The Ford Mustang GT, Explained: Inside the S650

A 5.0-liter Coyote V8, rear-wheel drive, and an available manual gearbox: what the seventh-generation Mustang GT is, and why its formula still matters.

Some cars need explaining. The Ford Mustang GT mostly needs measuring, because its formula has barely moved in six decades — and that is the point. The Mustang is America’s longest-running nameplate, in continuous production since 1964, and the car that created and still names the pony-car segment.^[1] Its 1965 debut was the most successful vehicle launch since the Model A.^[1]

The hardware

The current car is the seventh generation, chassis code S650, in production since 2023 and assembled at Flat Rock, Michigan.^[1] The GT is the V8-powered core of the range.^[1] Its engine is the fourth-generation 5.0-liter Coyote V8, producing 480–486 hp.^[1] Power reaches the rear wheels — and only the rear wheels — through either a 6-speed manual, offered on the GT, or a 10-speed automatic.^[1] Body styles are a 2-door coupe and a 2-door convertible.^[1]

Where it sits in the lineup

The GT is not the top of the S650 hierarchy. Above it, Ford offers the Dark Horse with 500 hp, and beyond that the supercharged Dark Horse SC.^[1] That structure tells you what the GT is for: it is the volume performance Mustang, the version that delivers the essential V8 experience without track-day pricing. Ford had built its 10 millionth Mustang by August 2018,^[1] and cars like the GT are the reason the number is that large.

The character

What makes the S650 GT notable in 2026 is less what it has than what it refuses to give up. A naturally aspirated eight-cylinder engine, a clutch pedal on the options sheet, rear-wheel drive: this combination has nearly vanished from the new-car market at any price. The Mustang blends its classic proportions with modern engineering and remains an accessible American performance icon^[1] — a phrase that sounds like marketing until you try to name its remaining competitors.

It is, in short, a deliberately traditional car built on a current platform — the kind of machine that will read as obvious today and significant in hindsight.

Full figures, generation notes, and history live on the Ford Mustang GT database page. When you are ready to see real cars rather than spec sheets, view current Mustang GT inventory.