What Does the Mustang Mean to You
08-01-2010, 04:16 AM
#13
Join Date: May 2010
Location: British Columbia
Posts: 9
Mustang.....the last bastion of muscle cars. The live axle and "raw" feel of acceleration and exhaust note is something that can't be replicated by any other car currently in production.
I test drove the new Camaros and Challengers. Nice cars, faster than my 07 GT, but they seem to have this pedestrian quality. Too quiet, suspension is too smooth, lacks that exciting axle tramp when hauling *** on rough roads, which might be good for most people, but for me, doesn't evoke that "Detroit Muscle Machine" characteristic I love about my Mustang.
I test drove the new Camaros and Challengers. Nice cars, faster than my 07 GT, but they seem to have this pedestrian quality. Too quiet, suspension is too smooth, lacks that exciting axle tramp when hauling *** on rough roads, which might be good for most people, but for me, doesn't evoke that "Detroit Muscle Machine" characteristic I love about my Mustang.
08-01-2010, 05:14 AM
#14
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Brownstown, Michigan
Posts: 889
I grew up in the Detroit area (Motor City) and my Dad was a hot rodder in his youth. I grew up hearing stories about cars, cruising and drag racing. I even heard some stories from guys who knew my Dad back in those days and he was reported to be a unpopular fellow with the local police.
He even had a newspaper article tucked in his HS Year Book about a police car that had been sitting (hidden) waiting for drag racers and someone snuck up behind the cop car and chained the axle to a tree. So when some knucklehead went zooming by the police cruiser, he tore out after him. Well, the news article had a picture of the cruiser sitting in the street minus the rear axle.
Dad never confirmed if he was the one who chained the axle or drove past the police officer at a high rate of speed. As far as I know, no one ever fingered the culprit(s).
When ever I asked Dad about it, he would just smile and not say a word. He said he would tell me "Some Day". Sadly Dad passed away about 6 years ago and I never did get the real story.
My Grandfather had a 73 (I think not sure on the year) Mach 1 - Brown and Gold. I used to help him do oil changes, tune ups and brakes, etc on the car. So that was my first exposure to vehicle maintenance and Mustangs. I loved that car!!!
Fell in Love with Mustangs back then and have not fallen out of love with them.
So having my own Mustang brings back great memories of hanging out with my Grandpa and Hot Rod stories from my Dad. Some of my best memories of being a kid!!!
Just can't help wanting to have the same kind of stories and memories with my kids. Hopefully they will cherish these memories we are making with my Mustangs (On my 3rd Stang) the way I do from my childhood!
Great Thread. haven't thought about those stories in a while now. Thanks for sharing and the walk down my own memory lane!!!
He even had a newspaper article tucked in his HS Year Book about a police car that had been sitting (hidden) waiting for drag racers and someone snuck up behind the cop car and chained the axle to a tree. So when some knucklehead went zooming by the police cruiser, he tore out after him. Well, the news article had a picture of the cruiser sitting in the street minus the rear axle.
Dad never confirmed if he was the one who chained the axle or drove past the police officer at a high rate of speed. As far as I know, no one ever fingered the culprit(s).
When ever I asked Dad about it, he would just smile and not say a word. He said he would tell me "Some Day". Sadly Dad passed away about 6 years ago and I never did get the real story.
My Grandfather had a 73 (I think not sure on the year) Mach 1 - Brown and Gold. I used to help him do oil changes, tune ups and brakes, etc on the car. So that was my first exposure to vehicle maintenance and Mustangs. I loved that car!!!
Fell in Love with Mustangs back then and have not fallen out of love with them.
So having my own Mustang brings back great memories of hanging out with my Grandpa and Hot Rod stories from my Dad. Some of my best memories of being a kid!!!
Just can't help wanting to have the same kind of stories and memories with my kids. Hopefully they will cherish these memories we are making with my Mustangs (On my 3rd Stang) the way I do from my childhood!
Great Thread. haven't thought about those stories in a while now. Thanks for sharing and the walk down my own memory lane!!!
Last edited by 08Steeda; 08-01-2010 at 05:19 AM.
08-01-2010, 08:50 AM
#15
Mustangs do represent American prowess and its ability to take its industrial power and convert it damn fast into military might to defend our freedom and even the freedom of others elsewhere in the world.
Ford revolutionized mass production even prior to the Great Depression, and when WW2 came, Ford's mass production techniques were used in every factory to produce arms to equip our soldiers in distant fields.
Our soldiers were so well equipped that there was little want. Where the Germans would make one Panzer tank, the US made no less than 10 M4 Shermans. Where the Japanese started off the war attacking Pearl Harbor with 6 elite heavy carriers, the US ended the war with no less than no less than 24 Essex class heavy carriers which were in many ways superior to Japan's original 6 carriers. And the US was still building more carriers: Dozens of light carriers, dozens more escort carriers, and 4 armored very heavy Midway class carriers.
