This particular Ford Mustang leaves us with some interesting questions. For a start, it looks like a typical S550, albeit with an intriguing array of external bits. The chin, balance panels and wheels appear to be Mach 1. However, the front panel is not Mach 1 and there is no wing at the rear. The reason for the camouflage wrap on the front clip is also a mystery, and then we have the words “no brakes” written on the driver’s side window. Weird.
Are you ready for things to get weirder? Our sources on these spy shots are quite confident that this is a powertrain test mule, specifically for four-wheel drive. There is some evidence to support the claim – a closer look at the rear wheel reveals a dual caliper configuration that you don’t find in normal Mustangs. However, you will find a similar arrangement on other four-wheel drive models, such as the Dodge Charger. The uneven spinning loom going to the rear wheel arch is easy to see, but less visible is another batch of threads going to the front pit.
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If Ford were working in a four-wheel drive configuration, monitoring all four wheels would be a no-brainer. By the way, incorporating some type of torque vectoring or yaw system also fits the theory and, if it is linked to the brake system, it is perfectly possible that the brakes will not work during different test periods. I hope the brakes on this car really work, because these photos come from public streets near Ford’s Dearborn test track. Maybe that’s why the driver of this Mustang didn’t like to be photographed.
So what does that mean? It could be as simple as Ford testing new brake systems for the Mustang. It could also be testing a four-wheel drive system, and it’s not like we haven’t heard all kinds of rumors about these things. On a large scale, this could even be a test mule for a next-generation Mustang V8 hybrid with four-wheel drive. All of these things are scheduled for the future of the Mustang, although we probably won’t see anything debut until at least 2022, when the next generation model is due to arrive.