When former Team Sky sponsor Jaguar rolled out last year’s Tour de France support car it set the bar pretty high, providing a one-off version of Jaguar’s F-Type sports car, no less. One year on, and with Ford now playing sponsor, Team Sky has revealed its latest support car in the form of the all-new Ford Mustang.
A motoring icon since its introduction in the 1960s, the Mustang is now in its sixth generation and has been thoroughly revamped for 2016 in an altogether more sophisticated package. Up front there’s a hefty 5l V8 engine chucking a potent 412hp to the rear wheels. Ever tightening emissions and economy targets mean that, in its V8 flavour at least, this new Mustang looks set to be one of the last large-capacity naturally aspirated cars of its kind.
Team Sky’s Mustang is standard other than its signature livery and onboard radio equipment. Depending on where you are in the world, Ford’s latest Mustang is available from £28,995/$24,645. If the 2015 Tour is anything to go by then we’ll not see too much of the Mustang – after all, Jaguar’s fancy F-Type only really made an appearance during a couple of Time Trial stages last year.
Practical: no. Brimming with presence: yes. What we really want to see is use of this car’s line lock mode (for anyone who’s into their cars and doesn’t know we mean by that then I suggest you check this video right now).
Ford enjoyed two historic victories in 1966: at Le Mans and as part of Lucien Aimar's Tour de France victory as part of the Ford France – Hutchinson cycle team. Earlier this month, Ford repeated the 1966 victory when its all-new GT racecar took first place in its class at Le Mans. Now, Ford is hoping to replicate their success on two wheels with Team Sky.
