Dark Horses going to Australia?

[MJS54]

I remember seeing a video a while back showing some Australian Race Drivers checking out the new Dark Horse. Just wondering how many "Right-Hand Drive" Dark Horses does Ford plan on delivering to them...and what about their chasis numbers? Do their numbers get mixed in with the ones in the U.S.? Or do they have their own allotment of Dark Horses? It bothers me that Ford is sending these Dark Horses over there (maybe I'm wrong) before fulfilling the domestic (U.S.) orders first..and if they include those Dark Horses in the Chasis numbering system (or for that matter, the ones that go to Europe, MIddle East, etc.), then my U.S. DH exclusivity becomes higher and "diluted." Ordered mine through dealer allocation 1 Sep23, and still "no build date." Anybody have some answers?

Here's an interesing article I read...

2024 Ford Mustang price and specs: $9000 to $20,000 more expensive for new model

The new Ford Mustang four-cylinder and V8 two-door will be up to $19,737 more expensive when it arrives next year.

www.drive.com.au

 

[keithwalton]

If you don't have a build date yet then there is something on your order that is holding it up. EG Handling pack, black roof.
There are plenty of orders after you that have been built shipped and delivered.

Ford are currently producing 50% more mustangs than they're selling and have over 15k of them sat in inventory unsold.
They need to sell them to other markets to keep the production lines busy.
Dark horses are not a limited edition that's reserved for the 60th aniv special. They will make as many as they can sell at that price point. They will try (but have failed) to limit oversupply of DH's to help there resale value.

 

[MJS54]

That's the first time I'm hearing that the DH is not a limited edition. My specs should not be holding anything up...I opted to take the standard 600A package, automatic, and NO handling pack. No Recaro Seats. Maybe that I've requested the Carbonized Gray Color? Haven't see many on Autotrader for sale with that color nationwide. Antoher disappointing issue is its straightline performance. It was touted as being able to hit 60MPH in about 3.7/3,8 secs (with the auto) and no one has posted that time...at least not on the numerous videos online. Also Henessey put the DH against a performance pack GT and the DH barely edged it out. Perhaps Ford should have squeezed a bit more HP and torque out of the 5.0L to give it a more significant punch... especially since the DH costs a bit more.

 

[keithwalton]

It's limited Availability, rather than limited edition, at the start of April they added a load of 'pre-allocated' Dark horses into the production run (it's what they're doing for all european cars) where they basically chose the spec of the car based upon what parts they have available and if your order matches it you get it assigned if not tough luck.
In Europe custom or factory orders were supposed to open Q2'24 incase you didn't get matched to a unicorn. It's now Q1'25

I kicked up a fuss with customer services and got allocated onto a build in may, but with a shutdown it's just slipped a week

 

[MJS54]

Thanks Keith...I am getting tired of not being updated...If I don't hear anything about a schedule date by the end of next month (May)...I might trade in my pristine '01 Vette (with 31K orginial miles) to a local dealership for the base C8 Corvette (lowest trim, 1LT) for about $72K ($5K shy of what the DH is going to cost me). Of course, the minute I do that my DH will magically appear on my dealer's lot. LOL

 

[keithwalton]

They've already scheduled builds up until the end of June (everything has just slipped a week) so if you don't have a vin yet it won't be built before the middle of July (they're shut down for the first half of the month) unless you can switch your order to one of the pre-allocated ones if there are any left.

 

[MJS54]

Guess, that takes care of my waiting. If it ends up being a July build, then delivery won’t happen until August. I guess I’ll just head to a Chevy dealer this week and pick up a C8 and go hunt down every Dark Horse I see on the streets and leave’’em in the dust!

 

[Ryunket]

Guess, that takes care of my waiting. If it ends up being a July build, then delivery won’t happen until August. I guess I’ll just head to a Chevy dealer this week and pick up a C8 and go hunt down every Dark Horse I see on the streets and leave’’em in the dust!

You can just leave this forum in peace.

 

[MJS54]

Ryunket...I guess I'll just have to wait it out... it will probably show up in August, just before the '25's roll out. At that point it will be almost a year and summer will be gone.. C'est la vie, I guess.

 

[BSpankinAz]

Guess, that takes care of my waiting. If it ends up being a July build, then delivery won’t happen until August. I guess I’ll just head to a Chevy dealer this week and pick up a C8 and go hunt down every Dark Horse I see on the streets and leave’’em in the dust!

Good luck finding a DH. I have only seen 2 and those were at a caffeine and octane. However, depending on your skills you may get challenged by a DH in the curves.

 

[BSpankinAz]

Ryunket...I guess I'll just have to wait it out... it will probably show up in August, just before the '25's roll out. At that point it will be almost a year and summer will be gone.. C'est la vie, I guess.

Keep trolling autotrader for your spec.

 

[keithwalton]

Guess, that takes care of my waiting. If it ends up being a July build, then delivery won’t happen until August. I guess I’ll just head to a Chevy dealer this week and pick up a C8 and go hunt down every Dark Horse I see on the streets and leave’’em in the dust!

At best it will be the 2nd half of july build at present if you get a vin this week. (New scheduling batch i think)

Your post on the other forum makes sense now, if you were 6th inline at your dealer.

