What’s uniquely American? You can quote and old Chevy ad, and say baseball, apple pie, but in this case it’s also a Ford. A Ford Mustang. Maybe they should re-do the ad?

One thing is for sure – in the class the Mustang helped create in 1964, only one remains, and it’s… the Mustang. And while we’re sad the Camaro is no more, and the Charger is an EV, (although rumors persist that a V8 may be coming back), the good news is if you want a V8-powered, stylish coupe that’s sure to thrill on every drive, Ford still serves up the legendary Mustang GT.

Last year saw an all-new 2024 Mustang, and when we had an opportunity to drive a 2025 GT model we jumped at the chance. Hey, it’s a legend!

Familiar and Fresh

The styling for the 2024 update was pretty masterful. While giving an updated look, it’s still undeniably a Mustang.

The front end looks meaner, with a larger grille, larger side intakes, and LED headlamps that look lower, frownier and angrier. Top that off with a prominent intake on the hood, and the look is aggressive, serious and says, “get out of my way”!

Overall, the vehicle is just slightly longer and wider, and the profile is pure Mustang with a long hood, tight greenhouse and swept-back roofline. The redesign looks a bit more refined with less flagrant cut-ins on the shoulder line and lower doors, while our tester’s 19-inch, blacked-out alloy wheels finished off the looks.

The rear gets a fresh look too, with a more deeply chiseled rear panel, that’s more integrated with very cool sequential taillights, and a contrasting lower fascia with massive quad tailpipes poking out underneath. Without the rear spoiler, we loved our tester’s clean looks – low-key and serious.

Adding to that was our tester’s Molten Magenta Metallic paint that shimmers and changes colors in the light. Our tester also had a Matte Clear Film that takes away some of the sheen and also helps protect the paint – but at $5,995 it’s a pricey option that we might pass on if it was our own.

Modern Interior

While the exterior gets a fresh look, the interior looks massively updated – yet still feels like a Mustang. This is also apparent as you climb your way up the model family including to the recently unveiled Dark Horse SC.

Open the door and you’re face-to-face with one of the biggest changes – but it’s not without controversy. Forming a glass cockpit that would look at home in a BMW or Audi is a 12.4-inch digital cluster and 13.2-inch infotainment screen. While traditionalist bemoan the lack of the double-hump style dashboard, we think a lot of modern buyers will like the look and tech.

The digital instrument cluster is actually a bunch of fun with multiple choices, and you can even configure the screen to echo different vintage Mustang screens including the Fox body, and SVT models. Pretty cool! We actually liked the standard display best, with a clear analog-looking speedo and tach, and a handy gear indicator display as well.

The info-tainment on the big screen is good, but not quite up to par with other manufacturers…sometimes it’s a little slow to respond, and the overall architecture is a little less than intuitive. That said, it’s taken most manufactures a few years and iterations to get things right – so we expect this to be improved as time goes on. Another plus, over-the-air updates mean if Ford has a better idea (yes, that old ad campaign!) the system can be updated as well.

Another big plus in our tester were the optional Recaro buckets, that are firm and supportive – we’d recommend that you test them out before ordering, larger folks may find them too confining – but for spirited driving, they are superb!

Everything else has the feeling of a well-thought-out design, with well-marked controls, a chunky, flat bottom steering wheel with cutouts for the hand at the 9 and 3 o’clock position, and easy to use remote buttons.

Our tester’s 6-speed manual was perfectly located to the hand, and we liked our tester’s parking brake lever that looks like a traditional cable type affair but is electronically controlled –still handy for the kind of hooning about that performance enthusiasts love to do.

The rear seats are vestigial, and really only useful very small children, pets or your briefcase. That said, the trunk is a nice size, and as a two-seater it’s pretty livable for the day-to-day. We were also impressed with the quality of materials on our tester, with lots of soft-touch panels, attractive double stitching, and a very high-quality feel.

Shall we GT?

Of course, much of this can be ordered on any Mustang, but in our minds, the real Mustang needs a V8 under the hood, and boy, does the GT deliver!

