All-New 2015 Ford Mustang

[Richard L]

It might also be interesting to note that Edmunds.com rated the Mustang II as the 2nd worst car ever built....that's even worse than the Yugo !! The Pontiac Aztec was the number 1 worst car.

So I am not alone in my opinion.



http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/features/100-worst-cars-of-all-time.html



For what it's worth, Consumer Reports at that time had the same opinion of the Mustang II as most of the other critics!



...Rich

 

[Tom Schindler]

If a product is built and sold by the manufacturer in great numbers. It doesn't matter how much money was lost. The public decided they liked the styling of the Mustang II so they bought them. The public must also have thought the price is fair, so they bought it. Ford must have priced it right to make sure it sold.



I don't know what is so hard to understand on car sales.



Odds are, Lamborghini makes a crap ton of money on each car they sell. It still doesn't mean it was a sales success. If they only chose to build 10 and they sell all 10, good for them. If they decide to build 10 out of a projected 20, then it is a sales failure. Profits don't really matter.



Hind sight is always 20/20 and we can look back and point out failures.



The fact still remains that one of the highest selling Mustangs in history was the Mustang II.



I hardly call that a failure.





Tom

 

[Richard L]

Tom

The fact still remains that one of the highest selling Mustangs in history was the Mustang II.

I hardly call that a failure.

I DO CALL THE MUSTANG II A FAILURE, a big mistake, and a slap in the face of all the Mustang affectionatos.. And so do most of the automotive critics at that time. Even now, Edmunds.com rates the Mustang II as the second worse car ever made, behind the Pontiac Aztec! That's worse than the Yugo...and the Yugo is known to set the standard for crappy vehicles!



You are entitled to your opinion, as am I...But I will certainly accept Edmonds.com's opinion before I accept yours.....So just don't start your posts with insults.



...Rich

 

[Tom Schindler]

I don't believe the Yugo was a failure. It was a dirt cheap car made in a near 3rd world country. You can't buy a car today for next to nothing these days. If I were at the age of a first car purchase and a sub $5,000.00 car was available, I would have gotten one. A guy my Dad worked with owned 3 of them. He would drive 70,000+ miles a year. He couldn't buy something that cheap (very reliable for him) to throw away in just over a year. This guy drove Subaru's for years. He had better luck with a Yugo than he did with a Subaru.



Sales numbers prove failures or successes in the automotive world. IMO, the Mustang II wasn't a failure.



Laughing at a vehicle after it was a sales success but no longer cool is like making fun of people that purchased leisure suits, and bell bottom pants. Looking back, that style was pathetic, but at the time, it was awesome. It still doesn't degrade what it was at the time.



The Aztek was pathetic from day one. The sales numbers reflected it. GM couldn't give them away. The Edsel was the same way. Good concept, but no interest from buyers.



The Mustang II's sales numbers prove otherwise.





Tom

 

[Richard L]

Tom,

I respect your opinion, but disagree.



Just as people disliked the Pontiac Aztec, many people were critical of the Mustang II from day one. Mustang Performance enthusiasts were nauseated by the down-sized body, and the 4 cylinder engine. It would have been more appropriate for Ford to call it the Pinto II....especially when Camaro and Firebird continued to sell without any down sizing, and only a modest reduction in HP.



Ford hired Ghia Design Studios in Italy to do much of the design work on the Mustang II to give it that European styling touch. The early Mustangs were very popular in Europe and there were even a number of European Ford models that picked up on the Mustang styling, but the Mustang II was a flop in Europe....So much for Ford's concept of European styling for the Mustang II.:bwahaha:



In my opinion, the Mustang should remain pure and never change the basic styling that made it the most popular car in the world. It's styling should be unmistakable Mustang, just as the Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes. Whenever they have deviated from their traditional styling, the vehicles were flops..ie: Porsche 914, 928, 944. A lot of money was spent to retool for these new body styles, but the never caught on with the public and were quickly dropped.



People who buy a Porsche, want them to look like a Porsche...the same applies to Mustangs. People who buy Yugo's or Aztec's don't care what they look like, or have no taste.



Added:

Even more amazing are the cars listed on Edmunds.com Worst 100 Cars Every Built, some of them were awarded Motor Trend's coveted "Car of the Year". They include the following:



1993 Ford Probe GT

1989 Ford Thunderbird SC

1983 AMC / Renault Alliance

1982 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

1980 Chevrolet Citation

1979 Mercedes Benz 300SD

1976 Dodge Aspen/Plymouth Volare

1975 Chevrolet Monza 2+2

1974 Ford Mustang II

1971 Chevrolet Vega

1969 Porsche 914

1960 Chevrolet Corvair

1958 Ford Thunderbird



*in 1964 Ford Motor Company won, but not for the Mustang??



All and all, the Car of the Year award has been awarded to some really crappy cars that did not make the 100 Worst list.



...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

As you may know, MotorTend's Car of the Year award is not intended to identify the least crappiest car, or the highest sales numbers. Here is the criteria that is used:

ADVANCEMENT IN DESIGN

Quality execution of exterior and interior styling; innovation in vehicle packaging; good selection and use of materials.

ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE

Integrity of total vehicle concept and execution, clever solutions to packaging, manufacturing and dynamics issues; use of cost-effective technologies that benefit the consumer.

EFFICIENCY

Low energy consumption and carbon footprint, relative to the vehicle's competitive set.

SAFETY

Primary safety -- the vehicle's ability to help the driver avoid a crash -- as well as secondary safety measures that protect its occupants from harm during a crash.

