McLaren M81 Mustang

I can remember the shock when I first learned of this very special hunk o’ foxy FoMoCo body. 

Though I grew up with a ‘Fox Body’ Mustang on every other block, I had no clue that such a rare variant was made.

A Motor Trend cover car for December 1980, the car helped to inspire the notion that a new dawn was on the horizon for Ford performance cars…little did anyone know it'd take 35 years for the company to introduce a full performance car portfolio.

This passage from the Motor Trend McLaren M81 Mustang review sounds remarkably familiar with the chorus automakers sing today:

“…Ford's thinking relative to all its future-generation vehicles places more emphasis on finesse than on pure power. For the general public, that philosophy will manifest itself in a new breed of unique small cars with relatively small displacement, smog-legal engines, and strong handling packages.”

In 1981, the M81 project was an early shot by the company's new president Phillip Caldwell (succeeding Henry Ford II) that the Blue Oval would be returning to factory-supported competition, and a race-prepared version of the M81 was entered into the 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring, where it duly won its class.

Win on Sunday, sell on Monday? Not quite.

Developed with McLaren Engines, McLaren's former Michigan, U.S.-based engine and performance car division, you may have guessed that the M81 has a four-cylinder turbocharged engine under its hood.

You’re correct, and probably already disappointed.