This year marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most iconic car chases of all time. And Ford has just revealed their latest special edition Mustang to celebrate it. The 2019 Mustang Bullitt gets more power, special trim, and that iconic Dark Highland Green paint.
The raison d'être of the Bullitt Mustang is to appeal to buyers who know and love the Mustang that Steve McQueen piloted in the 1968 movie Bullitt in pursuit of a black Dodge Charger.
But beyond the Dark Highland Green Paint and special blacked-out grille lies a faster, nimbler, and more desirable Mustang.
It starts with the equipment of the Mustang GT Premium and adds the Performance Package. The two aren't available together on the regular car and the Performance Pack adds six-piston Brembo front calipers, a larger radiator, a limited-slip differential, special chassis tuning, and extra gauges.
Unique to the Bullitt - which is also available in Shadow Black paint, but why bother - are special 19-inch wheels with the classic 1960s Torq Thrust look. It also has red painted brake calipers and that special blacked out grille. Badges are limited to the circular Bullitt-logo gas cap. And that green paint.
“This new Bullitt is, as Steve McQueen was, effortlessly cool,” said Darrell Behmer, Mustang chief designer. “As a designer, it’s my favourite Mustang – devoid of stripes, spoilers and badges. It doesn’t need to scream about anything – it’s just cool.”
The Bullitt gets an active exhaust system with black tips that has been tuned to give the new Mustang a very 1968 sound. It has a new induction system with the intake and 87 mm throttle bodies from the Shelby GT350. Along with a new powertrain calibration, the Bullitt makes "at least 475 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque." That's up 15 hp from the standard car, with an identical torque figure. The Bullitt comes with a manual transmission with a cue ball shift knob as another nod to the 1960s.
Just three factory options will be available on Bullitt cars. An electronics pack with navigation, memory seats, and blind spot alerts. Recaro bucket seats. And MagneRide magnetically adjustable dampers.
Ford had two big surprises to commemorate the new Bullitt. The first was a new short film starring the new car, McQueen's granddaughter Molly, a Dodge Charger, a VW Beetle, and a parking garage. You can watch that below.
The other was the original hero car from the movie. There were two Mustangs used in the 10-minute long chase (along with countless hubcaps). A hero car and a stunt car. The stunt car was lost until last year when it was found in the desert, but the hero car remained lost. But the owner of the hero car reached out to Ford and the automaker brought it to show alongside the 2019 version at the Detroit auto show.
The 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt arrives as a special edition this summer.
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