Ford aptly described this series as "A
steed for every need" and this was an accurate description for this new
"mini Thunderbird Mustang" model which was nearly six inches larger than
the original. Not only were the outside dimensions larger, but the inside
dimensions were also increased with a much larger backseat, more legroom,
more headroom and even a 29 percent larger trunk. Unfortunately trying to
be everything to every car buyer meant that the Mustang lost a little bit
of its original personality.
The price of the car was still low with
the basic six cylinder hardtop selling for about $2700 and the eight
cylinder convertibles selling for as little is $3126. Mustang also
produced an ultra high performance series of cars including their famous
300 horsepower 351 Cleveland and are equally famous 375 horsepower 429
engines.
An interesting side note is the fact that
while these engines were huge by today's standards and would give their
owners know more than 10 mpg, their actual performance and horsepower was
substantially less than today's performance Mustangs. 0 to 60 times were
in the 6 1/2 second range in the top speed was about 118 miles an hour.
Today's stalked eight cylinder Mustangs easily beat these times and speeds
and Mustangs special SVT Cobra series make these cars look positively
slow.
