Supercharged Ford Mustang reveal this week

Ford Australia is on the verge of unveiling its first locally-developed supercharged Ford Mustang V8.

The company has issued invites for a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday evening, when Ford Australia and New Zealand president Kay Hart is expected to unveil the circa-500kW pony car.

Ford says it will be “a very special Mustang event” and “a memorable occasion”.

As we reported as far back as February, Ford Australia has been developing a factory-backed supercharged Mustang package with renowned tuner Rob Herrod.

We speculated then that the car might be previewed as soon as the opening round of the Supercars championship, where the racing version of the Mustang was launched.

But clearly, development timetables and marketing plans have made a pre-Bathurst 1000 launch the sweetspot.

While Wednesday will only be a static preview of the car, we expect the car to be demonstrated at Mount Panorama, maybe in the hands of a suitably high-profile driver.

So what sort of performance and dollars will Ford be talking for this limited-edition model? We’ve suggested 500kW and $100,000 in the past, but whatever it turns out to be it’s going to be substantial.

Ford Australia has gone down the path of developing a local supercharged Mustang solution because it cannot gain access to the left-hand drive only GT350 and GT500 (pictured) models that are developed by Ford Performance in the USA.

Ford Performance is an emerging brand here, offering complete cars such as the Ranger Raptor, Focus RS and Fiesta ST. The standard Ford Mustang GT already qualifies as a Ford Performance model here when equipped with the optional Track Pack and the supercharged Mustang would definitely sit under that banner as well.

As a leading Ford tuner and Australia’s only accredited Ford Performance dealer, Herrod was a natural choice to develop the supercharged Mustang on Ford’s behalf.

The Mustang will feature Roush supercharger technology, as the legendary US tuning firm is the official supplier to Ford Performance.

The factory-backed supercharged Mustang will launch Ford into a lucrative area of the market, as Mustang modification is a big deal in Australia.

This model is one of a number of Mustang limited editions Ford has planned as it seeks to maintain the popularity of Australia’s number one selling sports car.