√2024 Ford Mustang: Next Pony car to keep manual transmission

Details are emerging about Ford’s next Mustang, and it looks as if the manual gearbox will stay – for now.

The 2024 Ford Mustang looks set to be offered with a manual gearbox, after the company teased a graphic with a blatant hint.

Ford confirmed it would build the next Mustang at its Flat Rock plant in Michigan, and as part of the announcement, released an accompanying image using a six-speed H-pattern inside the ‘o’ of “Seventh Generation”.

This is the first time the new Mustang has been officially confirmed by the Blue Oval, despite grainy images emerging online in April showing what looks to be a prototype of the ‘pony car’.

Former CEO of Ford, Mark Fields, had previously suggested the next Mustang would use a hybrid V8, saying in January 2017 the powertrain would provide “V8 power and even more low-end torque”.

While the vehicle was initially slated for launch in 2020, the project has been pushed back a number of times, and is now expected to be revealed in March 2023.

Details of the 2024 Ford Mustang aren’t fully known at this stage, but the new-generation model is tipped to be a heavy rework of the current vehicle – much in the same way the new Nissan Z is based on the 370Z’s architecture.

This could be the last time the Ford Mustang is offered with a V8 – and a manual gearbox – with industry rumours suggesting the coupe will move to an all-electric powertrain at the end of this decade.

If true, it would give the seventh-generation version a limited life cycle of just six years, and could be justification for Ford basing it off the current Mustang rather than pouring money into an all-new chassis.

In late 2020, a trade union representative let slip that a 6.8-litre V8 engine was being developed for Ford to use in the Mustang and F-150.

Ford’s approach to the inevitable electrification of its product range may be pragmatic, but these rumours suggest it may also be gearing up to celebrate the V8 with the upcoming Mustang, complete with a clutch pedal.

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