9781422279601

speed Rules! r R Inside the World’s Hottest Cars

The American Muscle Car mustang mu

By Nicky Wright

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com

© 2018 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

Series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3828-8 Hardback ISBN: 978-1-4222-3835-6 EBook ISBN: 978-1-4222-7960-1

First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2

Additional text by Bob Woods.

Cover photograph by RayTags/Dreamstime.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file with the publisher.

speed Rules! r R Inside the World’s Hottest Cars

BMW C orvet te

F errar i J aguar L amborghini M erc edes -B enz M ustang P orsche

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CON T E N T S

I N T R O D U C T I ON 4

C h a p t e r O n e T H E TA L E F R OM T H E L I T T L E B L A C K B OO K 6 T w o T H E E N D O F T H E B E G I NN I NG , A N D T H E B E G I NN I NG O F T H E E N D 32 T h r e e WOW ! T H AT ’ S S OM E T H I NG E L S E R 64 F o u r T H E P ON Y G A L L O P S I N T O T H E N EW M I L L E N I UM 80 C h a p t e r C h a p t e r C h a p t e r

R e s e a r c h P r o j e c t s 92 F i n d O u t M o r e 93

S e r i e s G l o s s a r y

o f K e y T e r m s

94 I n d e x 95

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INTRODUCT ION

A s we cross the threshold into the twenty-first century, those of us of a certain age may take a last, longing glance back to the good old days—our good old days. For us, they were in the fabulous fifties and the swinging sixties. Many of us, like most youngsters in those days, followed the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Jane Fonda’s Barbarella , and we knew about and were captivated by the Mustang. So was the San Francisco truck driver on April 17,1964, when the Mustang was first unveiled for all the world to see. So taken by the cute little car in the Ford dealer’s showroom, the mesmerized trucker drove his rig through the show- room window, obviously intent on being the first to see the new motoring sensation. The idea behind the Mustang was brilliant: to restore the pleasure of motoring that had been taken away by giant cars equipped with every convenience. While only the rich could afford a Ferrari or Aston Martin, here now was a car that even a struggling college student could save for. Ford Division president Lee Iacocca’s little black book contained the idea that became the Mustang. He had a sixth sense that a small, sporty, inexpensive car with a low base price, a long list of options, and engines with real get-up- and-go, would appeal to the young. He was right. The first eighteen months of production broke all records and sent the rest of the auto industry into a frenzy. From the first day onward, the name Mustang has evoked an instant response. People have fond memories of the Mustang, because it was a car that truly belonged to the generation it was designed for.There were the boulevard cruising Mustangs with six-cylinder engines—at best a 289 two-barrel—or the Hollywood and Vine rip roaring, gut wrenching 302s, 390s and 428s. They handled and stopped better than most, and Carroll Shelby nurtured them into race winning, blood-and- thunder machines. But no matter what, Mustang had in the beginning—and still has to this day—one element that is missing from most cars: charisma. A Mustang, old or new, has an inescapable pull. One wants get in and drive it. Try the latest Cobra SAT, and you will see that the magic is still there. This book is about that magic. The story of how Mustang began, and where it is today.

The beginning of a legend. Launched on April 17th 1964, the Mustang was the quintessential car of the Swinging Sixties. Shown is a 1964 convertible powered by the legendary 289 V-8.

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M U S T A N G

Lee Iacocca was the genius behind the fabled Mustang. Without Iacocca, Ford might not have been in the strong position it is today.

