This Is The Highest HP Engine Ever Put In A Ford Mustang From The Factory
When one considers the haste with which the original 1964.5 Ford Mustang was cobbled together from the boxy Ford Falcon, its status as an automotive icon is even more impressive. That's not to say that there weren't some rough patches, though, like the Pinto-based Mustang II that occupied the Malaise-era 1970s. Initially, the Mustang II wasn't available with any V8 power, period. When Ford corrected their grievous error the following year, it was in the form of an optional 302 cubic inch (5.0-liter in metric terms) V8 that made a pathetic 140 horsepower. Paraphrasing Jeremy Clarkson, how do they get so little power out of such a (relatively) large engine?
At the other end of the spectrum, what's the most horsepower that the blue oval brand has ever stuffed under the hood of its pony car? Of course, it's the Nürburgring-crushing 2025 Ford Mustang GTD. Gearheads first became aware of these, 815 horsepower supercharged beast back in 2023, and it appears that lucky owners will finally begin taking delivery soon.
The bad news is that due to a recently leaked window sticker, we now know that the GTD's base price is $327,960 which includes a mandatory $5,500 delivery fee and $3,700 in gas guzzler tax. Prior to the top-dog Mustang GTD, high-horsepower honors went to the 2020 through 2022 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500. Like the GTD, this machine also packs a 5.2-liter supercharged Predator V8, but in the GT500, it "only" made 760 horsepower.
When discussing rambunctious 'Stangs, we'd be remiss in not mentioning that tuners like Saleen and Shelby have also created some outrageously powerful pony cars. For example, Saleen's 2024 302 Mustang Black Label makes 800 horsepower from a supercharged and heavily-modified 5.0-liter base motor. Its MSRP of $108,990 isn't exactly cheap, but it is about 1/3 the price of a new Mustang GTD. That said, you'll have to stretch your definition of "factory Mustang" considerably to include the Saleen. That's because the company acquires stock Mustangs from the Ford assembly line, which Saleen later modifies in-house for resale.
If we're going to allow a Saleen product in this article, then we've also got to throw a mention to the bonkers 2013 through 2014 Ford Shelby 1000 S/C. In its top form, which includes a humungous 3.6-liter supercharger, the Shelby 1000 is said to crank out more than 1,200 horsepower. That's more than the final Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 or the C8 Corvette ZR1, not to mention that this feat was accomplished over 10 years ago. Reportedly, the most powerful Shelby 1000 was track-only and not intended to be street driven. Still, we'd bet you could get away with it in a state without strict emissions or safety inspections.
