It’s not unusual for automakers to make mild adjustments to their cars from model year to model year. It’s a little less common, though, for them to announce changes before the car has even left the factory, as Ford has done with the Mustang Mach 1. Returning to the Mustang lineup for the first time in 17 years, the new Mach 1 was launched in June 2020. Since then, though, Ford’s designers have been tinkering with some of the car’s finer details.
The updates are subtle, but the handy
infographic below gives you all the information you need to pick apart the
differences. The first, and perhaps easiest to notice, is the slight change to
the “Mach 1” badge. Although the shape hasn’t changed at all, Ford’s design
team has added a silver border to make it read better on darker cars.
The next change is a little subtler but
still has a meaningful impact. To make the front end look a little meaner, the
team changed the lower grille color from Magnetic Gray to low-gloss black. It’s
the bay leaf of design changes in that you probably won’t notice the change of
color on the street, but the overall improvement will be appreciated. Finally,
Ford changed the shape of the fender striping and says that this tweak was made
largely to improve quality and production processes. And that’s it. Like any
artist at an easel, Ford’s designers have been tweaking and fettling to make
sure that everything is just right when the Mach 1 hits the streets.
What won’t change, though, is what’s under
the hood. Powered by a 480 hp version of the 5.0-liter Coyote V8, the Mach 1
will be offered with a six-speed manual transmission as well as a whole host of
handling modifications that, according to Ford, should make it nearly as quick
around short tracks as the GT350. The very first Mach 1 is set to sell at
Barrett-Jackson’s Scottsdale auction in March.
