In Honor of the New Mustang GT3, We Look Back at 5 Historic Racing Mustangs

The new Mustang GT3 is a Mustang Dark Horse-based racecar. Will it continue the legend of these 5 historic racing Mustangs?

Ford recently unveiled the new Mustang GT3 racecar. It joins the FIA GT3 category and is expected to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Endurance Championship season in 2024. The new racecar is based on the exciting new Mustang Dark Horse. Ford is chomping at the bit to show what the new Mustang GT3 can do at the famous Le Mans race. “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. 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.” Said Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company.

The new Mustang GT3 not only comes with new technology but with a new look as well. New Ford Performance branding was also unveiled with this car. The new look will be featured on all racing vehicles going forward. Ford Performance will partner with Multimatic to help build and support the new Mustang GT3. And M-Sport will assemble the 5.4L Coyote-based V8 racing engine that was developed by Ford Performance. This is all very exciting for 2024. But this is not the first racing Mustang. There have been some truly legendary racing Mustangs over the years. And we thought that with the announcement of the newest entry it would be a good time to take a look back at some of the classics.

1. 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350R

If you are familiar with the history of Ford at Le Mans then you must be familiar with Ken Miles. He helped to develop and race this GT350R. The car was built to boost the Ford racing presence in SCCA Production class racing and to beat the Corvettes. It did just that thanks to a 350 horsepower 289 ci Ford V8 engine. Today these legendary cars are worth well into the 7-figure range.