Famous fire survivor and non-Ferrari owner Jay Leno just took custody of his brand new Ford Mustang GTD, the attempt by the American car manufacturer to muscle on the European exotic market. And I mean brand new. The car has just started rolling the assembly lines of the company that has invented assemblage lines, and Leno’s GTD is serial number 12, which corresponds to its Ford GTs. The Mustang was delivered directly to him by no less than Ford CEO Jim Farley himself.
As seen on The latest episode of Jay Leno’s GarageFarley runs the one -time talk show host via the Mustang GTD and what makes it special. Farley says that this was the “Ultimate Mustang ever built”, and it is not difficult to see why: this American machine for the front the Nurburgring in just 6: 52.072 laptes. It was successful that the use of the optional performance package, which adds a front splitter, under-bottom valves and a Formula 1-Style DRS spoiler that grants the 2,000 pound downforce on 180 MPH.
The Mustang GTD is the street-legal version of the Race-Spec Mustang GT3 that took a stage finish at Le Mans in 2024. While Farley continues to point to Leno, the GTD is supplied with a number of functions that the racing car has not even received. And yet, while Leno takes it for a twist in the streets of LA, he notes: “You could drive this every day … In a free way it is like a Miata. It is extremely light and agile on his feet.” It is calm enough, if you want it, to behave like a normal car.
Finer
At the back of the GTD there is an etching of every generation of Mustang, a proud descent of which the GTD is now at the top. The paddle shifters, gear button and serial plate are 3D printed from titanium, because as Farley says, every last detail of the car is focused on “weight and performance”. He did not say that the titanium literally comes from dismantled F-22 fighter jets, but you know, it comes from dismantled F-22 Jets.
In the cabin itself there is a small rear window only to see the suspension dampers in action. Farley points this out during the actual ride, although Leno jokes that he can’t look without crashing. I don’t know that a production car has ever let me look at the suspension, uh, suspend, but that is certainly a way to indicate that this is not a normal car.
Most touch of all: everyone who has built the car has signed it under the hood, proof that this is a model with a low volume with just a small team that works on it. Only 1,000 GTDs will be made. Leno has other Fords that have been signed in this way, and he says he is always open to signatories or their family members who swing through the garage to see it.
Exotic, but also from home -grown American
Farley says that the Mustang GTD is a ‘high-performance exotic car’, instead of a more traditional muscle car. That said, it was important for Ford that the Mustang remained recognizable a Mustang. So where, say, the Chevrolet Corvette has gone half -engine, the GTD still has a large big stoning V8 directly at the front of the car. It is a supercharged 5.2-liter engine based on the company’s predator line, making 815 hp and 664 pound-foot torque. That is good for a top speed of 202 mph. Stopping all that power are ceramic brakes with 17-inch rotors.
The GTs also have $ 4,000 in microchips on board for the computers to perform all their sorcery, a lithium ion battery instead of a meager old 12-volt, and you even get a caretaker service, which means that a specialist flies in to do work that the car needs.
If you want a signed Ford Mustang GTD, it’s easy! You just have to apply for one (so Ford can assess whether you are special enough, I think) and fork of more than $ 327,960, minimum, before you put extras on it. That the price a bit above a Porsche 911 GT3 RS, one of the European exotics that the GTD is intended to challenge immediately. Worth it? Whatever side of that answer you fall, you know you want one.
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