More detail about the next special edition Mustang for NZ has been released.

SOMETHING attendees of this weekend’s national gathering of Mustang owner clubs in Christchurch to consider - announcement the Mach 1 will leave small change from a $100,000 spend. 

The specific tag on the car, in either six-speeds manual or 10-speed automatic form, is $97,990.

The former is a Tremec rev-matching six-speed borrowed from Shelby and the latter a re-calibrated version of the company’s familiar 10-speed.

Also confirmed is that the car achieves a version of Ford’s 5.0-litre Coyote V8 generating 345kW and 556Nm. 

Those are lower outputs than are given for the car in its home market guise.

Ford has explained right-hand drive market emissions regulations are the issue.

Even so, it’s a gain over the standard Mustang GT, which makes 339kW and 556Nm, and leaves this edition on equal footing with Ford New Zealand’s last special edition, the Mustang Bullitt that hit the scene in force last year … for $4500 less than the Mach 1.

Is that a problem for you? Bear in mind they’re not exactly the same car in different special edition colour scheme.

 In saying that, both are limited count cars – Bullitt restricted to 50 units, Mach 1 might be 50 or even 80 – and both take bits from the Shelby 350 GT that has now been dropped in the US.

But different bits. The Bullitt, you might recall, had the Shelby’s intake manifold. The Mach 1 gets more. 

In addition to the gearbox, the engine oil cooler, oil filter adapter, rear toe-link, and sub-frames are also Shelby products. Ford has complemented these by adding in stiffer sway bars and bushings, MagneRide dampers as standard, and ticking off on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. 

A new front splitter, rear diffuser, lengthier undertray and a rear spoiler … these are also Mach 1-specific items. 

The Mach 1 also has Recaro buckets and a 12-speaker B&O sound system.

Meantime, all the blue bloods are in Christchurch for the Ford National Mustang Convention, hosted by the Canterbury Mustang Owners Club, with the public highlight being the Grand Mustang Show at Horncastle Arena tomorrow. The gathering is expected to build on a 2014 event that was the country’s biggest Mustang convention – not a bad effort given that this was a year before the first factory-built right-hand-drive models started coming in.