OK, let’s not entirely sell the base Mustang short – the 2.3-liter, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine features an impressive 315 horsepower, and 350 lb.-ft. of torque. Performance is very quick. One negative, it’s offered exclusively with the automatic transmission.

Those wanting more should step right up to the GT, with 480 horses, and 415 lb.-ft. of torque. Our tester also had the optional Active Valve Exhaust and that gives a nice bump to 486 and 418, respectively.

And we highly recommend the Active Exhaust as this is one of the best-sounding engines in auto-dom. It starts with a “whump” and a deep idle. In the normal setting it’s quite vocal – we were thankful for the “Quiet Mode” setting in the morning to not disturb the neighbors.

You have three other choices, including Normal, Sport and Track, and each one gets deeper, louder and more insistent. While we found Quiet to be very refined feeling – like a high-end BMW or Mercedes V8, we spent most of our time in Normal, just the perfect amount of anger to give your goose bumps goose bumps as you wind out it out and go from a deep basso to a screaming V8 battle cry as you wind it through the gears. In the week we had our tester, we never grew tired of that sound. In fact, it makes every drive an occasion.

Adding to that was something that’s becoming a rarity – a 6-speed manual transmission. This one is a honey too, with a nice feel, just a little bit notchy, but direct and just the right amount of weight to feel positive but never heavy.

Same with the clutch – it’s got excellent feel, but we were surprised how relatively light and easy it is to use – you can really live with it in stop and go traffic without requiring a massive leg that would make Arnold proud.

And all combined, this is a fast pony, the GT with 6-speed hits 0-60 in just over 4 seconds, and it sounds thrilling the whole way through.

While you could love the Mustang for its powertrain, that’s just the beginning of an impressive overall package. Our tester had the optional Performance Package, which serves up 19-inch summer tires, Brembo brakes and a Torsen limited slip rear axle.

These all help serve up great grip, but the real winner here is the suspension tuning. The Mustang has been around for a while, and the engineers have polished it to perfection. The ride is firm, yet supple, the response to bumps is masterful with no bouncing around, and the steering is precise and ideally weighted.

This is a great car to tackle your favorite twisty road, and if you were thinking autocross or track day, it feels like it would be super capable. It all adds up to a wonderfully balanced machine – the thrills of a muscle car combined with the refinement of a true GT. This is a car that can take on any competitor and stand proud, powerful and victorious.

Thoroughbred Pricing?

This is where things get interesting. Base price of the GT starts at a very reasonable $51,080.

But like the European brands, you can option a Mustang any way you like – though it can get pricey when you do so. Our tester had the Equipment Group 401A ($2,900), Molten Magenta paint ($995), B&O sound system ($995), GT Performance Package ($5,445), Mustang Nite Pony Package ($1,295), Floor Mats ($200), Active Valve Exhaust ($1,595), Recaro Seats ($1,995), and Matte Clear Film ($5,995).

Add in $1,595 for Destination, and we rang the bell at $74,090. Gulp! We think our tester was designed to show all the great stuff you can get, but we’d be much more judicious if it was our hard-earned dollar. That said, once you experience all the niceties, it’s hard to say no!  

So, competitors…uhhh…well, there are no direct ones anymore, although the Dodge Charger is rumored to be returning with a V8, as Charger EV’s don’t seem to scratch that pony car itch for most buyers.

Well, if you want American thrills, you could look at a Chevrolet Corvette, starting at $72,000, but we’d figure mid 80’s for something comparable to the Mustang. The automatic-only Chevy is a two-seat sports car– and a fantastic one at that – so usability as your only, day-to-day everything car is a tough sell – but one the Mustang could do nicely.

If your taste permits, we think a BMW M2 would be a worthy competitor, no, it’s not a V8, but it is an amazing performance car and has a rear seat as well. Comparably equipped with a 6-speed manual transmission, the BMW comes in around $82K. We’d expect the cost of maintenance and overall reliability of the vehicle couldn’t hold a candle to the Mustang, though!

The 2025 Mustang GT is a fantastic performance vehicle, that legitimately can challenge the world’s best. It may be the last of the pony cars, but it’s the best one ever!