The Ford Mustang Dark Horse is the latest car to be given a boost by Hennessey Performance, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator. The company has re-engineered more than 12,000 vehicles since its inception in 1991, tackling sports cars, muscle cars and even trucks and SUVs. Now it has recently announced high-performance supercharged upgrades for the seventh-generation 2024 Ford S650 Mustang Dark Horse.

John Hennessey, company founder, and CEO said: “Our supercharged Mustang builds have continually been customer favourites over the years, and Ford’s improved S650 platform will prove to be its most capable. Without question, our supercharged 850 horsepower Dark Horse model will be one of the most exciting and powerful muscle cars on the road – sure to turn heads with its distinctive supercharger wail and exhaust note.”

So what has been added here to considerably boost an already powerful car? The ethos of Hennessey is to “make fast cars faster” and the engineers in Texas have certainly tried to do that. Of course, there are significant engine changes that have been made, but the exterior has been upgraded also, giving it an even more dynamic edge. Whilst the Dark Horse’s Gen-4 Coyote 5.0-litre V8 with the GT500’s connecting roads and dual throttle body fitted at the Ford factory has been kept, the addition of a high-performance supercharger and high flow air induction system, upgraded injectors and new fuel pump are all Hennessey’s doing. Thanks to these upgrades, the H850 Dark Horse produces 850hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, increasing power by a whopping 70%.

Looking at the exterior, Hennessey has brought out the carbon fibre in abundance with the addition of a carbon fibre front splitter, carbon fibre side skirts and a carbon fibre rear spoiler, all sitting on top of forged aluminium alloy wheels. The Hennessey themes are hard to miss, with branding including ‘heritage’ graphics on the red and white themed exterior as well as interior stamps like embroidered headrests.

Production on the car will begin in the last quarter of 2023 but whether it will be available in the UK remains to be seen.

Words: Mike Booth
Pictures: Hennessey