Ford Plans to Continue V8 Production for as Long as Possible
As automakers convert their gas vehicle lineups to electric models, it’s not surprising that the big, thirsty engines are among the first to go. Ford, a pioneer of V8 engines and muscle cars, is certainly no exception, but the automaker’s executives aren’t giving up on displacement just yet.
Speaking to the Australian publication Carsales, Ford Performance Motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook said the company had not defined an endpoint to V8 production. Though he acknowledged the difficulties that emissions regulations would bring, Rushbrook stated that Ford would continue building V8s for as long as possible.
That said, Rushbrook is realistic about the fact that Ford can’t keep the fantasy going forever. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you in 300 years we’re going to be selling V8 Mustangs. I’m not going to tell you what year we’ll stop, because I have no idea,” he told Carsales.
Ford is gearing up for the release of a new Mustang model in 2024 that will carry its V8 torch for the foreseeable future. That will leave The Blue Oval as the sole purveyor of V8 muscle cars among its American rivals. Dodge is cutting the Challenger and Charger after 2023, and Chevy’s nixing the Camaro.
[Image: Ford]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Man we need to elect an intelligent conservative who will get our government out of car engines, light bulbs, gas appliances, air conditioners and guns.
I still prefer the 3.7 V6 from just a few years ago. I'll accept a turbo four cylinder in any SAAB ( I have two!), but I want a reasonably powerful V6 engine in a Mustang that isn't a gas hog. I will accept that kind of mpg in my four Toronados.
Everything is this country is subject to political winds and pressures. Neither party has an exclusive on bad decisions or good ones. But to shut off the majority of all Domestic production then start issuing Executive fiat’s that gas powered everything will essentially be outlawed when there is no suitable wide spread replacement is the height of stupidity. America is already the cleanest industrial nation in the world. We can continue to get better but with China firing up a new coal plant every week and the Middle East essentially flipping the bird to any environmental standards, it absurd to think the US effort is anything more than a fart in a hurricane.
With GM's current investment in the next-generation V8 (stated as a truck engine), I find it difficult to believe that they won't end up shoehorning a version of it into a performance car.