Did The Mustang Dark Horse SC Just Make The Mustang GTD Irrelevant?

The first Mustang Dark Horse SC crossed the block at Barrett-Jackson this week and sold for $1.25 million, with every dollar of the winning bid headed to charity to support diabetes research.

But never mind that, during the auction, Ford quietly revealed how much horsepower the new premier pony is packing under its vented hood. Matt Simpson, Ford’s executive director of customization, told the crowd the Dark Horse SC runs a supercharged 5.2-liter V8 making “well over 700 horsepower.”

Ford hasn’t published an official figure, but that number lands it between the standard 500-hp Dark Horse and the 815-hp Mustang GTD—albeit much closer to the GTD—which uses a more aggressively tuned version of the same basic engine architecture. Just wait until all those aftermarket companies that are no longer being criminally prosecuted for modifying cars with OBD-II tunes get their hands on one and push it past the 800-horsepower mark.

"This is the first road car developed by Ford Racing. all the racing experience from our GT3 Mustangs at Le Mans, all the technology from the GTD," said Simpson before the bidding began. "Under the hood, we've got a 5.2L supercharged V8, well over 700 horsepower, the same carbon ceramic brakes from the GTD. This car was made with one mission: to go and beat Europe's elite sports cars."

Dark Horse SC VIN 001 was a Track Pack Special Edition, combining Ford’s Track Pack and Carbon Pack equipment. That means carbon-ceramic Brembos lifted from the GTD program, carbon-fiber wheels, an exposed carbon rear wing, along with other aero pieces designed to generate serious downforce at speed—the rear wing alone makes 620 pounds of downforce at 180 mph.

Our Take: For most buyers, the Dark Horse SC is meant to be a more accessible way into GTD-spec hardware without the $300,000 cost of entry. Although speaking of pricing, we still have no idea what the Dark Horse SC will cost. As we learn more and more about the SC, it's starting to sound like Ford really just built the GTD so it could put out press releases about Nürburgring lap times—which lasted like all of six months before Chevy showed up with the 1,250-horsepower hybrid Corvette ZR1X and stole the crown of fastest American production car to ever lap the circuit.

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