Scott McLaughlin has now left Supercars for IndyCar in the US.
But well-heeled Kiwi fans will still be able to have a little keepsake of his Australasian racing time, with Ford New Zealand’s confirmation that the Scott McLaughlin Limited Edition Mustang (“SM17”) created by Herrod Performance will indeed be available in NZ.
It’s not strictly official, mind. Ford NZ won’t sell it directly because it’s not a factory product, but is facilitating the importation of the SM17 through the Christchurch-based Team Hutchinson Ford dealership.
“We think it’s important to do that because Scott McLaughlin has a fanbase here for obvious reasons,” says Ford NZ managing director Simon Rutherford. “It would be a shame not to support customers who want that option.”
The details are being finalised, but expect the price to be in the region of $150,000 – a substantial step up from the $82,990 asked for the standard Mustang V8 fastback. But then the SM17 is a whole lot more car, with a supercharger pumping power up to 578kW/810Nm (around 100kW more than a Supercar racer) and a heavily uprated chassis that includes adjustable anti-roll bars.
It’s not the first time McLaughlin has put his name on a road car. Back in 2015 when he was with Volvo Polestar Racing, 10 S60 and V60 R-Design models were released for NZ only, with unique styling features and the Kiwi driver’s signature.
Meanwhile, the Mustang Mach 1 edition announced last month has all but sold out for NZ. According to Rutherford, there’s just one vehicle left available for purchase from 80 allocated: 50 for public sale and the rest as dealer demonstrators.
Most of the public models were sold to buyers who registered for early information through Ford’s website.
The Mach 1 is priced at $97,990 and includes a 345kW/556Nm iteration of the 5.0l V8 (same outputs as the previous Bullitt Mustang), plus unique styling addenda and a grab-bag of go-fast Shelby bits.