Ford will offer the Mustang GT500's supercharged 760-hp V8 as a crate engine

Enthusiasts looking for an immensely powerful V8 to drop in their project car will soon have an additional option to choose from. Ford confirmed it will add the GT500's supercharged 5.2-liter to its portfolio of crate engines.

"We're in early control pack development right now to be able to run the engine. It's a little simpler to set up, because it's not fully direct-injected like the third-generation Coyote is," revealed Mike Goodwin, Ford Performance's executive director of engines, drivetrain and calibrations, in an interview with Ford Authority.

Called Predator, the V8 develops 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque when it's bolted under the GT500's bulged hood. Goodwin didn't reveal if those figures will carry over to the crate engine, or if it will be tuned differently. If they don't change, the Predator will stand out as Ford's most powerful crate engine by a significant margin, and we're betting aftermarket tuners will find creative ways to extract even more horsepower from it.

Transmission options remain unconfirmed, too. In the GT500 (pictured), the 5.2-liter shifts through a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission linked to a pair of steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles. Bolting it to a manual transmission isn't impossible, but you'd need to find one that's stout enough to handle the cavalry. 

Pricing and availability will be announced after Ford finishes developing the control pack, which consists of all the accessories and electronics needed to make a modern engine run regardless of what it's installed in. It includes the powertrain control module, the power distribution module, and the mass airflow sensor, among other parts. In the meantime, the biggest question left unanswered is what the V8 will end up in. Crown Victoria Police Interceptor? 2021 Bronco? Original Mini, mounted in the space normally carved out for the rear bench?

Ford's catalog of crate engines also includes the Super Duty's Godzilla V8, which has 7.3 liters of displacement and makes 530 horsepower, plus several variants of the venerable 5.0-liter Coyote V8. If you're after something smaller, the 2.3-liter EcoBoost that powers the Mustang and the Ranger is available in a crate, too.