How Ford will celebrate the Mustang’s 60th anniversary

The first Ford Mustang was revealed on April 17, 1964 at the World’s Fair in New York, and the 60th anniversary of that date is coming up fast.

Ford naturally plans to mark the milestone, teasing a special 60th anniversary appearance package for its seventh-generation S650-series Mustang.

A pair of teaser images show GT 60 Years badging, finished in Vermillion Red and Ebony Black – inspired by the badging and wheel centre caps on the Mustang revealed at the 1964 World’s Fair.

In addition to a special edition model, which looks set to come only with the 5.0-litre Coyote V8, Ford has cryptically teased an “exclusive new feature” that’ll be available for all seventh-generation Mustang owners around April 17.

“Owners will need to turn on ‘Automatic Software Updates’ in the ‘Settings’ menu through their vehicle’s SYNC 4 touchscreen to receive this special feature,” the company says in a press release.

It’s unclear what this feature will be.

On April 17, Ford will also host an owner and fan event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, giving enthusiasts a chance to meet Ford Performance racing drivers and see an array of racing and one-off Mustangs in one place.

As for the 60th anniversary edition Mustang itself, we’d expect Ford to include various heritage-inspired touches for the special edition pony car.

The 50th anniversary edition, for example, was offered exclusively in two colours from the original Mustang: Wimbledon White, as applied to the first production Mustang, as well as Kona Blue.

It also featured unique louvred rear-quarter windows like the 1965 fastback, as well as chrome trim on the grille, side glass and tail lights, two-tone upholstery, aluminium interior trim, and standard fitment of the GT performance pack.

This last anniversary edition wasn’t offered in Australia as the sixth-generation Mustang didn’t launch here until 2015.

Introduced in North America in 2023, the seventh-generation Mustang will launch in China, Europe, Australia and South America this year.

Previously set for a late-2023 launch in Australia, the new Mustang was delayed to early 2024, then to the second quarter of this year, and more recently to the second half of 2024.

That means it’ll come here close to two years after its September 2022 unveiling, and more than 15 months after the new-generation Mustang started competing in the Supercars Championship.

Despite the delays, the 2024 Ford Mustang has been available to order since October 2023, with the lineup starting from $64,990 before on-roads in EcoBoost Fastback automatic guise, or $77,002 before on-road costs for the manual-equipped GT Fastback – with an extra $3900 for the auto.

A limited run of the flagship Mustang Dark Horse variant – 1000 examples to be exact – will also come to Australia, starting at $99,102 before on-road roads with a six-speed manual or $103,002 for the 10-speed automatic.

There’s also a single convertible, the GT automatic, priced at $86,752 before on-roads.

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