95 Mustang (1994 to 2004) was not a new platform, but a heavily revised version of the previous Fox platform Ford used for the 1979 to 1993 Mustangs. Looks like Ford is going to do the same thing here.

  4. These Dimocrats sure know how to screw up a mustang… Looks like a Toyota… Muscle look is gone!. Mustangs are supposed to have a big butt with wide tires and side of it is NOT supposed to be flat!! Where is the fast slash?? Looked great in 05 model then progressive turned into a Toyota

  5. @ricardo You’re in denial. EV is not going away. The next generation entering the workforce will laugh at gasoline engines muscle cars as slow, inefficient, loud, obnoxious and obsolete. You will be a dinosaur clinging to the past, driven by nostalgia, while the rest of the world moves on…the auto industry can’t keep building gas engine cars for the shrinking strongholds unwilling to accept the fate of their idea of American muscle. You can call this progressive, lefty, tree hugging, whatever through conservative glasses. If you remove them, you’ll see it’s simply evolution.

    • They’ll never get it. Some people are just too simple and dull to adapt to change, regardless of whether the new is better than the old. It was the same when the horseless carraige debuted and the old timers screeched about their loss of the soulful connection between human and horse, the scent of manure, and the crack of a whip on a stormy night.

      I would love a Mustang or Corvette C8 ZO6 as a weekend toy, but for daily driving duties it’s EV all the way. There’s just no comparison, EVs are better in every way for commuting.

      • Why TF would you want something JUST to commute? I promise you, I’ll die in a performance gas guzzling car shooting at you dumb eco zombies with a 3d printed gat. Because not all progress is bad. Just this electric bs

          • And what powers your electric car? Coal Natural gas. or perhaps solar we would have to cut half the trees down in the country to put enough panels in to do what coal and natural gas does. Oh it takes you how long to charge when on a trip. While you are charging I will get where I’m going eat dinner with friends watch a movie and somewhere through the movie you will show up but not in time to get the plot. And so you want to talk about the cobalt or lithium that has to be mined and what that does to the environment or where is all the lithium waste going to go, don’t want to live close to tha

  6. The problem with electric is that it doesn’t have a soul. Most people that love muscle cars .Its the sound that they love. No electric car sounds like that. Doesn’t have the sound to go with the speed. If they could incorporate a muffler to the electric motor that would give it a good sound with the pedal , that would be a seller. I’m not sold that all these aftermarket muffler companies are going belly up in this transition. Mark my words. They need to make a muffler to give the electric motor a sound that can be adjusted and you have a seller to more and more gas combustible junkies.

    • An EV doesn’t produce exhaust. They are green. Mufflers would be useless other than a decoration on an EV vehicle. Ice engines create combustion which is sent through the mufflers. Sorry, but mufflers will become obsolete other than existing ice vehicles.

  7. EV cars are utterly souless might as well be a dodgem car once v8 ice engines arent available anymore I wont be buying another new car ever again.

    And why are EV owners so uptight about people who like ICE driven cars are they that insecure about owning an EV ? I personally prefer driving my cars not just pressing a pedal and turning the wheel. Commuting is for buses

    • You’re asking why EV buyers are so uptight yet you swear you will never buy an EV? Do you have no self awareness?

      I own two cars: a Volt and an NB Miata. One for use as a car, and one to use as a toy.

      I also own a truck to use as a tool.

      Who’s uptight again?

6 Pings & Trackbacks

  1. Pingback:

  2. Pingback:

  3. Pingback:

  4. Pingback:

  5. Pingback:

  6. Pingback:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tesla Model S Plaid electric muscle car supercar hypercar ev 0-60 acceleration

‘TESLA’ IS THE REASON FOR EV EXPANSION, SAYS FORD EXECUTIVE

2022 Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 1500 Design

2022 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 1500 FRONT END DESIGN LEAKS