There’s been a Mustang in Ford’s production lineup for 55 consecutive years now. That’s a heck of a record of longevity in an industry where product life cycles are sometimes measured in the passage of just a few autumns. During the 2018 model year, Ford delivered new Mustangs to 113,066 customers globally, officially making the pioneering pony car the world’s best-selling sport coupe for four straight years. That’s impressive.
Ford’s taking it further in 2020. Unveiled at the New York International Auto Show is the spiritual descendant of the four-cylinder Mustang SVO ultra-performance special from the 1980s. The 2020 Mustang, like the SVO, has 2.3 liters of displacement but the similarities pretty much end there. This time around, the Mustang will offer buyers a version of the turbocharged Ford Focus RS engine, built in Valencia, Spain, especially for use in this equine bottle rocket. It rates at 330hp, the biggest output number of any American-sold four-cylinder engine, with 350-lbs.ft. of torque. Part of the Ford EcoBoost engine family, the iron-block, aluminum-head engine uses a 5 percent larger turbocharger than the Focus RS and a bigger-capacity standard radiator. The Mustang engine’s power band is likewise 40 percent wider. The standard suspension borrows heavily from the V-8 powered Mustang GT. These cars are all about looking tough on the street, and we absolutely love the tucked-in C-pillars and rear quarters of this current Mustang. The EcoBoost Mustang hits the showrooms this fall.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 