AUTO HISTORY
Ford’s original Pony Car was bloated and in decline when Ford cleverly downsized it – just in time to meet the first oil crisis dead on!
Even though the original Ford Mustang introduced in mid-1964 was based on modest Ford Falcon components, it was a sensation. This attractive fourpassenger two-door sportster set a first model year sales record of 680,989, admittedly a long one that ran from April '64 to August '65. It caught the competition so off guard it took rival Chevrolet until the 1967 model year to respond with the Camaro.
The Mustang made Ford's general manager Lee Iacocca a household name and put his picture on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. It also spawned a class of vehicle that became known as the “Pony Car.”
As inevitably seems to happen the Mustang grew bigger and heavier. By 1973 it was about 305 mm (1 ft) longer, 152 mm (6 in.) wider and some 272 kg (600 lb) heavier than the original. The Mustang had outgrown its appeal as an affordable, nimble sporty car. Iacocca summed it up thus: "The Mustang market never left us, we left it."
Sales confirmed this, sliding from more than 600,000 in model year 1966, to just 134,267 in 1973. What's more, new lighter, imported 2+2 "mini-Pony Cars" combining four-on-thefloor fun with upscale luxury were becoming increasingly popular. They were filling the segment Mustang had created and then abandoned.
Cars like the Toyota Celica and Ford's own German Capri (sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers, and ironically inspired by the original Mustang), were the stimulus for a new, smaller Mustang to recapture the earlier magic.
Plans for the trimmer 1974 Mustang began in 1970, and just as the original was based on mundane Falcon components, the new one used the new-for1971 subcompact Ford Pinto as its foundation. This complete departure was called the Mustang II.
Iacocca specified a wheelbase of 2,438 to 2,540 mm (96 to 100 in.) in notchback and fastback coupes. This precluded using a long engine so a 2.3 litre, overhead cam inline four was the base power with a 2.8 litre, overhead valve V-6 optional, and standard in the upscale Mustang II Mach I. The four was the U.S.built Pinto engine while the V-6 was a stretch of the Capri’s 2.6 litre from Germany.
Ford's engineers took downsizing seriously and made the Mustang II even smaller than the original. The wheelbase was reduced from 2,743 mm (108 in.) to 2,443 mm (96.2 in.) and over-all length from 4,613 mm (181.6 in.) to 4,445 mm (175 in.). And it was a full 508 mm (20 in.) shorter and 102 mm (4 in.) narrower than the bloated '73 model it replaced.
In spite of its smaller size, mandated safety equipment made the unit construction 1,270 kg (2,800 lb) Mustang II a little heavier than the original's 1,179 kg (2,600).
The attractive styling was influenced by coachbuilder Ghia of Italy, recently acquired by Ford, and carried the long-hood, short-deck theme of the original. It came as a notchback and hatch-equipped fastback.
The Mustang II was no match for the original’s performance. Road & Track (8/64) reported the original 4.7-litre (289 cu in.) V8 Mustang sprinted to 97 km/h (60 mph) in 9.0 seconds and had a top speed of 177 (110).
The Mustang II Mach I with the 2.8-litre V6 (R&T 9/73) ran zero to 97 (60) in 13.8 seconds with top speed of 161 (100). The four was, of course, even slower.
Ford advertised the new 1974 Mustang as "The right car at the right time," and couldn't have known how prescient this would be. In November, 1973 events changed dramatically when the Arab oil embargo precipitated the first 1970s "energy crisis." Not only did gasoline prices spike but its supply was rumoured to be in jeopardy. Fuel economy immediately became a hot item and helped boost the smaller Mustang's first calendar year sales to 385,993.
With oil crisis memories fading by 1975, Ford offered a 5.0-litre V-8 in the Mustang II, bringing performance closer to the original's. R & T (1/75) recorded zero to 97 km/h (60 mph) in 10.5 seconds and top speed of 171 (106).
A Cobra II with options like extra trim, black grille, front air dam and rear spoiler came in 1976. There was also a Stallion package with different paint treatment and stallion decals on the front fenders. For 1978 there was the even more garish King Cobra with standard 5.0-litre V-8, deeper air dam, stripes and a cobra decal on the hood.
The Mustang II was built through the 1978 model year, then replaced by the 1979 Fairmont-based, thirdgeneration Mustang. Many Mustang enthusiasts disdained the Mustang II as a wimpy aberration, not a "real" Mustang. It was, however, a product of its time and would become a desirable collectible for many.