Happy 50th Birthday to the Mighty Mustang......

2014 Marks 50 years of Mustangs. The Mustang debuted on April 19th 1964 and set the auto world on it's ear. From an engineering and marketing standpoint it was genius. It was based on the humble compact Falcon platform, but had a sexy body and a good looking interior. Standard power was a 170 inch straight six, with a 200 inch six optional, but the fun ones were the 289 V8 models. Since the car was light ( about 2,800 lbs) the little V8s could make them really haul. Especially the High-Performance, solid-lifter, 271 hp version. It sold like hotcakes and was an unprecedented hit. In 1965 a fastback version was also introduced, and Carroll Shelby ( Father of the 289 and 427 Cobra ) tricked some up with suspension tuning, Tri-Y headers, and an aluminum intake and 715 cfm Holley carb which drastically increased performance over the awful, 470 cfm Autolite 4100 4bbls that stockers had. The "Ponycar" was born. Other automakers scrambled to build a Mustang fighter. GM countered with the Camaro and Firebird, but not until 1967. Chrysler-with less of a budget, had delay after delay and the E-bodies-The "Cuda and Challenger wern't introduced until 1969 as '70 models. GM's counterpunch, however was almost deadly. The Z/28 Camaro-which was specifically designed to win the Trans-Am Championship-which Ford had done in '65 and '66-to make the 305 inch limit used a 283 crank in a 327 block to create a high-revving beast. It also used Corvette heads, and a hot solid lifter cam, 11:1 compression and a 780 Holley on an aluminum intake. Advertised horsepower was 290,but the buff magazines put the output at at least 350 for production versions, and 450 for race versions. Plus-you could also get the 396 Big-Block in a Camaro, and 400 inch Pontiac in a Firebird. Even the hot-rodded Shelby GT350-with a 289 V8-had little chance in a drag race on the street or track against a big 396 or 400 inch Camaro or Firebird. Ford lazily-dropped the "Truck Motor" 390 into the Mustang-but they handled badly and weren't good performers. It's a well known fact that when filming the classic "Bullitt" chase-early on-Steve McQueen was furious- the 440 Charger piloted by Bill Hickman would leave the 390 Mustang so bad that they couldn't even film it. Stunt coordinators Carey Loftin and Max Balchowsky hopped up one of the Mustangs with a Mallory Distributor, headers, and an Edelbrock intake and Holley carb. At that point-the Charger could still out run it-but McQueen and sometime drivers Bud Elkins and Loftin could stay close enough to film it!!  Mark Donohue and Roger Penske wont the Trans-Am Championship in 1968 with a Camaro. Ford countered with a vengenance. The "Boss 302" had 4-bolt mains, a steel crank, forged rods and pistons,11:1 compression, a hot solid-lifter cam, and "Tunnel Port" heads-that had ports and valves the size of a big-block Chevy. It didn't have much bottom end torque, but from 3,000 rpm on up it was a rocket. ( That's why they were only available with a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.30:1 gears! ) The SCCA said they had to sell 500 units to the public to race them. 1,603 were sold in 1969 and another 7,113 in 1970. Obviously these are highly prized today. Racing success was fine, but in the late '60's and early '70's you also needed "Street Cred". To combat the 396 and 400 inch Camaros and Firebirds, and the 383 and 440 inch Mopars-Ford dropped the "Police Interceptor" 428 big block into the Mustang. The 428 Mach 1s were rockets. They could give a 426 Hemi Road Runner a run for the money the driver would not soon forget.  The "Boss 429" also debuted this year. Ford was trying to homologate the engine for NASCAR. Same rule-you had to sell at least 500 to the public to race them. Ironically-the cars raced in NASCAR weren't Mustangs but Torinos and Mercury Cyclones. The Mustang got longer,lower and wider in 1971-but very few had the mighty 429-95% of them had 302s or 351Cs. Which was weird-because in 1970 GM lifted their 400 inch limit on intermediates, and Chrysler never had one. So how was a 351 inch Mustang-even the vaunted "Boss 351" ( of which only 1,806 were built ) going to compete with a 454 inch Chevelle, 455 inch Pontiac Trans-Am, a 401 inch AMC Javelin, or a 383, 426 Hemi or 440 inch Dodge Challenger or Plymouth Barracuda? It's like the Blue oval boys just gave up on Performance. The 351C soldiered on until 1973-but then Ford really stepped on their Dick. In 1974 the Pinto based "Mustang II" was introduced with 2.3 liter 4 cylinder engine and the 2.8 liter V6 out of the German Capri optional. Like with "New Coke"-the public was not amused. They dropped in a 302 V8 in '75-but it had a 2bbl carb and wheezed out 140 hp. In 1979 the famous "Fox" platform debuted-but they didn't get a real performance model until 1983-when the 302 got tube headers, and aluminum manifold, a 600 Holley carb and a new 5-speed transmission. Through the '80's until 1993-the "5.0" was King Kong". They were both faster and several thousand dollars cheaper than Z/28 Camaros and Trans-Am Firebirds-that were so invincible in the late '70's. 1994 Brought the body that would last until 2004. 1996 brought the 4.6 liter "Mod Motor" which the current "5.0" and 5.4s are based on. 2005 brought a '60's style body back and sales skyrocketed, even the V6 models outselling the V8s. "Bullitt" "Boss 302" and other special editions came in the years 2006-2010 when the body was slightly changed. The GT with 412 hp for under 30 grand, is still a screaming bargain. You don't have to take shit from little boys in rice rockets or yuppies in BMW M3s. The new 2015 version was featured in the action flick "Need for Speed".  Long live the Mustang!! Mastermind