The Mustang II is Looking Good in the Rearview

When Ford introduced the all-new 1974 Mustang II, it was something like the introduction of New Coke back in the ’80s in that lots of people thought it wasn’t the real thing.

It was for openers a much smaller car than the 1973 Mustang – and much less powerful, too. At first, the biggest engine that you could get was a small V6 and the standard engine was a four. Even the wheels only had four lug nuts – which at the time was the sure mark of an economy car (no need for five lug nuts when there’s very little twist being made under the hood). In 1975, the second year, Ford put a small V8 (the 302) back into the lineup. But only with a two barrel carb, single exhaust and 140 horsepower.

As a point of reference, the 1973 Mustang was a available with a 351 cubic inch V8 and a four barrel carburetor and dual exhaust that touted 266 horsepower. It had five-lugs wheels. It was also about 500 pounds heaver and about 19 inches longer.

For a long time – for decades, in fact – the Mustang II (which was made for four years, from 1974-1978) was regarded by car guys with either pity or contempt. They mocked its kinship with the Pinto. There were very few car guys who were willing to drive one. Maybe their sister or girlfriend had one they’d ride in. But that was as far as it went – for decades.

But in retrospect, it was very much a Mustang in keeping with the original (1964) Mustang idea. That idea was a compact-sized, affordable car that had general appeal. Like the Mustang II, the original Mustang shared kinship with a little economy car – the Falcon – which is how Ford was able to make it affordable. Development and manufacturing  costs were lower; many mechanical parts interchanged. Interestingly, the first Mustang did not come with a rumpety-rump V8, either.  The standard engine was a mild in-line six and the available V8 was a lot like the V8 that became available in the Mustang II in 1975 in that it wasn’t hot-cammed or especially powerful. It was designed to produce smooth power enough – a different kind of power. Ford did put a rumpety-rump, hot-cammed V8 into the lineup (the famous 289 Hi Po) shortly after the 1964 Mustang was introduced, but even then, the first-generation Mustang was still a pretty small, pretty light car and it had general appeal.

Young buyers loved it, but so did older buyers. Men and women loved it. It was not a polarizing car. By 1973, that was no longer true. The last big Mustang was a car that young guys loved – and that was about the only demographic that did. It had become more muscle car than pony car by then. The original Mustang was the first pony car – the car that created the type (and segment). A pony car is smaller and lighter than a muscle car, which is a category of car that is generally agreed to have been created by Pontiac in 1964 – same year as the Mustang’s debut – with the debut of the first GTO. The GTO was a hotted-up version of the Pontiac Tempest coupe, which was a larger car than the Falcon or the Mustang. But the important point of difference is there was no iteration of the GTO that wasn’t hotted up. Pontiac never offered anything less than a big V8 in the GTO and the car was designed specifically to appeal to young guys. It’s true some older guys and some women bought GTOs – but probably not one out of ten were older guys or women.

The ’64 Mustang, on the other hand, was bought by everyone – just about. While the GTO sold well, the first Mustang sold really well. We’re talking more than a half a million annually by the end of 1965. That same year, Pontiac sold 75,352 GTOs. It is not a small difference and it comes down to demographics. Pony cars had – and still have – more general appeal while muscle cars have a more limited, specific appeal. It’s why the Mustang and other pony cars outlasted the muscle cars, which were all gone after 1974 – which was the last year for the GTO (technically, there have been “GTOs” made since then, briefly, but not really since they weren’t really Pontiacs because they were rebadged Australian Holdens – a down under subsidiary of GM – and were powered by Chevy engines).

But by 1973, the Mustang had become as big and heavy as a GTO. It was a de facto muscle car – and had an appetite for gas like one, too. That was a problem, because by 1973, gas had gotten both expensive and scarce (there were episodic shortages and gas lines). Muscle cars were no longer selling hardly at all – and that’s why Ford remade the Mustang as a pony car, again. And it sold really well – again. The first year for the Mustang II was a much better year than the final year for the last big Mustang. Ford sold 385,993 Mustang IIs in ’74 – nearly triple the number of ’73 Mustangs sold. Mark Twain might have called that a sockdolager.

Why did it sell so well? Because it had general appeal, again – not just the limited/specific appeal that a muscle car has, chiefly to young guys. Women loved the Mustang II. The ’73 pretty much ignored half the potential market. Then another third again (older guys who had matured out of muscle cars) as well as older people generally and also people who just wanted a sporty small car.

Not a hulking muscle car.

It is not going too far to say the Mustang II saved the Mustang. The other pony cars – Camaro, its Pontiac Firebird sibling and the Dodge Challenger – are gone (and have been gone before, having been cancelled and then resurrected – only to get cancelled yet again). The Mustang carries on.

The Mustang II was only made for four years – from ’74 through ’78 – and that is sometimes used as evidence against it. But the production/sales numbers tell a different story. And for those who are fans of muscle cars, the Mustang II presents an interesting opportunity today. Because even though it wasn’t much of a performance car when it was new, it can easily be made into one today and – unlike the ’73 and older Mustangs, which are now chiefly cars for rich old guys due to their “classic” (and so expensive) status, it is still easy to find a nice Mustang II for under $10,000 – one that can be turned into an impressively powerful muscle car.

Just for a lot less than it costs to buy a “classic “muscle car.

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