The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is back for 2021, reviving a highly regarded historical nameplate that hasn't been seen in the US market for some 17 years. It would be disingenuous to call it a "replacement" for the departing Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang, but in a sense, it does pick up where that car leaves off, providing Mustang fans with a high-performance, race track-optimized option garnished with conspicuous styling and no small amount of finesse.

Now, Ford has officially announced the 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1's starting MSRP, and it's priced about how we'd expected.

The new Mach 1 will be priced from $51,720 in the US, according to Ford, plus an $1,195 destination fee. For that, you get one of the coolest Mustangs in recent memory, with a standard six-speed stick and the same stout 480-horsepower rating as the Mustang Bullitt - 20 horsepower more than the regular Ford Mustang GT.

The Mach 1's base MSRP puts it some five grand above the Bullitt. But that price gap is easily accounted for by the Mach's extra performance bona fides, supplied by parts like its Tremec six-speed - also borrowed from the GT350 - with automatic rev-matching, its high-capacity oil cooler, and its redesigned front fascia. The pony car's unique face boasts revised upper and lower grilles, and an aggressive, jutting front splitter that, along with the rear decklid spoiler, provides 22 percent more downforce than the Mustang GT Performance Pack 1.

Ford's pricing announcement for the new Mach 1, incidentally, comes 73 years to-the-day after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947, flying the experimental Bell X-1 rocket plane. That's the defining historical event that inspired the Mach 1's moniker, "Mach 1" being the name for the speed of sound.

Ford is also opening up the order banks for the new Mustang Mach 1 today, ahead of the model's launch this coming spring. The Blue Oval has billed it as a limited-edition model, although the automaker hasn't come out and said exactly how many examples the Mach 1 will be limited to.

Nonetheless, if you're in the market, we recommend locking down an allocation as soon as possible. We suspect pony car fans are going to scoop these up quickly.