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C h a p t e r O n e

THE TALE FROM THE L IT TLE BLACK BOOK

T he year 1959 was a good one. It was the final year of a prosperous decade that sowed the roots of change. This great decade of plenty was reflected in the cars America drove and loved. Big, fat, finny, and flashy, with 350 horsepower under the hood, this was the type of car that Detroit gave to a motor hungry nation. Then, the fickle public’s taste began to change, and by the end of the decade many people were buy- ing Volkswagen Beetles. Except for American Motors with its Rambler American, and struggling Studebaker with the Lark, few auto makers thought that small cars would appeal to suburban America. However, with the introduction of compact cars, the independents scored mightily and soared up the sales charts. The Big Three scrambled to follow suit with their own smaller models. Of these, the conventional and conservative Ford Falcon, with its simple design, was the most popular. People were turning away from triple col- ors and chrome, and wanted smaller cars with straightforward engines. The success of the Falcon, which sold more cars than all other compacts put together, was largely due to Ford Division president, Robert Mc- Namara, who was interested in the bottom line, and had changed Ford’s direction to ensure profitability. lacocca’s Vision When McNamara left the company in 1961 to join the administration of President John F. Kennedy, he was succeeded by Lee Iacocca, a young man who had risen meteorically in the ranks to become vice-president of the Ford Division at the age of thirty-six. From the start, Iacocca sought to make changes, believing that the youth market would ensure the continued profitability established by McNamara. He knew that the baby boomers—those born after World War II—would soon be the nation’s consumers. Iacocca understood that the new generation would want excitement in style as well as power under the hood. He envisioned a small, sporty car with enough options to give it individual expression, and a base price of around $2,300.

FOLLOWING PAGE: Available with the 289-cubic-inch V-8 rated at 225 or 271 horsepower, the 1965 Mustang GT first appeared late in the season. It was well received and gave a true indication that Mustang was a force to be reckoned with.

An old man and his dynasty. Henry Ford, left, in one of those awkward, very posed pictures with his son, Edsel (center) and grandson, Henry Ford II. Henry the Second ousted his grandfather in what might be termed a government inspired coup.

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M U S T A N G

As he developed his plans, he jotted down his ideas and observations in a little black book, which he always carried with him to record his thoughts as they occured. Reflecting on the staid, conventional McNamara legacy, Iacocca knew that something had to be done to create a new and youthful image for Ford. With the baby boomers in mind, he initiated the Total Performance Program, which returned Ford to racing, whipping up a storm on the NASCAR ovals with stylish fastback Galaxies. In Europe, Ford won with the compact Falcon in the presti- gious Monte Carlo Rally, and then moved on to the world’s greatest road race, the Le Mans 24 Hour event. Having caught the attention of the younger generation, Iacocca presented his idea for a sporty, four-seater, small car to Ford executives. He was bolstered by market research which showed that the age 15 to 29 segment of the population would grow by fifty percent within the next ten years. Furthermore, a survey of people under the age of twenty-five indicated strong interest in an affordable car that offered four-speed manual transmission, bucket seats, optional engines, and sporty good looks. Getting It Right Though it wasn’t hard to decide to build such a car, designing it was another mat- ter. At first it seemed that the first try, known as Mustang I, would be a success. It was a two seater, like the Triumph and MG, and was an instant hit with racing drivers and the automotive press. It was not a hit, however, with Lee Iacocca. He insisted that Mustang I was too expensive to build, and since it was impractical as a family car, would not be popular with the general public. More evidence was coming through that the babyboomers wanted four seats, not two. A new concept had to be designed. To ensure he got what he wanted, Iacocca assigned all of FoMoCo’s design teams in a competition to see who would build the right car. With four separate design studios working night and day, the styling teams prepared seven different clay models for evaluation. In the end, it was the design Ford Styling’s Dave Ash that won the day. Ash’s car was based on the Falcon floorpan, had a 108-inch wheelbase and 186-inch over- all length, six inches longer than the specifications called for. This would be corrected in the production version. Actually there was very little modification to Ash’s original design. SinceV-8 powerplants were popular, the Mustang II was designed to take both six-cylinder and V-8 engines. As it turned out, the six was the entry or standard en- gine, but the great majority of buyers opted for the range of V-8s Mustangs would have up until 1973. Soon the car was ready, and the production lines tooled up. The Mustang Arrives Just prior to its public introduction on April 17, 1964, the Mustang was the sub- ject of a massive media campaign, with cover stories in both Time and Newseek, prime time commercials on all three television networks, and articles and advertisements in 2,600 newspapers. So succesful was this coverage, that on the first day the dealers hardly knew what hit them. They were expecting a crowd,

The interior of a 1965 Mustang Fastback displays the sporty nature of design. Note the fake steering wheel spokes.

