500-horsepower V8. It sounds good, doesn’t it? This is a common goal of benchmark car builders, especially given how accessible it can be to use modern fuel-injected platforms like Ford’s Coyote and GM’s LS engines in streetable builds. Finally, when the first generation of the 5.0-liter Coyote V8 replaced the 4.6-liter 3V V8 in the Ford Mustang GT, the ‘Stang’s horsepower increased from 315 to 412 ponies. Over the years, as the S197 Mustang superseded the S550 and then the S650, the Coyote continued to power the pony car, eventually reaching 486 horsepower in the S650 GT with a performance exhaust system.
Then there’s the Ford Mustang dark horse. Dark Horse took the Coyote V8 and added features like forged connecting rods and a specially balanced crankshaft. outcome? Ford’s naturally aspirated King of the Hill produced 500 horsepower and 418 pound-feet of torque. But the Ford Mustang Dark Horse isn’t the only place you’ll find a 500-horsepower-rated V8. In fact, far from it. To find one of the Blue Oval’s most unique examples of a V8 pumping out 500 ponies, you have to look back in the history books. And, of all places, you’ll find that mill powers none other than the storied M4 Sherman Medium Tank.
500 hp in a mustang dark horse is a lot different than 500 horses in a sherman tank
Have you seen any World War II movies recently? Seen a documentary on this topic? Then again, chances are you’ve seen the M4 Sherman Medium Tank. Twenty years before the first Ford Mustang dazzled spectators in Flushing Meadows, New York, at the 1964 World’s Fair, the world was at war. The Axis powers, composed of Germany, Japan, and Italy, were fighting the Allies throughout Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. And one of the Allies’ most recognizable tools in the global conflict was the M4 Sherman tank.
What made the Sherman tank so effective? Well, it wasn’t his armor or weapons. In fact, the M4 had another cheeky nickname: “Ronsons.” That nickname referenced a popular lighter brand and its slogan “Lights all the time”, to highlight the combustibility of a medium tank once properly hit. No, most of the Sherman’s virtues lie in its ease of repair and maintenance and its spectacular numbers.
The United States produced more than 50,000 M4 tanks from 1942 to 1945. Although this was not enough to eliminate the more than 80,000 T-34s produced by the Soviet Union, it required America’s industrial base, including the strength of the Ford Motor Company. Fortunately, this meant that the Sherman, like the Ford-built M4A3, came with a V8 engine from the factory. Enter the Ford GAA, an 18-liter (about 1,100 cubic-inch) engine and Ford’s largest gasoline-powered V8 to date. The Ford GAA produced 500 horsepower at 2,600 rpm, a far cry from the 7,500-rpm redline of the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Of course, the Ford GAA V8 was not the only medium tank engine used by the Allies. One of the earliest examples of a multi-bank engine, the Chrysler A57 used five inline-sixes to power the Sherman.
Just enough grunt to get things moving
The 500 horsepower 10-speed automatic is enough to propel the Ford Mustang Dark Horse to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds. As you might expect, this is actually not the case with the M4A3 Sherman tank. Depending on variant, the Sherman could weigh over 68,000 pounds. That’s slightly more than the Dark Horse’s 3,879-pound weight. As a result, an M4 Sherman was only good for a sustained 26 mph on level ground.
In the interest of freeing up power and torque at low revs, a governor limited things to 2,600 rpm. However, in typical GI fashion, the tankers were known to tamper with Sherman, including removing the governor. That said, the tremendous acceleration and eye-watering speed was far from the point of the Ford GAA-powered Sherman. Now, check out this drag race between the Ford Mustang Dark Horse and the M4 Sherman Tank. Just kidding. Now, that wouldn’t be much of a race, would it? Needless to say, 500 horsepower in the S650 Ford Mustang is not what a medium tank is supposed to do.
