Posted on 11/17/2018 7:47:23 AM PST by ETL
The Ford Mustang is an American car manufactured by Ford. It was originally based on the platform of the second generation North American Ford Falcon, a compact car.[1]
The original 1962 Ford Mustang I two-seater concept car had evolved into the 1963 Mustang II four-seater concept car which Ford used to pretest how the public would take interest in the first production Mustang.
The 1963 Mustang II concept car was designed with a variation of the production model's front and rear ends with a roof that was 2.7 inches shorter.[2]
Introduced early on April 17, 1964[3] (16 days after the Plymouth Barracuda), and thus dubbed as a "1964½" by Mustang fans, the 1965 Mustang was the automaker's most successful launch since the Model A.[4]
The Mustang has undergone several transformations to its current sixth generation.
The Mustang created the "pony car" class of American muscle cars, affordable sporty coupes with long hoods and short rear decks,[5] and gave rise to competitors such as the Chevrolet Camaro,[6] Pontiac Firebird, AMC Javelin,[7] Chrysler's revamped Plymouth Barracuda, and the second generation Dodge Challenger.[8]
The Mustang is also credited for inspiring the designs of coupés such as the Toyota Celica and Ford Capri, which were imported to the United States.
As of August 2018, over 10 million Mustangs have been produced in the U.S.[9]
I have a 2014 Shelby Cobra GT500. It’s a blast to drive.
Basic white, auto, with aftermarket air.
To spice up the attractiveness, the Mustang had a speedometer that read up to 140, rather than the prosaic 120 at the time.
ETL, In your post #3 you show the ‘67 and ‘68 Mustangs. I had a ‘67 and loved that car. Much better than the ‘65’s. The only outward difference between the ‘67 and ‘68 was that the ‘68 had side reflectors on the rear quarter panels , and a small change to the grill logo. Your picture labeled ‘68 shows the grill logo change but not the side reflector. I wonder if the picture labeled ‘68 is a ‘67 that someone changed the grill logo on to imitate the ‘68. As I recall, the reflector was a federally mandated change for ‘68 that included all cars sold in the US. In ‘69 those reflectors had to be lighted.
Owned a 65 Mustang 289 v8 convertible. Paid $250 for it.
Had it a few years & got in a wreck - took out the right quarterpannel.
Sold it for $25.
Yes, there may be a few errors along the way. I tried to find quality sources. 67-68 were my favorite years too.
The Mustang retros (late 90s to nearly the present) are about the only retros, of any make or model, that I care for.
In 1964 my grandmother bought the first Mustang in our county. White with red interior. I was learning to drive and it was much easier for a kid to drive than my other Grama’s Bel Aire. I just knew they were going to give me that car when she bought a new one but my dad thought it was “too much car for a high school girl with a lead foot.”
First husband drove a baby blue 66 fastback when we married. He thought it was too much trouble to get the carseat for our first child in and out so traded it for a station wagon. I was opposed to that.
Fast forward 45 years, remarried now. After kids finished school I drove the old economical Escort I’d gotten the kids as a school car. It was cheap and depenable. Danged froot loop texting hit me and totaled the car. I was laid up 7 months but hubby replaced the escort with an ‘06 dark blue convertible. Drove the wheels off that one visiting grandkids and for my birthday in ‘14 he got me a new convertible in Gotta Have It Green. My grandkids love their granny and her Mustang just like I loved my Nanny with her Mustang.
My own opinion is that American Automobiles are our best American art. People can talk about painting, sculpture, museum stuff, but here in America we design our art to be used. Driven all over the country to enjoy. Every individual is able to customize their piece of art to suit themselves. (Even poor folks add something of their own to their POS) Classically American in making our art individualized and mobile.
A few months ago, there was a guy driving a pristine 65 hardtop around town. I couldn’t take my eyes off it - what a handsome car. It has certainly aged well.
Sorry, have to go. Busy day. Will resume tomorrow.
That 94 5.0 was a vast disappointment. The frisky feel of the earlier Fox was gone. Even the damn driver seat would not go back far enough. Rear suspension was a joke.
Spent way too much time upgrading bits to varying amounts of benefit. Re-drilling the seat rack for more travel saved the car from being traded. Swapping rear control arms for th"police" version with much harder busings got rid of the muchy feel.
Still slow as hell though. Swapping the insanely high 2.73 rear gear for 3.21 (Think those numbers are right) also made a vast difference in feel.
By the time I sold it to a buddy, it had AFR aluminum heads, ported Cobra intake, and a Powerdyne supercharger. Cobra front brakes and wheels were great looking, if not so necessary on the street. It was fast then, but becoming impossible to get through Calif CARB smog inspections. Calif 91 octane swill gas made tuning it a nightmare.
Mustangs grew larger and heavier with each model year
As a long time drag racer, the old formula is that 400 pounds equals 100 horsepower. That is the downfall of most performance cars. Within normal bounds, it’s easier (and less expensive) to chop weight rather than add horsepower. I hate bracket racing, so quit 15 years ago when the Comp Eliminator class became ridiculously expensive to compete. The 280 inch 10,000 rpm small blocks are where it’s at!
My favorite year Corvette, it was a one-year body style, taillights like a 63, front end of earlier models.
My HS girlfriend had a baby blue 1966! Never had any experience with a car seat in one, but I did have some experience in the passenger’s front seat.
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