Are you still laughing at the title? I know, but keep in mind in the Mid 70’s, after a couple of years of low powered 4 and 6 cylinders, the V8 returned to the Mustang!!!! If nothing else it laid the ground for some of the best-selling and now very sought after Fox body ‘stangs. But we are going to discuss the cars before the Fox-body generation.
Model names like Ghia, 2+2, Mach 1, Cobra, Cobra II and King Cobra and cool stuff like T-Tops and front air dams and hood scoops.
It all started in 1974 when the Ford Mustang became the Mustang II and yes in some case you wouldn’t be able to pick them out of a pile of Pinto. You all know the story…EPA, emissions, gas prices, etc.
I’ve mentioned that there was a Mustang II in the family, back in 1978, it was a 1974 Mustang Ghia the 4 cylinder version. It met its demise one evening when a Ford Econoline Van took out the rear end while it was parked (after it careened over VW parked behind the ‘stang.
1974Ghia
So let’s take it year by year and cover the most “powerful” cars of 1974 to 1978.
1974:
The most powerful engine for 1974 was the V6. This was an option for all models but standard for the Mach 1 for that year. (The Mach 1 was hatch back.)
The Mach 1 – Hatch Back
The Mach 1 was powered by 2.8 L – 171 cid, V6, 2bbl, 105 hp (‘Z’ code) – the biggest engine available for the Mustang II that year (the other was the option was the I-4 2.3 L – 140 cid, 2bbl, 88 hp (‘Y’ code).
Sales for 1974 worked out like this:
69F Hatchback: 74,799
69R Hatchback – Mach 1: 44,046
60F Coupe: 177,671
60H Coupe – Ghia: 89,477
Total Production: 385,993
Thanks for reading.
Tim
congratulations for all the success of the website, it’s growing up every day.http://www.agraupe.net
Thanks for reading and taking the time to drop a note.
My neighbor had a 1974 Mustang II Ghia. It was loaded with every option available, and was under powered and very unreliable. This car had the urban legend of “built on a Monday”. After the dealer had replaced the radiator, water pump, thermostat, fan clutch, etc for an intermittent overheating problem, the heads were pulled on the v6. They found a crushed beer can in one of the block’s water jackets, and trash and cigar butts in the intakes water jackets. Right out of warranty the auto trans failed to have reverse. He traded the car in for a Torino Elite that was bulletproof for it’s first 100K miles.
I think the fact that Detriot’s quality was at an all time low, plus the Pinto sourced components made this generation of Mustang forgettable.
Happy Father’s Day to all, Bill
Thanks Bill. Yup they made them cheap, for sure. But a can in the block? That’s just mean.
I think it was the UAW’s attitude at the time, and they are still paying for those ‘mean jokes’ they did on the assembly line back then. I met a guy who was a body foreman on the AMC Matador line in the late 1960s, and the stories he told me make me cringe about the assembly line stuff they pulled off on poor ol’customers.
Perhaps we have Honda and Toyota to thnak for today’s Detroit quality???