VALUE

Price and equipment levels measured against those of vehicles in the same market segment.

PERFORMANCE OF INTENDED FUNCTION

How well the vehicle does the job its designers and product planners intended.



Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/oftheyear/car/1301_2013_motor_trend_car_of_the_year_contenders_and_finalists/viewall.html#ixzz2o2wJXgpS

 

[H D]

The second greatest contribution of the Mustang II (the greatest being that the 50th Anniversary will be possible) is the front suspension that has been ripped out of nearly every one of them for hot rod builds, muscle car suspension upgrades, and lowered truck suspensions. There are even companies making aftermarket Mustang II suspensions because the originals are hard to find and expensive. Finding one is like an offroader finding a '78-'79 Snofighter Dana 60 (of which I have possession:grin.



Why do people hate on the Mustang II so bad when the '71-'73 Mustangs and the early Fox bodies were just awful. Let's put it into perspective. The late first gens were heavier, underpowered, uglier and certainly heading in the wrong direction.

The replacement can thank the Mustang II for bridging the size gap and allowing it to downsize, but you can't really claim the looks got any better. Personally, I much prefer the looks of the Mustang II to any Fox body. The 5.0 is aftermarket king, but the body is still horrendous, through all it's years.



[Broken External Image]:

 

[H D]

Just a reminder...I want this.



<a href="http://s1192.photobucket.com/user/hughdarnley/media/ScreenShot2013-12-20at35149PM_zps7ea6abd9.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa332/hughdarnley/ScreenShot2013-12-20at35149PM_zps7ea6abd9.png" border="0" alt=" photo ScreenShot2013-12-20at35149PM_zps7ea6abd9.png"/></a>



<a href="http://s1192.photobucket.com/user/hughdarnley/media/ScreenShot2013-12-20at35525PM_zpsd8b3efe4.png.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1192.photobucket.com/albums/aa332/hughdarnley/ScreenShot2013-12-20at35525PM_zpsd8b3efe4.png" border="0" alt=" photo ScreenShot2013-12-20at35525PM_zpsd8b3efe4.png"/></a>

 

[Richard L]

Hugh,

There would still be a 50th anniversary...even if the Mustang II was never built. It would just be the 50th anniversary of the first Mustang. I'm sure Ford was not looking forward to the Mustangs 50th anniversary back in 1974.



The Mustang II suspension was the same design used in the Pinto's...nothing spectacular there. It was light weight, and cheap and easily adapted to kit cars and other lightweight small hot rods.

The biggest reason for it's popularity was the compact Rack and Pinion steering that was far superior to the previous Mustang's ancient recirculating ball steering. Like you said, there were a lot of aftermarket companies making high performance Mustang II suspension parts.



The reason for the declining sales of the 71-73 Mustangs was weight...they got too big and too heavy (styling by Larry Shinoda) It needed to be down sized, and the Mustang II was a bit too much of a down-size even though Ford claims it was comparable in size to the original 64-65 Mustangs (which had an optional 289 V8). I think the 2.3 liter engine was the biggest problem. Since that was the only engine option and the performance was gone. It also had a lot of Ghia luxury options. Most Mustang fans considered it nothing more than a glorified Pinto. And that is not too far off the mark.



The earl Fox body Mustangs were just too boxy and had no styling or even a vague resemblance to previous models. If you look at the early fox body Mustang and the Chrysler K-car that followed you can easily see the same boxy body (that Lee Iacocca touch) except the K-car was a 4 door sedan.



...Rich

 

[Gavin Allan]

A highschool buddy had a brand new Mustang during our junior year:

1978 Mustang Cobra II with the 302 V-8 and a 5-speed transmission. He had every available option on the car, including T-tops, black leather interior, front /rear spoilers, rear window louvers.



I am pretty sure I remember he went through 3 clutches and 4 sets of tires that year, all replaced under warranty because his dad was a big shot at Ford Credit or something.

The car was a blast to drive!



His car was bright yellow and black stripes. Had all the graphics, hood and side scoops, etc. It looked kind of like the reverse of this one:

 

[Richard L]

Gavin,

Yes, later in the Mustang II's short life, they did start to put the small V8's in the much higher priced Cobra II, etc., but in the first few years the only engine was the 2.3 liter 4 banger. Don't get me wrong, the 2.3 L was a good engine and very popular for many years...just not a performance engine. Over the life of the 2.3L engine, many aftermarket manufacturers made a lot of speed equipment for that engine and that's what made it one of the most popular 4 cylinder engines ever.



...Rich

 

[blksn8k]

Back on subject :btddhorse: Literally :grin:



Rumor has it that Ford will be making a new GT350 based on the new platform. Not 100% positive of this but I thought I saw something about Ford actually confirming the rumors and also stating that it would be available when the 2015s go on sale sometime later in 2014. It will probably be more of a successor to the Boss 302 rather than the GT500. When I was in Vegas for the SEMA show last month we visited the Shelby facilities and they confirmed that Shelby was ending production of their current version of the GT350 at the end of this month.

 

[TrainTrac]

Rumor has it that Ford will be making a new GT350 based on the new platform. Not 100% positive of this but I thought I saw something about Ford actually confirming the rumors and also stating that it would be available when the 2015s go on sale sometime later in 2014. It will probably be more of a successor to the Boss 302 rather than the GT500.

This is pretty much true. Although not "officially" confirmed from FoMoCo, screenshots of dealer orders for 2015 promotional material list "GT350" amongst the rest of the Ford model line.



Mach 1 is also rumored to return in 2016 or so.

 

[Gavin Allan]

Building the mustang: