2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 First Drive: Thunder Macher! (MotorTrend)
The reborn icon finds its own niche in the Mustang hierarchy.
Rest in thunder, 2016 to 2020 Shelby GT350. Your ethereal 5.2-liter Voodoo V-8 was too good for this low-redline world; not even the recently introduced, supercar-baiting GT500's 7,500-rpm cutoff can match your 8,250-rpm supernova scream. Your loss is so profoundly felt, we've been casting about for some car — any car — to fill the hole in our heart. But that car won't be the new 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Not because it's not great, but because it's not supposed to be.
Conceptually, Ford asks you to consider the Mach 1 as an heir to the 2012 to 2013 Boss 302, as they're both hopped-up, handling-focused evolutions of the contemporary Mustang GT. We partially agree, but that's because the old, hardcore Boss is best lined up with a specific version of the new Mach 1, that being one fitted with the optional handling package.
As a whole, the new Mach 1 is a GT burger with a slice of GT350, a few strips of Boss, and a schmear of GT500 for good measure. It's a parts-bin special in the best way, as Ford stitched together some of the most incendiary bits from the extant Mustang lineup to position the Mach 1 at the top of the 5.0-liter hierarchy.
