Ford Mustang road-going GT3 prototype spied: wide body, center-exit exhaust

Ford Mustang road-going GT3 prototype spied: wide body, center-exit exhaust

Jim Farley foreshadowed it was coming, and now we think we’re looking at a heavily camouflaged prototype of the Ford Mustang GT3 road car. Spied running around a Ford test track, this tester is a seriously chunky Mustang that’s rocking a unique aero package and a center-exit exhaust. It’s no Dark Horse, and thanks to that center exhaust, it’s likely not a Shelby model either.

Of course, all of that is what leads us to guess that we’re looking at the road-going version of Ford’s GT3 racecar. Its wide body is undeniable underneath all those wrappings. The extra width is most noticeable when you’re looking at the disguised Mustang directly from the front or rear. That rear shot gives us a fuzzy glimpse of the dual outlet exhaust coming out the middle of the rear bumper instead of the Mustang’s traditional exhaust outlets on the corners. A rather aggressive-looking spoiler sits under cover on the decklid, but it’s all a bit fuzzy to make out exactly what’s going on back there.

The tire size and model can’t be confirmed due to the distance at which these spy shots were taken, but the sidewall design looks like that of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 R tires. We can’t read it, but the “R” is typically found in the dark-shaded box after the lettering. That would mean this car is rocking Michelin’s most extreme road-rated tires, which is totally consistent with a road-going Mustang GT3 build.

The front-end is highly camouflaged, but its massive maw to suck in air and for cooling is partially visible behind the wrappings. We suspect this unique front bumper will be rocking an aggressive splitter and perhaps other aero elements, too.

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Our spy shooter who took these shots described the noise it was making as naturally aspirated with no hint of a supercharger whine. Once again, that’d be consistent with this being the GT3 Mustang, as Ford will likely save the supercharger for a Shelby model. We’ll hopefully see more and more of this track-focused Mustang soon as Ford gears up to launch the standard Mustang models later this year.

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