If you want to buy an affordable V8-powered sports car in the U.S. today, particularly one with supercar looks and 500 horses or so, your choices are pretty slim. Wind the clock back a few years, and you could spend all day walking around dealerships weighing up your options, but now you'd be left staring at the Corvette as really your only option from.
Sure, you could fork out and get a Ferrari, Porsche, or Maserati, but these European options carry huge premiums above what American sports cars command,
meaning the Corvette pretty much sits in a class all of its own.
So, why doesn't Ford venture into the segment and launch a Corvette rival of its own? It's exciting to ponder what might have become of the Thunderbird if Ford had kept it as a Corvette rival, rather than potentially damaging the nameplate with the awkward and short-lived 2000s T-bird reboot which lacked the power, poise, and presence of a proper sports or performance car. Ford Authority even ran a poll asking readers if Ford should develop an all-out Corvette rival, and at the time of this writing, 68% have voted in favor.
Here's the thing -- according to Bill Ford Jr., the automaker's executive chairman, Ford already does produce a Corvette rival, in the form of its evergreen Mustang. When asked why a Ford-branded Corvette competitor doesn't exist, Ford Jr. told Ford Authority "Are you kidding? We have the Mustang, which I think is by far the best sports car in America and frankly, the world now."
Read more: Every Ford Mustang Generation Ranked Worst To Best
Ford Believes It Already Offers A Corvette Competitor
Bill Ford Jr. goes on to justify his position by stating "For the enthusiasts, we have an EcoBoost Mustang, we now have an electric Mustang in the Mach-E, and we have our all-new five-liter Mustang Dark Horse, which we just introduced. And we have more coming. So, I wouldn't trade our sports car for anybody else's, let's put it that way."
While the Mustang certainly doesn't look like a Corvette challenger, thanks to its more traditional lines, which saw it compete more directly against the Camaro, it's hard to argue with Ford Jr. when comparing specs. An entry-level Corvette Stingray plays host to a 495-horsepower V8 engine, with 470 lb-ft of torque, for good measure.
A Mustang Dark Horse is pretty much there, with 500 hp and 418 lb-ft of torque. Sure, it's not the base model, and it cannot compete with the more exciting Corvette trims, such as the 1,064-horsepower ZR1, but Ford has the 815-horsepower Mustang GTD to enter the ring and do battle against that particular 'Vette. In fact, the GTD managed a lap of the Nurburgring in 6 minutes 57 seconds -- just seven seconds shy of what the ZR1 managed, despite having a 239 horsepower advantage.
The Mustang starts from just $34,610, including the $1,995 destination charge, and while the cheapest model might not be a true Corvette competitor, we test drove a Mustang EcoBoost earlier this year, and found it's still a very capable sports car. For Corvette performance, try the $67,070 Dark Horse, which is still way cheaper than the entry-level Stingray Coupe 1LT.
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