Ford ups the power on iconic Mustang muscle car with new performance package at New York auto show

PUBLISHED WED, APR 17 2019 • 6:00 AM EDT UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Paul A. Eisenstein

It may be entering its middle age, but there appears to be plenty of life left in Ford’s 55-year-old Mustang “pony car.”

Marking the anniversary of the coupe’s original debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, the automaker is laying claim to being the world’s best-selling sports car, besting competitors as diverse as the Chevrolet Camaro and BMW Z4, with global sales last year totaling 113,066.

And Ford is hoping to retain its lead by continuing to not only update the Mustang but by adding an array of new variants. That includes the EcoBoost High-Performance Package that is making its debut Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show.

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Mustang has always been available in a range of different packages, but gone are the days when Ford offered an anemic base edition that was derisively known among enthusiasts as a “secretary’s car.” Today, even the “base” Mustang’s turbocharged inline-four engine is capable of making 310 horsepower, a full 130 hp more than the vaunted Mustang GT delivered in the 1980s.

The new “HPP,” as the High-Performance Package is known inside the company, takes that up to 330 hp and 350 pound-feet of tire-spinning torque. That will launch it from 0 to 60 in a mere 4.5 seconds, about what a Porsche 911 could have managed not all that long ago.

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