It seems like ford only ever put two orders from a dealer into the order bank at a time. (currently only 600 odd cars in it but they don't include DH's) and if one or both of the cars ahead of you has an issue with it's order they just wait they don't skip down the line. It's a really dumb system not fit for the 21stC

 

[MJS54]

Keep trolling autotrader for your spec.

At best it will be the 2nd half of july build at present if you get a vin this week. (New scheduling batch i think)

Your post on the other forum makes sense now, if you were 6th inline at your dealer.

It seems like ford only ever put two orders from a dealer into the order bank at a time. (currently only 600 odd cars in it but they don't include DH's) and if one or both of the cars ahead of you has an issue with it's order they just wait they don't skip down the line. It's a really dumb system not fit for the 21stC

Keith, thanks for good info, didn’t realize that…guess I will have to search Autotrader more and find a suitable spec.

 

[Skhilton53]

I had placed an order early 2023 and the dealer told me up front it would be a crap shoot getting it built. Ford accepted the order in September. As previously stated I was watching all of the digital car postings and stumbled across the exact car I had ordered in early November. It was a small dealer in Indiana and they sold it to me for MSRP. Had they marked it up I would have waited the eternity for my order to be built. The car has electrical gremlins but I was already aware this was an issue. Too much technology for the chip is my guess. It hasn't limited the use of the car, just frustrating at times. Once I get it on a road course I'll know if I have made a mistake. On normal roads it feels like my Shelby GT350s did handling wise and they only had 26 more HP than the DH.

 

[MJS54]

I had placed an order early 2023 and the dealer told me up front it would be a crap shoot getting it built. Ford accepted the order in September. As previously stated I was watching all of the digital car postings and stumbled across the exact car I had ordered in early November. It was a small dealer in Indiana and they sold it to me for MSRP. Had they marked it up I would have waited the eternity for my order to be built. The car has electrical gremlins but I was already aware this was an issue. Too much technology for the chip is my guess. It hasn't limited the use of the car, just frustrating at times. Once I get it on a road course I'll know if I have made a mistake. On normal roads it feels like my Shelby GT350s did handling wise and they only had 26 more HP than the DH.

Skhiton53, interesting info...yeah, I'm beginning to think my DH will never get built. that electrical stuff bothers me (and of course, it's the first year model which most people avoid). Glad to hear that it feels just as good as the ShelbyGT 350. I'll keep of all you guys posted on what happens. Still searching on autotrader, but can't find anything near me (Southeastern VA). One maybe, but I believe it's a 6 spd and black (not the Carbonized Gray and 10sp auto I ordered). Once traded in ' a new 89 Black GT for another GT after a month...eventhough it was garage kept....I couldn't keep it clean enough...always looked "dirty" after driving about 5 minutes. And as you know, black showes every speck of dirt, imperfections in the paint, etc., a lot more than even dark blue or dark gray. LOL

 

[BSpankinAz]

Skhiton53, interesting info...yeah, I'm beginning to think my DH will never get built. that electrical stuff bothers me (and of course, it's the first year model which most people avoid). Glad to hear that it feels just as good as the ShelbyGT 350. I'll keep of all you guys posted on what happens. Still searching on autotrader, but can't find anything near me (Southeastern VA). One maybe, but I believe it's a 6 spd and black (not the Carbonized Gray and 10sp auto I ordered). Once traded in ' a new 89 Black GT for another GT after a month...eventhough it was garage kept....I couldn't keep it clean enough...always looked "dirty" after driving about 5 minutes. And as you know, black showes every speck of dirt, imperfections in the paint, etc., a lot more than even dark blue or dark gray. LOL

Have the car shipped. Mine was shipped over 1000 miles to me.

 

[DMonacel]

At best it will be the 2nd half of july build at present if you get a vin this week. (New scheduling batch i think)

Your post on the other forum makes sense now, if you were 6th inline at your dealer.

It seems like ford only ever put two orders from a dealer into the order bank at a time. (currently only 600 odd cars in it but they don't include DH's) and if one or both of the cars ahead of you has an issue with it's order they just wait they don't skip down the line. It's a really dumb system not fit for the 21stC

Keith, really appreciate your posts! So frustrating not getting any credible information from my dealer or from Ford. Ordered in March of 2023 like others and haven't heard a thing since July. So just so I understand, if I don't have a vin number as of today, my car will not be built before July? Or are they sending vin's XX weeks before they are built and XX = ??

 

[Ryunket]

Keith, really appreciate your posts! So frustrating not getting any credible information from my dealer or from Ford. Ordered in March of 2023 like others and haven't heard a thing since July. So just so I understand, if I don't have a vin number as of today, my car will not be built before July? Or are they sending vin's XX weeks before they are built and XX = ??

Was in the same boat, ordered March '23 nothing since July too. Ended up finding the same car on a dealer lot 1,300 miles away for msrp and closed the deal with has to be the #1 worst dealer on the planet. "Sterling Ford" Virginia.

Finally the car arrived here. Very glad I did not continue my initial order. I do not think it would ever have been built. Here is the center for trucks.