Trucks like the Ford F-150 Raptor and Ram TRX wear amber colored clearance lights because they have to. Sure, Ford and Ram can talk about how cool they look, but the reality is that these vehicles are wider than 80 inches, and federal safety standards require them for such cars. Why then does the $325,000 Mustang GTD not have them despite being 81.8 inches wide? A clever loophole in the regulations.
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 108 outlines most of the rules regarding lighting on modern cars. It's about as detailed a document as it could be. Inside, it mentions vehicles over 2032 mm several times but calls them 'multipurpose.' That is the big key.
Ford Mustang Design Manager Anthony Colard tells the Drive that it all comes down to classification. Trucks like the Raptor and TRX are what the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards see as dual-purpose vehicles.
The Mustang GTD sidesteps the rule because it's what Ford homologated as a single-purpose vehicle. Put another way, the Bronco Raptor, F-150 Raptor, and Ram TRX are all vehicles that could be registered legally as work 'trucks'.
No Ford Mustang will ever get that kind of treatment, so it can lawfully eschew the need for the marker lights. “It is not a work vehicle. It’s not like a big truck or lorry or something else. You’re not going to tow anything with it. You’re not,” Colard said.
Of course, the situation could technically get murky. Imagine, for instance, that someone buys the GTD for their company, slaps a 'not for hire' sticker on the side, and uses it exclusively as some sort of business vehicle. They would be driving in the gray zone based on everything we've learned. Of course, amber clearance lamps on the GTD might not be the end of the world. Just imagine one with a lift and some knobby tires. Mustang GTD Raptor, anyone? We would not say no.
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