2024 Ford Mustang orders are heavily for the V8, and the manual transmission's popular too

The big-engine muscle car era in America may be in transition, but it's in robust health right now, at least in Mustang-land.

Of the 13,000 or so U.S. orders already on the books at Ford for the soon-to-arrive 2024 Mustangs, a full two-thirds of those specify the overachieving 5.0-liter V8 that cranks out 486 horsepower.

And not surprising among Mustang fans, 1-in-4 orders for the V8 have asked for a six-speed manual transmission, according to Ford. Cars are expected to start shipping to dealers next week.

“The most hardcore fans, they're going to go out and grab one of these because you don’t know when it’s going to end,” Guidehouse Insights eMobility analyst Sam Abuelsamid told The Associated Press.