A next generation Ford Mustang prototype was spotted testing at the company’s development center this week, giving us a first look at the S650 generation Ford’s Iconic chariot.
Present Mustang launched in late 2014 as a 2015 model year and refreshed for the 2018 model year. Specialty models have come and gone (RIP, GT350 and Bullitt), with the GT500 now dominating the Mustang. The recent introduction of the high-powered supercharged Shelby is a good sign that development on a particular Mustang chapter is coming to an end. Since the GT500 has been here for a couple of model years, that’s a strong indication that we’re on the verge of an overhaul. It was originally rumor should arrive as early as the 2023 model year, but given this prototype’s apparent completed status, we’re betting that’s at least another year.
The camo on this prototype is very spacious, but we can see the lines of a long hood, 2+2 coupes lurking under all that plastic and fabric. The large front end shows that the next-generation Mustang still needs to get a lot of air, which means it could very well be powered (at least in part) by an internal combustion engine. This is not ruled out hybridization, of course, or even an all-electric variant, but we take this as an indication that gasoline will be the main fuel for displacement-oriented Mustangs for at least the foreseeable future. .
Rumors before proposed to further downsize the Mustang’s engine lineup and showcase the potential of both four-wheel drive and electrification models. The hybrid uses the turbocharged 2.3-liter four-cylinder found on the base car and EcoBoost high-performance models, along with one based on what appears to be a variant of the Coyote V8 already proposed and we know for a fact that the Ford 10-speed automatic, which is already used in the current Mustang, is designed for hybrid applications such as 2021 Ford F-150 Increase energy.
