After the incredible successful first-generation Mustangs, the world of vehicles and politics were changing. The muscle car ear was ending for multiple complex reasons. The insurance companies were raising rates fast after dealing with the previous 7 years of horsepower in the pony cars were increasing with no signs of the car manufactures willing to let up out of competition. The Mustang debut was so well received that Chevrolet, Dodge and AMC all hitting the drawing board to compete. In those years you had the unrest of the late 60’s with the people’s rights movement that took a lot of the attention away and changed many people’s way of thinking. You also had the gasoline shortage that raised the price of oil. Probably biggest of all was the government regulations pushing to regulate the environmental impact which started requiring cars to be more efficient.
Lee Lacocca was a big reason for the Mustang although he was no designer. He was a one of the industries best exective and is well known because of the Mustang. He became president of Ford Motor Company in 1970. He said that he was frustated with how the size of the Mustang grew from 181.6 inches in 1965 to 187.4 inches in 1971. He requested the different design studios at Ford to have a competition to create the next generation Mustang, and it is noted that only designers under 30 years old could produce a design. The winner of that competition was Howard “Buck” Mook from the Lincoln-Mercury studio.
Contrary to many belief that the Mustang is just a different model of the Pinto they actually just used the frame like the first Mustang used the Ford Falcon frame. This is normal in the car industry as they try to reduce the cost of manufacturing. The designer Richard Nesbit came up with the notchback version while the interior was designed by Howard Payne.
The first year in 1974 sold 385,993 units but Mustang and muscle car fans were highly disappointed that only the V-6 was available. Shortly after the debut the oil prices started lowering back to reasonable levels and the following year they offered the 302 V-8 that had only 139 horse power. In 1976 they wanted to bring some excitement by offering up the Cobra II model with better handling and extravagant decals.
Just as the Mustang II was starting to become back to its roots with the 1978 King Cobra option they were completing the design of the 3rd generation Mustang that turned into the infamous Mustang 5.0 ear that lasted from 1979 to 1993. Growing up my family had a 1965 Mustang fastback and attended the yearly Mustang and Shelby event that includes 4 days of racing that people from all over the country come to bring their rare Mustangs. I remember only seeing a Mustang II a couple of times through those years and they were rarely talked about unless it was a joke. It wasn’t until I saw a 1978 Mustang King Cobra with its unique interior and one of the best spoilers and decals that interested me in purchasing one. They sold a lot of Mustangs II but you will rarely see one of the roads as many ended up being scraped and they hardly reproduce any parts for them. In the last 10 years the value of the Mustang II has gone up tremendously as the fan base grows and the generation 1 Mustangs become nearly unaffordable.
Competition
The competition during this era was the Chevy Camaro which in 1975 lowered their V-8 horsepower to 155. The Pontiac Firebird had a higher horsepower output with their Trans-Am model at 200 but the highest was the Dodge Challenger which offered the 360 at 245 hp. The AMC Javelin stopped production after 1974.