All across the industry, automakers are dropping their V8s in favor of smaller, more efficient engines with fewer cylinders. That sucks for enthusiasts, but there’s no getting around the fact that climate change is real, and humans caused it, so what are you going to do? Even the next-generation Dodge Charger won’t get a V8, and that’s coming from the company that was willing to sell you a 1,000-hp Challenger Demon 170. When it comes to the Mustang, though, Motor1 reports the V8 isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
Speaking to a group of reporters at an event celebrating the beginning of the 2024 racing season, Ford CEO Jim Farley reportedly made a number of comments about how important the V8 engine is to the Ford Mustang. From the sound of it, he believes you can’t have a Mustang that doesn’t offer a V8.(Unless it’s an electric crossover, of course. Although, if you do own a Mustang Mach-E and want it to sound like it has a V8, you can always buy a fake exhaust from Borla.)
“What other car in the world races on six continents on any given weekend? And that’s because we have a V8 engine,” Farley said.
Because Ford is so invested in racing the Mustang, the racing V8s should help keep the on-road V8s around even longer than with other automakers.
“This is old-school tech transfer,” he continued. “Our R&D is on the race track, and you’ll be able to buy them at Ford.”
If you weren’t already convinced that Ford plans to keep selling V8 Mustangs until it’s forced to stop Farley wrapped things up by saying:
Mustang is going to celebrate its 60th anniversary coming up here. A lot of our competitors have left. They’ve come and gone. We never did that. We’ve always been there with Mustang. 60 years, and it’s changed over time. We have EcoBoost, we have the Dark Horse now, and we’re going to continue to invest. And if we’re the only one on the planet making a V8 affordable sports car for everyone in the world, so be it.
So yeah, it doesn’t sound like the V8-powered Mustang is going anywhere anytime soon.