MustangForums Editor

There's been a lot of talk of the 2014.5 Mustang dropping about 400 pounds of weight to something around 3,100 lbs. Surprisingly, that's not particularly light, even for a Mustang.

Read more...

Torch_Vert

It's not really at all surprising that original generation Mustangs were lighter.

No emissions gear like cats
No 50 years of government mandated crash safety gear and structural reinforcements
A/C, with it's heavy compressor, an uncommon option.
Power steering: optional
Heck, power *anything*: optional
Tiny, little (by today's standards) stamped steel wheels with skinny tires.

daredevil95

yea, crash that old mustang at 40mph and that's when we wish it was little heavier. When I was in HS in the late 80's, those 60's Mustangs were pretty cheap and basically everyone had one and it usually had a straight 6 or sometimes a 289 2BBL. i could remember a few of them being in wrecks and they would be totaled as to today's car would need maybe a grand or two for repairs. Those old 60's cars are no fun to be in an accident; especially when they didn't come equipped with seat belts.

VistaBlueFrank68

I recently saw a 65/66, 289 nicely restored in Orange. I was pretty small in 65 so it looked much different then, I felt like I could flip it over. It certainly doesn't look stable at speed or in crosswinds.

Hamidar05

Lets say how crappy the original stangs were... yeah, they are so much better today because Detroit of yesteryear with engineers coming out of WWII didn't know how to engineer brilliant and simple machines with more crude materials/tools than today, let alone computers.

I will refrain from saying nasty things...

Torch_vert, you were right, the 9" rear end was lighter.. and which is preferred by racers for strength and mass? You all fail to take into account the effects of "make them cheaper and faster", and sometimes that does not result in weight savings, especially when they think, do we have to make it out of Aluminum, or make a few bucks more profit by making it cast iron. Today's cars are built to last about 5 years on average, they didn't think about that back then, they thought about quality will sell a car, not cheap and mass production. How many fox body's were produced over the years and how many are on the road vs 64.5 to 73?... for that matter how many 74-78's are on the road? My bet is proportionally, the older models have fared better.

Seriously, push on a fender from a 65 and an S197.. cmon! Which is thin and flimsy vs sturdy.

4154Bobby

Gotta love the og