Ford Mustang: 1974-1978

By the end of 1973, the once-mighty Mustang was on the ropes. The ponycar segment was crowded with rivals from General Motors, American Motors, Chrysler and even Mercury. Also, with increased gas prices, the demand for big, powerful, clumsy dragsters was shrinking.

Recipe for Change
Ford President Lee Iacocca, who had fathered the original 1964 model, viewed these obstacles as opportunities, a chance to return to the Mustang's roots of an inexpensive sporty car that was practical as well as fun. How successful he was is open to debate.


The trouble with trying to re-create the successful Mustang recipe was that the raw ingredients had changed. The 1964 Mustang had been heavily based on the Falcon, Ford's low-end economy car. The 1974 Mustang II was based on the Pinto econo-box, and it was not the promising starting point the Falcon had been. The Pinto was a sturdy and porky little tin can (sometimes ignitable) with generic four and six-cylinder engines.

Mustang II
Iacocca wanted to scale up the Pinto into the new Mustang II to fill the sporty sedan niche occupied by the Toyota Celica, one of the new breed of hot Japanese 2+2s catching the attention of Detroit executives. Essentially, Ford decided the old ponycar market was too small to worry about, and besides the fancier Mavericks already had V-8 engines and were selling reasonably well.


The Pinto was beefed up to use the heavier-duty parts needed for the Mustang II, but the new pony had more insulation to help control the vibration of the base 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine. The 1974 Mustang II was much smaller than the 1973 model, and no convertible was offered. The accent was on flash, not performance, but at least the new 'Stang had rack-and-pinion steering for the first time. The sportiest Mustang II was the fastback, with the notchback aimed at luxury-oriented buyers. Ford had acquired Ghia, an established Italian body builder with a proven reputation, but the opportunity to make good use of its talents was squandered when the name was frivolously attached to a trim package on the notchback.