1978 Ford Mustang II
Submitted by Anthony J. Cagle
I acquired this car back in 1990 while on my way from Seattle to northern California for some archaeological fieldwork. My month-and-a-half old 1984 Bronco II's engine seized up in central Oregon and, not being able to afford an on-the-spot engine rebuild, I swapped the dealer for something off their lot.
Up until that point I'd not paid much attention to Mustang II's--like many others, I thought of them as "glorified Pintos" and "that thing that Farrah-Fawcett drove"--but this one was in mint condition with only 43k miles on it. It really was owned by the proverbial little old lady who drove it to church on Sundays. And it had a V8! So the deal went down and I drove off with a 1978 Mustang II.
After all of the trouble I had had with both the Bronco and my previous 1975 Buick, the Mustang was a god-send. It drove well, was mechanically sound, but most importantly it just worked. I drove all over northern California for several weeks without problem. And it was fun to drive to boot. The beach photo above was taken shortly after purchase.
While many deride any mid-late 1970s cars for not having much power, the little Mustang performed pretty well, especially in comparison to the Bronco and my Buick with the anemic 231 V6. The V8--basically a detuned version of Ford's long-time 302--was rated at 139 hp, but most observers think that was somewhat conservative. Since the Mustang II weighed only about 2700 pounds soaking wet, it still had pretty good pickup.
It's basically a King Cobra version without all the stickers, spoilers and other doo-dads: V8, competition suspension, limited-slip differential, lacy-spoke aluminum wheels, 3-spoke steering wheel and other goodies. It also had a rear defroster, A/C, and cruise control; all in all, not a badly equipped little car for the time.
I was a grad student through the 1990s and commuted to work by bus, so I didn't drive it much except on the weekends. But by 2005 or so, it was starting to show its age. The engine was starting to require a lot more work, and the paint in the front half was starting to look pretty awful--it was faded, cracked and peeling off in spots. I'd done some major work on it already, such as rebuilding the transmission, and replacing much of the front steering and suspension, but more was surely to come. In addition, with higher speed limits the old 302 had difficulty on the freeway; it was indeed a car of its (55mph) period.
Time for a decision; restore it to acceptable daily-driver condition, or get rid of it? It was a difficult decision. On the one hand, even though the 1974-78s had been increasing somewhat in value, there wasn't much chance I'd ever recoup any major investment in it. On the other hand, they had become pretty rare anyway and I'd developed an affection for my Mustang over the years.
I went out and test-drove a few new cars and was almost ready to dump it for a shiny new model when I went back and looked at the beach picture and fell in love with the dumb thing all over again. And so I embarked on a major remod.
I replaced the old 302 with a 1989-93 5.0L EFI HO engine with Hooker headers and dual exhaust all the way back (picture above). It's never been dynoed, but we figure the output is probably around 260-270 hp now. I decided to keep the factory color--dark metallic brown--and had the whole thing repainted as well.
Just this past year I replaced the carpeting and had some upholstery work done. All in all, back to factory condition with some added oomph under the hood. I liken it these days to another '70s-era classic: "Better than it was. ... Better. Stronger. Faster."
These cars never got much respect, especially from the "enthusiast" crowd. In many ways, the Mustang II fell short of where it could have been due to some less-than-optimum choices made by Ford. There was really very little Pinto in them, but the sheet metal makes the comparison obvious. Performance-wise, as Chris has pointed out on this blog the Mustang II fared poorly against much of its direct competition (Camaro and Firebird, but also smaller coupes such as the Monza).
Still, the basic mechanicals were well-thought-out and these days Mustang II enthusiasts have an excellent platform to start from. The suspension and steering perform well, and the engine and drivetrain can take modifications fairly easily; I didn't even have to swap out the transmission with the new engine. Specialized parts are often difficult to find, but in general they're pretty easy to work on and there's a devoted set of Mustang II enthusiasts to assist.
I'm glad I kept it. It's an absolute kick to drive and by far the vast majority of people break into a smile when they see (and hear!) it coming. Which is, I guess, what Car Lust is ultimately all about.
Additional links:
- Carpeting done by me
- Carpeting done by professionals
- Mustang II.net
- Engine and exhaust work done by Brad's Custom Auto; paint by American Auto Painting & Body, Renton, WA.
--Anthony J. Cagle
Rob the SVX guy on March 19, 2008 at 11:35 AM
As much as I hate that generation mustang (I think it's by far the worst one), I think it's cool you decided to keep it. They're so ugly I doubt they'll ever go up in value, but I think that the uglyness is part of the appeal of the car itself. It's different, it's unique, and it's enjoyable to drive. A lot of people pay a ton of money for those qualities, on something new, imported, and most likely unreliable. Props!
Mochi Mochi on March 19, 2008 at 11:51 AM
This is a great story. The thing that stands our for me is that love or attachment that makes us go back to our old cars and keep them going - and make them better. From personal experience I completely get that. Some call it an eccentricity... Why not be normal and just buy a new car? Who needs normal. I'm glad I'm not the only eccentric on the block. Thanks Anthony!
Chris Hafner on March 19, 2008 at 12:01 PM
I'm actually really pleased to have the chance to run this. As Anthony pointed out, I did a piece on the Mustang II Cobra II some time back in which wrote what I hoped was a tongue-in-cheek, so-bad-it's-good eulogy for the more outrageous versions of the Mustang II. It subsequently received the deafening lack of response it deserved.
http://www.carlustblog.com/2007/09/ford-mustang-ii.html
Several months later, the loyalists at MustangII.net discovered it and loudly and appropriately defended their car's honor. Once challenged, I trotted out the vital statistics of why the Mustang II was a toothless tiger.
That might have been important in the 1970s, but today it's really not that important. Anthony's post illustrates why. Mustang II fans, mea culpa. Mea maxima culpa.
Anthony Cagle on March 19, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Couple more stories on this car:
1) I actually bought it twice. Not too long after buying it the first time, I had a small accident with it (thankfully not my fault). Technically, since the repair costs were more than it was worth at the time, I had to declare it a total loss. But I worked out a deal with the insurance company where I found a similar car that was selling for about the cost of repair and they agreed to give me that price. Legally, however, one is not able to keep a car that has been totalled, so the insurance company sold it to a wrecking yard who turned around and sold it back to me for $25 as scrap. It was all paper transactions so the car never really went anywhere.
2) It's also on its third rear window. One morning I started it up and turned on the rear defroster when it immediately started making an awful hissing noise and smoke and flames (!!!) started shooting out of one point in the window. Turned out it had shorted out where it went into the glass so all the current flowed through one inch of wire instead of 8 feet of it in the window. So I heard that awful *thick* of grass cracking and soon the whole thing fell apart. Happily, a glass place found a new one and my mechanic, after thinking he;'d fixed it, did the same thing. So, back to the glass dealer for another new one.
'Course, at the time the window went out we had just moved to a really swanky part of town so there I was with a 25-year old car in the driveway with a big blue tarp over the back. "There goes the neighborhood. . . ."
Cookie the Dog's Owner on March 19, 2008 at 01:54 PM
A lovely writeup. The car does what you want it to do, and does it reliably. That's what counts.
bigrig on March 19, 2008 at 02:55 PM
My only thing I remember is a movie I once saw....."Starman", the line was "red light stop, green light go, and yellow light GO VERY FAST!" Anyone else remember?
That Car Guy on October 23, 2008 at 01:05 PM
The first new car I ever had was a "Saddle Bronze Metallic" 1974 Mustang II, its first year. Like the Bluesmobile, "It runs on Regular Gas". Not a fastback, it had the 2.8-litre V-6, automatic, whitewall tires, and AM radio. The '74 Mustang IIs had a unique hood (shorter), grille header (wider), and gas tank opening/quarter panel (below the character line). Why Ford made these for only one year, I do not know.
What I liked most about the car was its handling! It had rack-and-pinion steering, which was mostly ignored at that time by other US automakers, and the lack of power steering only made it turn better. The interior was base, but had carpet running way up the doors and faux wood trim on the dash. Gauges were plentiful. I had just left my first car, a 1972 Vega Hatchback, so how could anything not be an improvement?
The Mustang II is NOT a Mustang! It was "The Right Car At The Right Time", exactly as Ford claimed. But times change. If you saw the oil embargos back then, you appreciate the car. If not, there are films of people pushing huge cars to the gas pump after waiting in lines for hours. But the little Mustang II passed them on by, cheerfully waving at the gas-guzzling behemoths waiting their turn. I'd love to ride in another one some day.
Gregg E. on January 27, 2009 at 08:01 PM
1974 was the best selling year for the Mustang II, with well over 300,000 sold. Its five year production total makes the Mustang II #6 overall in Mustang sales numbers.
The reason the gas cap was raised (and the other changes) in 1975 was for the 302 V8. All V8 II's got an additional gas tank tucked up inside the left rear wheel well. When filled all the way, the gas gauge took a long time to drop off full. That extra tank was optional with the I4 and V6 engines.
The next major change came in 1977, but most of the differences are in the body structure and invisible in a fully assembled car.
For 1978 there were many detail changes like a one-piece, all plastic grille- eliminating the 'front load' metal turn signal bezels. Full front fender liners made their appearance. I've always figured Ford was planning on continuing the II for 1979 if the ugly "Fox Box" wasn't ready in time. Why else sink so much money into new tooling for all the unique to 1978 parts?
Another change for 1978 (I dunno about 1977 or in coupes) was the hatchbacks got rear shoulder belt mounting points. They're in the C pillars just above the quarter windows, towards the back. Feel around where the headliner is glued to the sheet metal back there. You'll find a hole in the middle of it. That's a steel tube welded in, ready to accept a self-threading Torx seat belt bolt.
Those never got used (at least not in the USA) because the expected rear shoulder belt law didn't get enacted.
Dennis on February 15, 2009 at 07:06 AM
I think that car is in a good condition and that model of car is rarely to find one.
Chuck on March 03, 2009 at 09:02 AM
Gregg E, thanks for the info! I'm surprised Ford sank all that money into stampings just for one year, but they did. Other cosmetic changes on later Mustang IIs included black & white vinyl (Or rubber) rub strips in the bumpers (Replacing the metal), removal of metal trim on the seats, removal of the padded rear seat side trim on the Ghia and Custom Interior upgrade, and it seems that fake burled wood dash trim was replaced by brushed aluminum on most if not all cars. Of course, more sporty trim choices and T-Tops were available. They also moved the wiper controls from the dash to the column stalk.
I love these cars. They were quite a piece for their day! I'd love to at least drive one again. The dealer did something to my V-6 that made it scream! We never knew what, but that car could do speeds and take corners that I would not attempt today. But when you're 18, all cars are race cars LOL.