Supercharged Mustang too loud for Ford Australia

The reason Ford Australia is unlikely to ever offer a supercharged Mustang is due to a certain frequency of vibrating air.

They're just too loud.

It's no secret that Shelby is keen to bring its cars to Australia officially, but it's looking increasingly unlikely they'll be sold in Ford dealerships.

Ford Australia's director of communications and public affairs Martin Gunsberg told motoring.com.au that aftermarket modders like Herrod, Tickford and Mustang Motorsport don't have to adhere to the stringent ADRs of an original equipment manufacturer or OEM, like Ford Australia.

"The aftermarket have a very different level of standards that they have to meet compared to an OEM… it makes it challenging for us to work in the same of the space they’re in," he said.

"We've looked at superchargers before and we weren't able to get them through ADRs as an OEM," said Gunsberg, referring to the piping-hot 500kW Ford Performance supercharger kits developed by Roush that were originally green-lit for Australia but later canned due to noise issues.

"Drive-by noise is an issue for example and there are other elements as to why [it's not working for us]," he said.

Despite aftermarket tuners doing a roaring trade, and the new Camaro getting the Walkinshaw supercharger treatment – not to mention the famous Shelby brand doing everything in its power to bring riotous 597kW supercharged Mustangs to Australia – Gunsberg says customers aren't crying out for more power.

"Power is not something we've necessarily had a call for. The base car has 339kW and this one [Mustang Bullitt] is 345kW. Especially with the 10-speed auto it's a quick car."

Gunsberg also poured cold water on the Shelby Mustang deal to bring models like the 597kW Super Snake model to Australia.

"We don’t have anything to add to that," he said.

"What I can say is there's challenges to ADRs in bringing a supercharged vehicle into Australia. We'd love to see one but whether we'll ever be able to achieve it is another thing," he cautioned.

The Ford Mustang has been a raging success for the Blue Oval globally, but especially in Australia. It's the brand's second-best-selling vehicle after the Ford Ranger and the top-selling sports car too.

For now however, the most powerful Ford Mustang customers can buy is the Ford Mustang Bullitt special edition, which ups the output from the regular coupe's 5.0-litre from 339kW to 345kW and 556Nm.

The Ford Mustang Bullitt special-edition ($73,688) made its Australian debut at the Motorclassica event in Melbourne today, but Australia's allocation of 700 cars is almost already sold out.

"Anyone interested in the Mustang Bullitt should talk to their dealer as quickly as possible because we're very close to being out of stock," said Ford Australia's product communications manager Damion Smy.

"We know Aussies love Mustangs as we've seen 33 months of consecutive sales success, and the hunger and passion for Mustang has been reflected in how quickly these 700 have sold."

The Mustang Bullitt special-edition was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Steve McQueen film Bullitt, which features one of the film world's most iconic car chases and helped solidify the Mustang as an iconic sports car.