1976 FORD MUSTANG MACH 1

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I almost bought a 76' Mach 1 Mustang II when I first got my license. it was black with dark tan interior, and a gold stripes going across the hood.

I wanted it because it was a 76' and I was born in 76'.

 
I personally like it. Lightweight that can have a good engine stuffed in there...nice combo imho. :)

Rich

 
Once they started to put some V-8 power under the hood, they performed pretty well. They are not great collector cars, at least not yet, and probably will never have the following as the 1st gen, especially earlier, Mustangs, but it would be an interesting car to own.

 
I had a friend that had a 75 (?) Mustang II Cobra with the 302, having driven earlier model Mustangs with 302's I thought it having a tiny body, it would scream, but being a California vehicle is was so loaded down with smog devices he was only getting around 150HP and less than 18 miles a gallon, it ran OK but far from a screamer. The mid to late 70's wasn't about performance for Mustang.

Jim

 
The Mustang II notchbacks are cute and not bad looking (Ghia landau roofs notably excluded), perhaps because they share a very similar window profile to the '71-73 Coupes (and probably the main reason our cars often get dismissed as II's - that, and the general proximity of year).

That said, if Ford had put more effort in revising the Pinto platform to suit the II - and thrown that silly, Japanese rear quarter and window profile out the window, they could have had a little compact without losing one bit of Mustang muscle:

mustangII.jpg


Not many modifications here, but major ones:

  • Front wheel moved forward - improved the looks more than anything else
  • The sagging quarter panel feature line and taillight panels have been moved up to create proper hips to the fastback
  • Wheel arches enlarged, tires and rims enlarged 1" each in diameter to fill the larger areas
  • Rear quarter window reshaped (of course)
  • Side scoops vertically enlarged
  • Front windscreen top edge lowered 1/2"

I'm particularly fond of how the rear quarter window blends the top curve of the '69-70 quarter window with the lower kickup of the '71-73's.

The original, by comparison:

74Mustang-II-Mach1.jpg


-Kurt

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a friend that had a 75 (?) Mustang II Cobra with the 302, having driven earlier model Mustangs with 302's I thought it having a tiny body, it would scream, but being a California vehicle is was so loaded down with smog devices he was only getting around 150HP and less than 18 miles a gallon, it ran OK but far from a screamer. The mid to late 70's wasn't about performance for Mustang.

Jim
76 was the first year for the Cobra II.
 
The Mustang II notchbacks are cute and not bad looking (Ghia landau roofs notably excluded), perhaps because they share a very similar window profile to the '71-73 Coupes (and probably the main reason our cars often get dismissed as II's - that, and the general proximity of year).

That said, if Ford had put more effort in revising the Pinto platform to suit the II - and thrown that silly, Japanese rear quarter and window profile out the window, they could have had a little compact without losing one bit of Mustang muscle:

mustangII.jpg


Not many modifications here, but major ones:

  • Front wheel moved forward - improved the looks more than anything else
  • The sagging quarter panel feature line and taillight panels have been moved up to create proper hips to the fastback
  • Wheel arches enlarged, tires and rims enlarged 1" each in diameter to fill the larger areas
  • Rear quarter window reshaped (of course)
  • Side scoops vertically enlarged
  • Front windscreen top edge lowered 1/2"

I'm particularly fond of how the rear quarter window blends the top curve of the '69-70 quarter window with the lower kickup of the '71-73's.

The original, by comparison:

74Mustang-II-Mach1.jpg


-Kurt
Kurt, where were you when they were designing this car?? They obviously needed you. Those minor changes really made a big difference. That is one cool talent!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 
Kurt, where were you when they were designing this car?? They obviously needed you. Those minor changes really made a big difference. That is one cool talent!
I can't take all the credit. I'd been staring at the 13" wheels so long that it took the following Photoshopped image for me to realize that the real problem was the front axle position:

2785727b.jpg


The coupe gets away with the wheel modification and nothing else, but that's because the rear end is squared off for trunk space. The fastback just doesn't cut it without the extensive bodywork modifications.

-Kurt

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I had a friend that had a 75 (?) Mustang II Cobra with the 302, having driven earlier model Mustangs with 302's I thought it having a tiny body, it would scream, but being a California vehicle is was so loaded down with smog devices he was only getting around 150HP and less than 18 miles a gallon, it ran OK but far from a screamer. The mid to late 70's wasn't about performance for Mustang.

Jim
That seems like for mpg even highway than my mothers 4 cylinder automatic 74 2 + 2 hatchback Mustang which was about 15mpg and was not a California emission vehicle. A real nice looker with gold methalic body and tan accented interior with fake but functional tachometer.



I had a friend that had a 75 (?) Mustang II Cobra with the 302, having driven earlier model Mustangs with 302's I thought it having a tiny body, it would scream, but being a California vehicle is was so loaded down with smog devices he was only getting around 150HP and less than 18 miles a gallon, it ran OK but far from a screamer. The mid to late 70's wasn't about performance for Mustang.

Jim
That seems like for mpg even highway than my mothers 4 cylinder automatic 74 2 + 2 hatchback Mustang which was about 15mpg and was not a California emission vehicle. A real nice looker with gold methalic body and tan accented interior with fake but functional tachometer.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
The Mustang II notchbacks are cute and not bad looking (Ghia landau roofs notably excluded), perhaps because they share a very similar window profile to the '71-73 Coupes (and probably the main reason our cars often get dismissed as II's - that, and the general proximity of year).

That said, if Ford had put more effort in revising the Pinto platform to suit the II - and thrown that silly, Japanese rear quarter and window profile out the window, they could have had a little compact without losing one bit of Mustang muscle:

mustangII.jpg


Not many modifications here, but major ones:

  • Front wheel moved forward - improved the looks more than anything else
  • The sagging quarter panel feature line and taillight panels have been moved up to create proper hips to the fastback
  • Wheel arches enlarged, tires and rims enlarged 1" each in diameter to fill the larger areas
  • Rear quarter window reshaped (of course)
  • Side scoops vertically enlarged
  • Front windscreen top edge lowered 1/2"

I'm particularly fond of how the rear quarter window blends the top curve of the '69-70 quarter window with the lower kickup of the '71-73's.

The original, by comparison:

74Mustang-II-Mach1.jpg


-Kurt
Kurt, where were you when they were designing this car?? They obviously needed you. Those minor changes really made a big difference. That is one cool talent!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Yah I know this an old thread, but your mod looks almost like a Maverick.....and yes I do like it, the Mav was a cool car too....

 
Back
Top