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THE TALE FROM THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK

but nothing like the stampede that occurred. A Chicago dealer became so worried, that he locked his showroom doors to prevent people getting crushed in the melee. Another dealer placed a shiny new Mustang up on a grease rack and raised it above the crowd, so all could see it without damaging the car or themselves. There were even people so eager to buy a Mustang that they were willing to pay much more than the standard price. Realizing this, a Garland, Texas dealer held an impromptu auction and had fifteen people bidding for his sole Mustang. He sold it to the highest bidder, who stayed in the car all night while his check cleared to make sure the car wasn’t sold in his absence. It goes without saying that the Mustang was a phenomenal success. No car, before or since, ever caused such excitement. As to whether the car was worth all the fuss, the answer has to be yes. At the time there was nothing else on the market quite like it. It bubbled over with attractive good looks and had a defi- nite personality. Initially there were two models, a coupe and convertible. A 2 + 2 fastback came a little later in the year. The car was decidedly handsome, its long hood and short deck design complementing European cars. Up front, the narrow, bluish grey honeycomb grille was framed by a three-sid- ed chrome strip and featured the chrome plate galloping pony in its center.

Here is the 2 + 2 Mustang Fastback. It was first introduced in September 1964, some six months after the coupe and convertible.

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M U S T A N G

Obviously fake air scoops flanked either side of the grille, and it is here that the Mustang was let down by poor design and quality. The squarish headlight bezels were separate units. as were the fake scoops, and rarely did the pieces match each other or the fenders. Most motoring journals noticed the problem and said so, sometimes in very unforgiving terms. Ford took notice and the offending pieces were redesigned and made as one in 1967. The Basic Mustang Iacocca wanted the Mustang to have a huge list of options to encourage buyers to individualize their cars. This was so successful that there are hardly two Mus- tangs exactly alike. For instance, with the wheel covers there was a standard set and five optional ones. The standard wheels were 13-inches in diameter, and had a bead width of 4 inches. Fourteen-inch wheels were standard with the handling package. Front and rear bumpers were slim and nicely styled, but useless a colli- sion. They were set against the body metal and offered little or no protec- tion. The sides had unique sculpturing. The scooped appearance began as a line from the beginning of the front fender, and continued and became more pronounced as it ended in front of the rear wheel arch. Here, the scoop curved acutely downward and was finished off by a simulated air intake. Then the scooped indentation came back on itself, finishing just behind the front wheel opening, just below the Mustang pony emblem mounted on a red, white, and blue slim vertical bar. Three vertical chrome bars mounted together, covered the tail lights on either side. Though they appeared to be three separate lights, they were actually one unit, cleverly designed to give

Apart from revised, simulated rear-quarter air scoops and the absence of the chrome bars in the grille, the 1966 Mustang hardtop coupe is identical to the 1965 model. This particular car has the standard I-6 engine.

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THE TALE FROM THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK

the appearance of three. In the center of the car’s rear was the very attractive chrome gas cap, with its thermal embossed Mustang emblem encased within. The interior was very handsome and quite expensive looking. All-vinyl bucket seats were standard equipment, with bench front seats as an was option that was hardly ever seen. The rear seat was a bench type. A molded plastic instrument panel made of plastic chrome with white-on-black numbers was standard, though there was an optional “Rally Pac” which con- sisted of two circular dials on either side of the steering column. The speedometer was horizon- tal and flanked by round dials showing temperature and gas gauges. The Rally Pac consisted of a tachometer and clock. A crash pad was standard atop the instrument panel. Under the hood, the standard engine was a 170-cubic-inch six-cylinder unit developing 101 brake horsepower (bhp). A six-cylinder equipped Mustang was capable of 90 miles per hour (mph). If the wind conditions were right, it was possible to reach 80 mph in 35 seconds. There were two V-8s, the 260-cubic-inch unit boasting 160 bhp, and the 289-cubic-inch displacement (cid) with 200 bhp. Later would come a high performance 289 pushing out 271 bhp. All the V-8s were healthy performers, the 271 horse version especially so. New production records were set by the Mustang. It became a love affair between man—woman too—and machine. The Price Was Right Between April 1964 and September 1965, Ford sold a whopping 619,243 Mustangs. Of this total, 418,812 were snapped up in the first twelve months. Its immediate acceptance was unparalleled in the history of the automobile, and Lee Iacocca’s vision had proved to be right. As for the afford- able price, a six-cylinder base Mustang—without frills—left the showroom for a mere $2,372, and the V-8 equipped version sold for only $2,480. The list of options could hike the price to almost $4,000, though probably not many people went that far. Most cars sold for an estimated average of $3,250. Among the options were such items as power steering at $86.30, power brakes for $43.20, and center console for $51.50. A radio and antenna would add $58, and air conditioning—a must in some regions—was priced at $238.20. Initially, front disc brakes were optional and cost $58. If a buyer chose all of these options, the addional cost woould be $535,20, bringing the total price of a V-8 Mustang to $3,015. Another way to obtain options was to buy them in groups. For instance the Handling Package would provide heavy duty suspension and shock absorbers, larger diameter front stabiliser bar, and a 22-to-1 steering ratio. Then for extra interior pizzazz, there was the Interior Decor Group which offered padded sun visors, wood- grain. applique ornamentation, a five-dial instrument cluster, a deluxe wood-grain steering wheel, and red and white door courtesy lights. All of this, including radio, air conditioning, power steering, and power disc brakes would have brought the grand total for a V-8 to $3,188. The motoring press, dismayed by Ford’s rejection of the advanced Mustang I, had scant praise for the Mustang when it was introduced. One magazine called it “a nice looking Falcon,” while another dismissed it as “little more than another Detroit compact.” But no matter what the journals said, people still loved the Mustang. Improving Performance In September 1964, Ford introduced the Mustang fastback 2 + 2. Not only was it beautiful to look at, but practical as well. The rear seat folded down to create a huge, fully carpeted luggage area capable of carrying such things as surfboards, small ladders, a full complement of suit-

