By Ty Duffy
Manual, V8 sports cars were once a staple of American culture. But they are becoming scarce. V8 sports cars remain plentiful. However, many of them are now too powerful and sophisticated to accommodate a manual transmission. And it’s not even clear buyers would want those manuals if they could; many saw a 2% manual take rate in 2024 as a reason to be encouraged.
That said, there is one cheap manual V8 sports car left in existence, the Ford Mustang GT. Call it a muscle car or a pony car if you will; we’re not here to quibble about automotive semantics. But the Mustang GT is available with a manual transmission, packs a V8 engine, and has a starting MSRP below the average transaction price for a new car.
The Ford Mustang GT Is The Cheapest Manual V8 Sports Car
The starting MSRP for the 2025 Ford Mustang GT Fastback is $46,560. For the money, buyers get a Mustang with a 5.0-liter V8 producing 480 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque, along with a Getrag six-speed manual transmission featuring rev-matching capability. The 10-speed automatic is a no-cost option, should one wish to commit auto-purist sacrilege.
The starting MSRP comes in below the average transaction price, which increased to $50,000 for the first time in October 2025. However, the actual cost is slightly higher. A Mustang GT comes to $49,495, once you factor in Ford’s mandatory $1,995 destination and handling and $695 acquisition fees. Realistic builds will likely stretch the cost into the $50,000 range.
2025 Ford Mustang Manual V8 Pricing
| Mustang Trim | Starting MSRP |
|---|---|
| GT Fastback | $46,560 |
| GT Premium Fastback | $51,080 |
| Dark Horse | $64,080 |
| Dark Horse Premium | $69,075 |
And You Can Upgrade To a V8 Manual Ford Mustang Dark Horse
If you don’t need the absolute cheapest manual V8 sports car out there, Ford offers an upgraded Mustang Dark Horse version — a stand-in for the Mach 1 and, in some ways, the departed Shelby GT350. Ford has called the Dark Horse the most track-capable, street-legal 5.0-liter V8 Mustang the brand has ever built. Ford tuned the Dark Horse’s 5.0-liter V8 up to 500 hp from the standard Mustang GT’s 480 hp. It features the Tremec 6-speed manual transmission previously found in the GT350, along with stronger brakes and sharper suspension tuning. MagneRide damping comes standard. So does the Mustang’s electric drift brake.
The Ford Mustang Dark Horse has a starting MSRP of $64,080. The Premium version starts at $69,075. However, adding the Dark Horse handling package and the Dark Horse appearance package can increase the total price to over $80,000.
But The Ford Mustang Did Lose Its Cheapest Manual Transmission
Vanilla Ice famously rapped about rolling in his 5.0 Fox body Mustang GT convertible. It’s a safe bet that no one is making a song about being so rhapsodic over the current turbocharged 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder. However, Ford fully redesigned the engine with new twin-scroll turbochargers for the seventh-generation Mustang. Unfortunately, the powerplant is now only available with the 10-speed automatic transmission.
The situation means the Ford Mustang GT fastback is now the cheapest version available with a manual transmission. So, in just a couple of years, the entry price for getting a stick shift in a Mustang jumped from under $30,000 to above $45,000.
Source: Planet Ford Sales
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This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.
