Ford Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon Bares It All
The motorcycle world isn’t afraid of the word “naked,” applying the descriptor to a whole class of sport bikes with stripped-down bodywork. Despite the word being a more apt term for an unpainted car, Ford resurrected a name from its last limited-production fantasy, the model-year 2018-22 GT, for the latest iteration of its bonkers Mustang GTD: Liquid Carbon.
Related: 2025 Ford Mustang GTD Spirit of America Up Close: Awesomely Pointless
A Showier Show-Off
To quickly recap, the Mustang GTD is a Mustang in name, a racecar in spirit and mostly carbon fiber in body. It packs an 815-horsepower version of the supercharged 5.2-liter V-8 engine from the Mustang GT500, a rear-mounted eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and aerodynamic add-ons so extreme they wouldn’t even be allowed in the racing class from which it derives its name.
Most Mustang GTDs hide their carbon-fiber bodywork under a coat of paint, but not the Liquid Carbon. Like the GT, this Mustang GTD lays its lightweight bodywork bare, nary a speck of paint anywhere on it. Indeed, other than the turn signals, nearly the only color anywhere on the car is the Hyper Lime interior stitching. Ford says forgoing paint helped shave 13 pounds from the GTD, but we’re willing to bet most of that savings comes from the doors, where some of the only metal sheets in the GTD also get replaced by carbon fiber.
The Liquid Carbon is no mere marketing toy. Applicants who were accepted to plunk down at least $300,000 for a GTD can opt to have their car bare it all, too. If so, they’ll also get the Performance Package, which includes magnesium wheels, active aerodynamic elements and a unique front bumper. Oh, and the Liquid Carbon’s brake calipers are, naturally, painted black.
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Undoubtedly Complex, Unimaginably Expensive
Carbon-fiber panels are made from woven strands of fiber, and aligning the weave in adjoining panels requires serious precision in manufacturing and assembly. Ford notes that not only do the seams line up down the middle of the hood, roof, rear deck and wing, but also between the hood and fenders, doors and surrounding bodywork, and every other exterior panel and its adjacent pieces.
Even if Ford charges an extra $100,000 for a neat line of seams running down the center of the vehicle, it’s hard to think of a price that would be surprising for the exponentially more intricate Liquid Carbon. Ford says the first delivery of a Mustang GTD Liquid Carbon is scheduled for October.
Read More About the Ford Mustang:
- 2025 Ford Mustang GTD Spirit of America: USA! USA!
- 2025 Ford Mustang Gets Minor Tweaks, Starts From $33,515
- Ford Reveals More of 2025 Mustang GTD
- 2024 Ford Mustang Dark Horse Quick Spin: Impressive Capability, Surprising Civility
- 2025 Ford Mustang GTD: Not a Shortened Religious Epithet, But It May as Well Be
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