I can’t imagine the highs that Team RTR must be feeling right now, nor can I imagine the pain their livers must be feeling from a full week of non-stop celebration.
On the motorsports side, Formula Drift just wrapped its 2025 season this past Saturday, October 18, with teams competing to see who would come in second to RTR Motorsports. RTR driver James Deane had already clinched the series title during the previous round in Utah—his fifth, championship title, by the way—which, coincidentally, gave RTR Motorsports its fifth FD championship as well.
But the Wednesday leading up to the FD weekend might have been a little more important to RTR founder Vaughn Gitten Jr., as that was when he got to debut his latest project: the first-ever Ford Mustang RTR. But everyone in the media space got the press release—very few got the invite to the launch party at Venice, California’s, Race Service. I was in the latter group, so let’s check out the party, then talk a bit about the car.
The street outside Race Service was lined with a number of modified newer-gen Mustangs, including an SN95, but the star of this show was Beau Bachman’s one-of-one Beauberry Mustang GTD.
Parked right inside was one of the RTR development cars in its dazzle camo wrap.
The star of the show was kept under wraps, literally. But Vaugn’s own Formula Drift Mustang was parked next to it to give us something interesting to look at.
Speaking of Formula Drift Mustangs, the competition cars of James Deane and Ben Hobson were also on the scene.
I didn’t get a pic of the In-N-Out truck parked outside (I mean, who wants to see that?), but for those whose hands were no longer covered in burger grease, there was a Daytona USA arcade cabinet and game consoles to help guests pass the time.
There were even some dudes hand-screening commemorative posters for the event. And blur like this is what happens when I decide to be dumb and let my Ricoh GRIII handle all the exposure duties.
Eventually, though, it was time for the reveal itself. Since the Mustang’s doors remained open the entire time I was at the event, let’s use a much prettier press photo to get our actual look at the car.
The most notable part of this Mustang’s story is that, while prior RTR vehicles were essentially factory Mustangs “modified” by RTR and then sold through Ford dealers, this latest Ford Mustang RTR is fully built on the Ford factory line. In the reveal speech it was said that Gittin was only the second person ever to directly collaborate with Ford on a factory Mustang. They didn’t say who the first was, but I’m pretty sure their name rhymes with “Merril Melby.”
As for the car itself, it’s a ‘Stang that’s been modified for drifting. Its 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbocharged inline four gets a street-legal version of anti-lag to help make its 350 lb-ft of torque more instantly available. You can’t clutch kick the thing to initiate a slide as the only transmission choice is a 10-speed auto, but setting the car to track mode allows the electronic parking brake lever to behave more like a proper hand brake. Suspension bits are all sourced from the Mustang Dark Horse; the steering rack comes from the Mustang GT, and the Hyper Lime six-piston front brake calipers come from Brembo. Those 19×9.5 wheels get a 30mm offset to give it a more aggressive stance, and the front accent lights in the grille are just there to look cool.
Ford has yet to announce final pricing for the Mustang RTR, but Gittin says that the package was built to be affordable—a way to get younger enthusiasts into the Mustang and RTR brand. So more throttle response, built to drift, cheaper, and built for the younger crowd? Better buy one now before they’re all “lost” to the lamp posts that surround Cars & Coffee meets everywhere.
