The Ford Mustang GTD is now the fastest American car around the Nürburgring

Ford’s most hardcore road-legal Mustang ever, the ‘GTD’, has just posted a Nürburgring lap time of 6m 57.6s at an average pace of 110.6mph. That makes it the fastest American production car ever around the Green Hell, and only the sixth ‘standard’ production car to go around in sub-seven minutes. Yeah, it do be quick.

Driven by German motorsport ace Dirk Muller – a previous Nürburgring 24 Hours winner – the GTD carries over many bits from the Mustang GT3 program. Headliners include active aero, carbon ceramic brakes, properly trick suspension and a big new supercharger which shrills like a child hitting a 90-degree tilt on a swing.

But despite the super-focused nature of this thing, with its five-point harness and roll cage, it does still come with indicator stalks and windscreen wipers. Because it’s meant to be as usable on the Nordschleife as it is around Notting Hill, blurring the lines between the two with relative ease according to chief program engineer, Greg Goodall.

Speaking to TopGear.com, he said: “It’s taking all the goodies from racing and homologating them for the streets. We use adaptive spool valve dampers to help us stay glued to the track, but the suspension also has dual ride height and spring rate capability, so it can just as easily be tuned for comfort.”

It’s unlikely to win any beauty contests, but Goodall says that’s the point. “The shape was purposely engineered to not look pretty to maximise the amount of downforce we got on the track.

“The GT3 and GTD were developed hand-in-hand together: when one went into the tunnel, we’d immediately put those learnings into both. That means every surface on the GTD is designed for aero, like the small flat spot in front of the headlights that is essentially a dive plane.

“We wanted to compete with the Europeans and show that we are both capable and serious, and the Nürburgring is an obvious way to do that. It’s in their backyard, so if you want a measurable metric, that’s the one to go after. This project is just over three years old now, and this is what it’s been about from day one.”

We also got a few words from Muller following his record-breaking drive: “It’s unique. It has bespoke dials and pedals, which makes it obvious from the start that it’s different to the Dark Horse. It still has the Mustang gene underneath, but everything that can be built upon and improved has been done so to the extreme.”

Some spilt beans on what it’s like to drive, you ask? Muller responded: “Believe it or not, I never had a moment when I was pushing the car hard. It gives you a lot of feedback and the brakes fill you with confidence, but what blew me away most was the adaptive damping. It’s the first time I’ve ever used it, and it felt like driving on a cloud.”

And that engine? “It’s angry, but not scary. We drew a bit of attention, not only from the air intake sound but the noise that the whole car produces. Lap by lap more people were coming from the street to see it – and this was on a normal working day!”

Given that Muller only managed three laps with the GTD in four visits due to poor weather – all coming in at under seven minutes – Ford has confirmed it will attempt a few more runs in 2025. Reckon it’ll be able to topple the the Porsche 911 GT3 RS’ time of 6m 49.3s?