Ford is not shy about celebrating anniversaries — every milestone year that comes around; you can bet there will be a special edition of some kind. However, that doesn’t mean you should scoff at every special edition Ford that comes out — quite the opposite.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Bullit, better known as the Steve McQueen movie that put the Mustang on the map, so it was a no-brainer that the recently refreshed Mustang would get the Bullit treatment. Not only that, but Ford also teased the return of the GT500 — which will make no less than 700 horsepower. And even though both of these Blue Oval icons bear the Mustang name, they’re each for completely different customers.
Ford2019 Mustang Bullitt
In the film, McQueen famously took all the Ford and Mustang badging off his 390 GT for a bare, minimalist look. So despite the fact that the Mustang logo is nearly everywhere on the current generation muscle car — on the dashboard, seat backs, carpet, front grille, trunk lid and projected on the ground when you open the door — the Bullit Edition is devoid of all of that. Which is good: a herd of chrome ponies would just spoil the highland-green paint and black rims. Not to mention the 5.0-liter V8 (that puts out 475 horsepower — 40 more than the base Mustang GT) probably does enough talking to let everyone know what you’re driving.
The GT500, on the other hand, is a clear indication of Ford releasing its pent-up brashness. Even though there was only a teaser video, we do know it will be the most powerful road-going Ford, ever. Ford confirm that the GT500 will have more than 700 horsepower with the help of a supercharger, but the rumor mill is saying the foundation will be the raucous, high-revving 5.2-liter Voodoo V8 from the GT350. All of a sudden, the Ford GT seems pretty tame.
