Ford’s New Mustang GT3 Joins FIA Class, Facing Porsche, Ferrari, Nissan

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

• Ford is making good on its promise to develop a Mustang GT3 race car, and it will be revealed this weekend at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

• Based on the 2024 Mustang Dark Horse, the FIA GT3 entrant will feature a 5.4-liter Coyote V8, bespoke short-long arm suspension, and a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox.

• German-based Proton Competition will run the first pair of GT3 units in the FIA World Endurance Championship, while Ford Performance will race a pair in IMSA’s GTD Pro class.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is one day away and Ford is making waves before the starting flag (waved by LeBron James) drops with its newest motorsport Mustang derivative. Introduced as the 2024 Ford Mustang GT3, the American chassis will soon be racing in the FIA's GT3 category, pitting it against the likes of Porsche, Ferrari, and Nissan.

Ford's newest motorsports endeavor won't race until the 2024 season, but its first appearances will be at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans before hitting the grid at Le Mans in 2024.

Notably, Ford Performance hasn't participated in Le Mans since 2019, following the 2016 triumph with the Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT on the 50th anniversary of the original Ford GT40 win.

"Ford and Le Mans are bound together by history. And now we're coming back to the most dramatic, most rewarding, and most important race in the world," said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company. "It is not Ford versus Ferrari anymore. It is Ford versus everyone. Going back to Le Mans is the beginning of building a global motorsports business with Mustang, just like we are doing with Bronco and Raptor off-road."

The Mustang GT3 race car will be largely based on the 2024 Mustang Dark Horse, using a homologated version of the 5.4-liter Coyote V8. Ford will have two main partners in this venture: Multimatic and M-Sport. Multimatic, the company responsible for building the latest generation of Ford GT, will help build and support the Mustang GT3 chassis while M-Sport is set to assemble and tune the drivetrain.

Naturally, this race-spec beast will have carbon-fiber body panels and a unique GT3 aero package, but it will also make use of bespoke short-long arm suspension and a rear-mounted transaxle gearbox.

"For a project like the Mustang GT3, we turned to two of our most trusted partners in the motorsports world to help bring this vehicle and program together," said Mark Rushbrook, Global Director of Ford Performance Motorsports. "I know we'll all be as thrilled as Ford fans when Mustang begins racing at the highest levels of GT racing in 2024."

And there is already a customer race team ready to go, Ford says. Proton Competition, based in Ehingen, Germany, will take delivery of the first two Mustang GT3s and will run the entirety of the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2024. Ford Performance will also race a pair of Mustang GT3s in IMSA’s GTD Pro class, something the company has teased since January 2022.

Beyond creating an already cool stroked-out, V8-based Mustang race car, the visual design carries its own weight too. Bright colors and quasi-cheat line paint make for a stunning race car, and Ford says this was an intentional statement, thanks to the Troy Lee design.

With an ongoing F1 powertrain development program with Red Bull Racing, Ford is diving back into motorsports with a vengeance. And all eyes are on the Americans at Le Mans this weekend, as LMDh Cadillacs, Roger Penske-run Porsches, and Ben Keating behind the wheel of a Corvette join the grid. However, you may want to quell your expectations of a full-blown Ford Racing revival, as the official reveal of the Mustang GT3 marks the entirety of motorsports promises kept by Ford.

What is the best-sounding American race car, new or old? Please share your thoughts below.