Unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit back in January, the Bullitt celebrates fifty years of the iconic film with the same name that starred Steve McQueen, and also ushers in the facelifted version of Ford’s equally revered pony car not available in South Africa until now.

Finished in the same Dark Highland Green exterior hue as the original Mustang GT 390 Fastback hurled by McQueen around the streets of San Francisco in the film, the Bullitt differs from the regular Mustang in that it gets unique 19-inch Torq Thrust black alloy wheels, a bespoke bodykit, faux aluminium Bullitt fuel filler cap, a black honeycomb grille, red Brembo brake calipers with uprated rotors, discreet Bullitt badging and a second colour option, Shadow Black.

Inside, the Bullitt’s changes are made up of green stitching on the dashboard, door panels, seats and centre console, a unique steering wheel that drops the Mustang pony logo for a Bullitt emblem, black leather Recaro sport seats and a white ball-like gear knob like the original.With the Bullitt also comes Ford’s new 12-inch touchscreen infotainment system with a unique green Bullitt welcoming message and a Bullitt plaque in place of the Mustang badge on the dashboard.

For South Africa, the Bullitt will come as standard with the Open-Air Induction System used on the Shelby GT350 and the new Active Valve Performance exhaust system as part of the Performance Package upgrade, although its appears that the MagnaRide suspension has not been allocated.

Unlike the European and Australian equivalents though, local models will mirror the version sold in the US power-wise, with the 5.0-litre normally aspirated producing 354kW/569Nm, meaning a top speed of 262km/h. As with McQueen’s GT390, the Bullitt is only available with a manual gearbox albeit with six ratios as opposed to the original four.

A local launch date and final pricing will only be revealed next year.