Today’s the Monday after the Fourth of July weekend. You’re probably exhausted from traveling out of and back into town, eating way too many hotdogs and hamburgers, and having a few too many celebratory beers. You’re also probably wishing it was later in the week because of those reasons. I can’t make it Friday, but how about I make today feel like Thursday – Throwback Thursday, to be exact?
What you’re about to watch is along those lines. It takes us all back to the ’70s, when the Mustang II was rolling off of Ford’s assembly lines and roaming the streets. That car was out before my time; all I’d ever heard about it until I watched the clip below was that it had lackluster performance and the nickname of “Pintostang.”
The following video sets the record straight. Sure, the Mustang II wasn’t a powerhouse in terms of under-the-hood action, but it did perform well on the market – to the tune of nearly 400,000 sales in 1974.
Back then, emissions and safety regulations and oil prices combined to make things hard on automakers and customers more selective. Buyers in the ’70s clearly liked the second-generation Mustang’s smaller size, lighter weight, and the increased driving enjoyment those reductions provided.
Addressing the slur of “Pintostang,” John Clor of Ford Performance Enthusiast Communications says the Pinto and the Mustang II don’t share a common platform and that swapping body panels between the two cars is not possible.
Another interesting fact from Clor: the 1978 Mustang II King Cobra was the first Mustang to use a metric rating to denote its engine’s size. What did its hood say? 5.0.
Learn more about the car that kept the Mustang line going through difficult times by clicking the play button at the bottom.
* Sales figure is in video’s description on Youtube.com
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
