Ford Australia has announced the return of the top of the range Mustang Dark Horse R and a special Triple Eight Race Engineering collaboration for 2026.
Just 500 Dark Horse R models will be sold in Australia of which 250 will feature the T8-Spec Pack fitted by the Ford Licensed Accessory team at Plant 2 in Broadmeadows.
Australia’s most successful team, Triple Eight Race Engineering has leant its expertise to enhancing the Dark Horse R and bringing a taste of its on-track success to the road.
“The Mustang Dark Horse is already the pinnacle of performance, but T8-Spec takes it to a new level of track-focused capability,” said Ambrose Henderson, Director of Marketing, Ford Australia.
“By partnering with Triple Eight Race Engineering, we’ve created a vehicle that not only celebrates our racing heritage but offers our most passionate enthusiast customers a globally unique, bespoke numbered collector’s item vehicle, upfit right here in Melbourne.”
The T8-Spec Pack will be identifiable by the new Avalanche Prestige Paint and the Tremec six-speed transmission.
Other performance additions include high-performance Pirelli P Zero RS tyres, MagnaRide suspension tune, stiffer springs, roll bars and adjustable top mounts for the handling.
a larger rear spoiler featuring a Grabber Blue accented gurney flap, enhanced front aero splitter, black roof, blue Brembo brakes, unique bonnet decals, Recaro seats, Triple Eight branded scuff panels and sequentially numbered build plate to make the superficial experience unique.
Added to this, the owner experience will keep the connection strong between the team and the purchaser.
“All of us at Triple Eight Race Engineering are incredibly proud to be partnering with Ford, and the Mustang Dark Horse T8-Spec is a fantastic way to celebrate our return to the track with the Blue Oval,” said Triple Eight Race Engineering Managing Director Jamie Whincup.
“This collaboration allows us to take our championship-winning expertise and apply it to a road-going performance icon. We are looking forward to meeting these 250 passionate customers at Queensland Raceway and showing them exactly what this vehicle is capable of in a track environment.”
Supercars special editions have been around for some time, with Ford releasing Lowndes, Ambrose and Ingall versions of its offerings.