Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Why 6.5: A standard MagneRide suspension, extra chassis bracing and the highest state of tune Ford's naturally aspirated Coyote V8 has ever reached in a factory Mustang, with a manual gearbox still on the order sheet. It replaced the Mach 1 as the enthusiast-grade S650, and early buyers are ordering it exactly that way.
Layout
Natural habitat
Ride comfort
Sound
The Coyote pulls to 7,500, high for a cross-plane V8, and the active-valve exhaust opens into a proper hard bark. It is a broad muscle-car noise with no intricacy to it, and it thins out as it nears the limiter, which keeps it just under the AMG 6.2.
8-cylinder · naturally aspirated · 7,500 rpm redline · rated 7.6 / 10 for engine sound
Market value
Median asking price, good condition · €56k (2024) → €52k (2026), trending down · illustrative data
Child seats · ISOFIX
Two outboard LATCH positions in the 2+2 rear bench, same hardware Ford's used since the S550 launched; the middle position isn't a real seating position and skips LATCH entirely.
No LATCH hardware up front, and Ford's manual points you to the back seat as the intended position — the front passenger sensing system exists to manage the airbag if you're ever forced to use the front seat, not as a designed child-seat spot.
Same tight 2+2 rear seat every Mustang's had since 2015 — the anchors are there, the legroom mostly isn't.
Ford Mustang Owner's Manual
The long version
Ford built the Dark Horse as the halo trim for a Mustang generation that doubled down on a naturally aspirated V8 with a manual gearbox still available to order, a genuinely counter-trend move in a market moving toward turbos and hybrids. Early production skews toward buyers who specifically wanted the extra chassis bracing and MagneRide dampers over the standard GT, and track-day sightings have followed quickly since delivery, unlike more style-focused special editions. It is too new for real depreciation data, but the manual take rate alone suggests this is being bought to be driven, not parked under a cover.