As for field equipment, each US GI had about 200 pounds of equipment and supplies to back him up. Each Imperial Japanese soldier had maybe about 20 pounds of equipment to back him up. This means that the US GI can get replacement rifles very easily, get ammo readily when he needed it, he rarely went hungry, he had spare boots for when his current boots wore out, if he was wounded, he had blood supply to keep him alive, bandages and medicine to treat his wounds, and more.
It is this industrial power that the Japanes Admiral Yamamoto was talking about when he called America a "Sleeping Giant." The "Giant" is America's massive industrial power (factories and manufacturing). And when that Giant was awakened, Yamamoto meant those factories were retooled to make guns, bullets, planes, ships, tanks, and other arsenals of freedom and power.
Mustang to me represents this industrial power and might; Ford's genius in mass production and factory manufacturing processes. And seeing that we are tearing down factories and sending manufacturing jobs to China, we had better realize we are giving away our ability to defend ourselves and freedom, and even the freedom of other people in the world.
Ford revolutionized mass production even prior to the Great Depression, and when WW2 came, Ford's mass production techniques were used in every factory to produce arms to equip our soldiers in distant fields.
Our soldiers were so well equipped that there was little want. Where the Germans would make one Panzer tank, the US made no less than 10 M4 Shermans. Where the Japanese started off the war attacking Pearl Harbor with 6 elite heavy carriers, the US ended the war with no less than no less than 24 Essex class heavy carriers which were in many ways superior to Japan's original 6 carriers. And the US was still building more carriers: Dozens of light carriers, dozens more escort carriers, and 4 armored very heavy Midway class carriers.
As for field equipment, each US GI had about 200 pounds of equipment and supplies to back him up. Each Imperial Japanese soldier had maybe about 20 pounds of equipment to back him up. This means that the US GI can get replacement rifles very easily, get ammo readily when he needed it, he rarely went hungry, he had spare boots for when his current boots wore out, if he was wounded, he had blood supply to keep him alive, bandages and medicine to treat his wounds, and more.
It is this industrial power that the Japanes Admiral Yamamoto was talking about when he called America a "Sleeping Giant." The "Giant" is America's massive industrial power (factories and manufacturing). And when that Giant was awakened, Yamamoto meant those factories were retooled to make guns, bullets, planes, ships, tanks, and other arsenals of freedom and power.
Mustang to me represents this industrial power and might; Ford's genius in mass production and factory manufacturing processes. And seeing that we are tearing down factories and sending manufacturing jobs to China, we had better realize we are giving away our ability to defend ourselves and freedom, and even the freedom of other people in the world.
08-01-2010, 09:15 AM
#16
Also, the reason why I consider the Mustang an icon of American freedom and its industrial prowess to make arms of freedom is because of another wartime piece of equipment that bears the same name: the North American P51 Mustang!
Considering Ford's Mustang is directly inspired by the P51 Mustang, I cannot help but be reminded of how our beloved mustang cars represent American freedom and power:
P51 Mustang:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nor...51-mustang.htm
The P51 is a very beautiful airplane, and it was a superior fighter to many of the enemy's fighters they fielded at the time. Most of all, they saved the lives of many bomber squadrons over Europe.
Our great Mustang Cars:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1960-19...hite-Coupe.htm
The first Mustangs produced were inspired by the P51 Mustang. It is hard to see at first, but using your imagination and through the eyes of artistic interpretation of Ford's body designer, you can see where the car body rises behind the door, this represents the P51's tail fin.
The stamped shape indention on the side of the car represents the rectangular-like shape of the P51's straight wing.
The front windshield, after staring at it awhile kind of begins to remind you of the P51D bubble canopy.
And similarly, when staring at the font end from the side for awhile, it begins to look like the cowl and propeller hub of the P51
Considering Ford's Mustang is directly inspired by the P51 Mustang, I cannot help but be reminded of how our beloved mustang cars represent American freedom and power:
P51 Mustang:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nor...51-mustang.htm
The P51 is a very beautiful airplane, and it was a superior fighter to many of the enemy's fighters they fielded at the time. Most of all, they saved the lives of many bomber squadrons over Europe.
Our great Mustang Cars:
http://www.seriouswheels.com/1960-19...hite-Coupe.htm
The first Mustangs produced were inspired by the P51 Mustang. It is hard to see at first, but using your imagination and through the eyes of artistic interpretation of Ford's body designer, you can see where the car body rises behind the door, this represents the P51's tail fin.
The stamped shape indention on the side of the car represents the rectangular-like shape of the P51's straight wing.
The front windshield, after staring at it awhile kind of begins to remind you of the P51D bubble canopy.
And similarly, when staring at the font end from the side for awhile, it begins to look like the cowl and propeller hub of the P51
08-01-2010, 12:08 PM
#17
5th Gear Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Clermont, FL
Posts: 2,952
To me, the mustang is an American icon. You line up all the different types of cars and take off all their badges and you can still recognize the Mustang, you cant do that with any of the other veh (except the corvette). As far as the history and tradition of the Mustang , I have bought (and still have) all 4 of mine in the month of April. It wasnt planned that way, it just happened that was when it felt right to buy them, kind-of like an omen.
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