If full battery commitment doesn’t rock your boat, how about taking the old-school look with petrol-electric?

FORD appears to be creating another proposition for fans of the V8 Mustang with distaste for the all-electric Mach-E - a hybrid version of the ‘traditional’ car.

The week just wrapping up is special to the Blue Oval; it marked 60 years since the debut of the Mustang nameplate, back in 1964.

Ford New Zealand held a bit of a party at its Auckland headquarters, at which it showed off an advance arrival example of the generation seven ‘S605’ petrol orthodox type that will be on sale from around September in its coupe fastback format with the convertible adding next year. 

That display car is now on display at the ITM 400 V8 Supercars event in Taupo. Before coming here, it ran similar duty in Australia, including at the Supercar championship kick-off at Bathurst.

The local event timed to a much bigger party, ‘Mustang Day c2024’, Ford ran in the United States.

Thousands of Mustangs were involved, from the very earliest to the one still causing so much furore about whether it deserves the name: The all electric Mach-E.

The official guest product at Charlotte Motor Speedway was a V8 sporting a 2025 Ford Mustang 60th Anniversary Package, but there were ‘Easter egg’ products as well.

Ford also showed off a video of other product, some of which seems to be still in development. 

One making brief appearance was thought to be the S650-generation Shelby GT500.

Another was the car seen here smoking up large.

Smoking up more than the rears … all four tyres are being immolated.

A US website specialising in Blue Oval news, Ford Authority, says it thinks this is the long-rumoured Mustang Hybrid all-wheel drive model.

Ford Authority is keen on the idea saying it makes sense.

“After all, that’s precisely what GM has done with the new Corvette E-Ray, which uses an electric motor to power the front wheels, while its traditional ICE engine handles the rear.”

It says it rumour about a hybrid has been circulating for some time. It imagined the concept had been scrapped for the S650.

But then, it reports, recently Ford chief executive Jim Farley, who in January made a brief visit to New Zealand, stated that a hybrid pony car was far more likely to come into production than an all-electric type with the traditional body style.

Additionally, says the site, Ford just announced that it plans to add a hybrid powertrain option to its entire Ford Blue lineup, which the Mustang is part of.

Ford Authority’s view? “The concept of an electrified pony car seems like a very real possibility.”