Ford’s new Mustang Supercar has been officially unveiled in Australia, painted in the brand’s Performance livery, prior to its racing debut set for the Superloop Adelaide 500 on February 14.

Of course, this is no real Mustang, but a body mimicking the latter’s appearance on a Supercars’ Gen 2 control chassis, which was originally designed for local sedans – hence the odd proportions, well among other things…

Created by Ford, Ford Performance, Shell V-Power Racing and Tickford Racing Australia, it’s homologated for the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. It will be raced by three teams, including Shell V-Power Racing (2 cars), Tickford Racing (3 cars) and 23Red Racing (1 car).

“This is a historic moment. To see the project come together has been incredibly exciting for everyone involved, and today marks the start of Mustang’s 2019 season”, said Ford Australia’s President and CEO, Kay Hart. “Mustang belongs on the track, and everyone at Ford and our fans have been waiting for this moment.”

Nobody will mistake the new Mustang Supercar for anything else. And that gigantic rear wing mounted on a rear deck extension, in addition to the racing livery, make it stand out. As for the rest of the exterior design, it has been designed to copy the look of the road legal, V8-powered Mustang GT as much as possible.

“We use the same process to develop the Supercar that we do the NASCAR Mustang, that we do the Mustang GT4, that we do the NHRA Funny Car Mustang”, Ford Performance Motorsports Supervisor, Brian Novak, explained. “That development has been proven out through other programs – the Ford GT at Le Mans, for example – and we transfer that back, that knowledge, back to the road car.”