First Ford Mustang GTD bound for Australia

Australia will soon welcome its first Ford Mustang GTD, with Victorian Mustang stalwart Craig Dean approved as a customer for Ford’s wildest road-going pony car yet.

The 608kW supercharged V8 coupe has been handed over in the US and will be shipped to Melbourne for right-hand drive conversion, paving the way for a uniquely extreme sight on local roads.

For decades, Craig Dean has been something of Mr Mustang in Australia.

Through Mustang Motorsport and Crossover Car Conversions, Dean imported, converted and sold Ford’s pony car long before it was officially offered here, before later becoming one of the country’s leading Mustang modifiers and the local distributor for Shelby American and RTR.

That background put him in good stead when it came time to apply for ownership of the Mustang GTD, a car Ford tightly controls access to in order to weed out speculators.

Prospective buyers must apply online and, only after approval, are invited to place an order for the US$325,000 (around $A510,000) supercar.

“I thought ‘I’ll just apply for it, they can only say no’,” Dean said.

“I’m heading into retirement so just thinking, cool car, it would be nice to end my career.”

“The process was to fill out an application form, which was quite onerous, talking about the cars you’ve owned and where you’ve come from. Then it asked a bit about your history and what you currently do.”

After around three months, an approval email arrived, along with an allocated concierge to manage the ordering and specification process.

Dean eventually settled on Lightning Blue paint and ticked the boxes for both the Performance Pack and Carbon Pack.

“The Performance Pack is a no-brainer because it’s got the active aero and then the carbon, well, that really sets it off,” he said, noting those options add around $100,000 to the final price.

Ford will not officially export the Mustang GTD to Australia, which is why handover took place at South Bay Ford in California.

From there, Dean’s car will head to Melbourne, where it will be converted to right-hand drive rather than live life as a garage ornament.

“What’s the good of having a left-hand drive car you can’t drive legally?” Dean said.

“You might as well convert it and drive it and enjoy it and use it and then one day I’ll sell it or keep it, I don’t know what I’ll do yet.”

Given Dean’s history as a regular tarmac rally competitor, don’t be surprised if Australia’s first Mustang GTD is seen in anger on Victorian roads before too long.

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