But that doesn’t mean one won’t be made!
A vicious rumor has been running through the industry that Ford is weighing the possibility of making a Mustang Raptor. We and many others have been hoping it’s true, while some weirdo purists think it’s a horrible idea. Alas, Ford CEO Jim Farley poured a little bit of cold water on the rumor, although he didn’t “squash” it like some automotive sites are claiming.
Check out a hill climb monster Mustang here.
In an interview with MotorTrend, Farley admitted an off-road supercar is something he’d love to see happen. However, the man is thinking along the lines of something purpose-built, not a conversion of a regular Ford street vehicle.
He went on to elaborate on what he meant, referring to the Dakar endurance racers, particularly those legendary Porsches and Lamborghinis from the Paris-Dakar rally days. Different people are interpreting that statement in different ways, which might have been what Farley intended.
It’s not beyond reason to suspect Ford started the Mustang Raptor rumors itself. Automakers routinely float rumors to media, enthusiasts’ circles, etc. on purpose to see how people react, gauging how much market interest there might be. Sometimes this results in a concept being created or even a production model. Other times, the feedback helps automakers steer in a different direction.
But as MotorTrend is careful to point out, “Farley isn’t ruling anything out.” So we could get a Mustang Raptor after all, even though it doesn’t sound likely. If enough people show interest in such a thing, there’s a stronger possibility Ford will create one, so everyone act appropriately.
Off-road conversions for muscle cars have been a subculture for some time. Some enthusiasts just love them and others can’t stand them, so they definitely can be polarizing. Considering Ford has slapped the Mustang name on an all-electric crossover, we think making a Raptor version of the pony car would be a good olive branch to enthusiasts. So would be taking the pony badges off the Mach-E.
Image via Ford
