Mustang’s Dark Horse: a return to form for the classic muscle car

I always thought the electric Ford Mustang was an idiotic idea, which is why this proper Mustang - big V8, rear-wheel drive - is such a joy to drive.

Ford Mustang Dark Horse

I always thought the electrical Ford Mustang was an idiotic idea. Because if you’re a clean energy enthusiast who wants a car with batteries instead of an engine, you don’t want to go around telling people you have a Ford Mustang. And if you want a Ford Mustang, you don’t want it to sound like a kitchen appliance and look like a Hyundai. So it was a car built for no one at all, and as a result, the number of electrical Mustangs I’ve seen on the roads in Britain in the past five years is exactly none.

I will admit from the start that I’m a Mustang fan. There are a few cars I’ve never owned, and as I slide into the dressing-gown-and-slippers phase of my life, I probably never will. The Nissan GT-R is one. The BMW Gran Coupé is another. But the big miss is the ’Stang, as Richard Hammond insists on calling it.

Launched in 1964, the Mustang was a gamble for Ford because they were making a car for a customer who hadn’t yet been invented. Rock ’n’ roll was in its infancy. The word teenager had only just appeared in the dictionary. For the most part, cars were bought by your dad, who smoked a pipe.

But it worked. It suited the mood of the moment perfectly and as a result in the first two years they sold a million, making it the fastest-selling new car in American history – a record that’s never been beaten. Back then I lived in Doncaster in northern England and was driven around in an Austin 1100. And every time I went to the cinema there was a Mustang going sideways in a cloud of tyre smoke, and I wanted one very much. It’s why, every time I go to America and need to hire a car, I always ask for the big, lairy Ford. Bet you do too.

Naturally, I thought the electrical version launched in 2021 meant that the heady days were over – that the rampant teenager who caned it every night and was the life and soul of every party had been forced by a stern-faced doctor and aching knees to grow up and get an early night.

But no. Joy of joys. Ford has just launched a new version of the proper Mustang. Priced at £73,000 (or around $100,000 plus on-road costs in Australia), the trim I tested is called the Dark Horse, a name I like a lot, and on paper the recipe is just right. Big V8. Rear wheel drive. The end.

On the road

In fact, though, the recipe is even better, because if anything this is the most childish and irresponsible Mustang ever. It has a facility that enables you to apply the brakes to the front wheels while applying maximum power to those at the back. And why would you want to do that? To make a lot of noise and smoke, that’s why.

Then there’s the handbrake. In most cars these days you get a button, which means that you are unable to lock up the rear wheels when going round a roundabout. But in the new Mustang the proper handbrake is back, so you can. And I did. What’s more, it’s fitted with a traction control system that has the reactions of someone who’s fast asleep. You plant your foot hard down in a corner expecting the usual electronic interference, but instead you get a lurid tail slide that you’re forced to deal with on your own. As it should be in a car like this.

There are certain things, however, that don’t belong in a car like this. The constant reminder to keep my hands on the wheel, for example. Even when I was driving like a road-safety instructor, it kept warning me to adopt the “ten to two” position. Nannying like this has no place in a Mustang.

Nor does all the choice you’re given before setting off. What colour do you want the interior lighting to be? What sort of noise do you want from the exhaust? What dials do you want to be shown on the dash, and how do you want them displayed? How uncomfortable do you want to be? I appreciate that all of this nonsense is what people like these days, and it costs nothing because it’s what silicon chips do, but again it feels wrong in a Mustang. If Steve McQueen’s ’68 GT in Bullitt had been fitted with all this stuff, that Dodge he was chasing would have been halfway to Sacramento before he’d even set off.

Inside the cabin

There’s more, because when you’re just driving along the Dark Horse is surprisingly compliant and whispery. I don’t mind that in a normal car, but who buys a Mustang for peace and quiet? I’d quite like to try the American version, which has more power and is available with a handling pack. Apparently we can’t have that in the UK because of European emission regulations. How times change. I remember when we got the full-fat and they had the semi-skimmed. They needed eight litres to get what we got from 1.5. Other way round now, annoyingly.

Recaro racing seats

The styling’s good, though. The front has an aggressive stance that works in a sharky way, and the back, thanks to those rear lights, is pure Mustang. My only criticism is the rear wheels are a bit lost in the arches. They should be at least a foot wider because that would be more childish. Would it affect the ride? Yes, terribly. But that’s not the point. If you want the last word in engineering sophistication and fast-as-possible Nürburgring lap times, get a BMW M2.

I really did like the Dark Horse. It reignited the desire I’ve had for 60 years to own one. But that’s tricky these days because of the elephant in the room. The big orange elephant. The fact is that when we buy a car, we’re buying a slice of the nation that supposedly made it. A Fiat may be styled by a Dane, built in France and powered by a German engine, but you still have a sense that it’s Italian. And deep down, you like that. So what are you saying if you tool around in a Mustang?

Well, I’m sorry, but there’s no getting away from the fact that you’ll look a bit Maga. A bit JD. A bit yee-ha. You buy this car and what you’re saying is, “I love Trump.”

If this troubles you, don’t despair because the same sort of money will buy you an awful lot of slightly used F-Type Jaguar, which is, broadly speaking, the same as a Mustang. Big V8 at the front and rear wheel drive. And if you drive around in one of these, as I do, what you’re saying is “Go India”. In the current climate, that’s a better message.

FORD MUSTANG DARK HORSE

ENGINE:5.0-litre, V8 petrol

PERFORMANCE: 0-100km/h 4.4 seconds; top speed 249km/h

PRICE: From about $100,000 plus on-road costs

JEREMY’S RATING: ★★★★