1980 Ford Mustang McLaren M81 Headed to Auction
Early Fox body Ford Mustangs are often deemed the least desired of the historical herd. Saddled with primitive emissions equipment, downsized engines, and new-at-the-time safety regulations, they sit at an unfortunate nexus between the hard-charging antecedents of the 1960s and early '70s and the new millennium's modern sports cars. But there are still some diamonds in the rough, including this 1980 Ford McLaren Mustang M81 set to be auctioned off by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale next week — and said to be one of the rarest Mustangs in the world.
The backstory begins in the late 1970s, as Ford was trying to move past the Mustang II and get people excited about its 2.3-liter four-cylinder turbo engine that would serve as a midrange option below the V-8s in the third-gen model. (Sound familiar?) The company decided to partner with McLaren in 1980 — at that point still a racing and powertrain engineering shop — to create a joint Mustang prototype showcasing a hand-built McLaren engine and the breadth of Ford's off-the-shelf motorsports parts inventory. The concept was quickly greenlit and scheduled for a limited production run of 249 cars. However, only 10 were produced before slow sales and a $25,000 price tag (around $75,000 today) scuttled the project, and of those just seven were swathed in aptly-named Bittersweet Orange paint.
