SEMA 2016: Roush Performance 2017 P-51 Mustang

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It’s not every day that Roush Performance introduces a new P-51 Mustang, but with the eyes of the automotive world on Las Vegas this week, the company took the wraps off the third iteration of its top-of-the-line, fighter plane-inspired Mustang at The SEMA Show.

“We felt like it was time to take the P-51 nameplate back out of retirement, and we are really happy with the car the team came up with,” Roush Performance Products President Gary Jurick said.

The company takes this nameplate pretty seriously, so anyone that buys one will fly with a pretty exclusive squadron, as Roush will only sell 51 of these cars in the 2017 model year.

“We did the P-51 in ’08 and ’09 and we choose that nameplate very carefully before we put a car around it, because we feel like the car has to earn that brand representation,” Gary told us. “We felt like this car does it with more of a performance edge with the lightweight, forged wheels; 727-horsepower powertrain; and the lightweight components like the carbon rear spoiler.”

Obviously, this car is inspired by Jack Roush’s love of the P-51 fighter plane. He owns and has restored several of these storied airplanes. Likewise, the company’s namesake was passionate about carrying over the essence of the warplane into the Roush P-51.

“Jack was pretty involved in the development of this car in terms of defining content and our guys in the design studio had quite a bit of fun with it,” Gary said.

Not only does the car have a unique paint scheme that echoes that of the Warbird, but the interior features a bomber-jacket style leather on the door panels and seats, which delivers a really unique look.
The latest P-51 isn’t just about looks, however. It sports Roush’s Phase 2 Roushcharger TVS supercharger system mounted atop a robust Ford Performance Coyote Aluminator engine. Breathing through a Roush Active exhaust system and under the sway of a Roush calibration, this combination delivers 727 horsepower to the flywheel.

If that kind of performance in a truly rare package gets your motor running, Roush will begin taking orders for the new P-51 in January and production should be underway by the second quarter of next year. This limited edition vehicle will sell in the $85,000 to $90,000 range.