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M U S T A N G

cases, and more besides. Equipped with the High Performance 271 bhp, 289 V-8, introduced in June 1964, road tests of the fastback realized 0–60 times of 8.3 seconds, and a halfway decent quarter-mile time of 15.9 seconds at 85 mph. Compression ratio of the new engine was 10.5: 1. Speaking of the high performance V-8, Ford initiated other engine changes. The 260 cid, 164 horse V-8 disappeared in the fall of 1964 to be replaced by a 200 hp 289. Also replaced was the 170-cubic-inch, 101 bhp standard six. The new six displaced 200 cubic-inches and developed 120 hp. In Fall 1965, Ford decided it needed to create even more of a performance image around the Mustang to bring it more in line with the company’s Total Performance Program, which was paying healthy dividends in competition and, ultimately, in sales. Other manufacturers were jumping onto the performance bandwagon. There was the Chevrolet 409 and the intermediate Dodge and Plym- outh cars, powered with a second generation 426-cubic-inch hemi, that won race after race on the NASCAR ovals. The Shelby Mustang However, it was the Corvette, America’s only true sports car, that Ford decided to challenge. To do this, the company went to the one man who could create miracles in the sporting world, Carroll Shelby, creator of the fabulous A.C. Shelby Cobra. He agreed to build a high performance Mustang that could be homolongated for racing. There were unique differences that separated the finished Shelby Mustang from the standard production cars. First and foremost was the engine and mechanicals. Shelby specified the 289 High Performance engine which was given a better breathing, Cobra aluminum high-rise intake manifold, finned cast aluminum valve covers, and finned aluminum oilpan. A special Hol- ley center-pivotfloat, four- barrel carburetor, and steel tube Tri-Y exhaust headers completed the picture. Glass- packed, bullet mufflers were used with the exhaust pipes that exited forward of the rear wheels. The 271 bhp V-8 developed 306 horses, once the Shelby team had done their magic. To save weight, a glass fiber hood with a functional hood scoop was employed, and a grille without the chrome running-pony emblem. Racing style hood pins were standard fare. A racing stripe designated GT350 at the beginning, just behind the front wheel well, continued along the rocker panels to the rear wheel well. Wide twin racing stripes started at the front valence and ran over the hood and roof, ending on the rear deck. All 1965 Shelby Mustangs featured a small horse and bar on the driver’s side of the grille. The racing stripes were a dealer installed option, and came in a Guardsman Blue color only. The Shelby Mustangs were painted white in the beginning, with interiors only in black. A one-piece fiberglass shelf covered the area where the rear seat would have been and acted as a mount for the spare tire. Unlike the deeply dished Ford Mustang steering wheel, the Shelby version was flat with a wooden rim. Three-inch competition seat belts were standard. In contrast to the 13- or 14-inch wheels on the standard Mustang, Shelby Mus-

The heart of the matter, the Shelby modified 289 High Performance V-8. It developed 306 bhp, and had unique Shelby pieces, such as an aluminum Cobra intake manifold among other goodies.

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