I'll start by saying I grew up in a Ford family. Our yard looked like a Ford production plant parking lot when everyone was at our house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Then my Dad bought a new 66 289 Mustang coupe when he returned from Viet Nam. That was the first of MANY Mustangs and started my love of these cars that that is still strong to this day. (Yes..there was even a couple of Mustang II's in the mix)!
Now, the reason I feel the 71-3 Mustang is the best of the first generation. The 64 1/2-70 Mustang platform sits on a chassis that was first seen on the 1960 Falcon. Which means it was designed around 1958-1959. It was a pretty good chassis design that was used for decades on many unibody Ford's. As time went on these cars, especially the Mustang and Torino/Fairlane's, became heavier with bigger engines, transmissions, AC, PS, etc until these vehicles exceeded what the original engineers had ever intended. Got to remember that performance cars in the early sixty's were full size cars with frames. (Ford and GM anyway) The absolute WORST handling performance car I have ever driven belonged to a close friend of mine. A 1969 Mercury Cyclone with a 4sp, 428 SCJ with a Drag-Pak 4:30 gear. It had an insane amount of power, and had twice as much as that chassis should of ever seen. It's also the one I was drag racing, err..I mean "driving" the night the motor mount broke and locked the accelerator linkage wide open (no throttle cable on that one). It also handled like a wheelbarrow with a flat tire. It got so bad that when he went on a date, he would promise to fill my car up twice, for every time I let him use my Mach 1 to take a date out. My girl friend had a 4sp 71 "M" Mach 1, so I was still able to ride in style. Once we were able to chain his engine down that was trying to tear the car in half (5 motor mounts later), it was safer to race, but still not a fun street car to drive. He finally "Fixed" it by parking it and pulling the powertrain to use on a 69 Drag strip only Mustang we toyed with. He replaced the 69 car with a 70 Cyclone SCJ 429 with Drag Pak (with 4:30 geared Detroit Locker). That one was a 100% better than the previous model. But...only got 8-10 MPG, so he was still borrowing my Mach1 for his date nights. (LOL) The P/S steering system was also another antique design. There was a tangled mess underneath of hoses, fittings, a power steering control valve, a power steering cylinder, etc that all contributed to the vague steering that the Ford unibody cars were known for. A system that was also good for constant never ending leaks.
Enter the new 1970 Torino. Still unibody, but new steering, brake, and suspension pieces, and many improvements that the engineers already knew were going to be used on the new 71 Mustang. So when our cars debuted, they benefitted from the Torino's brakes, suspension, and a host of other chassis and under body parts. Even the radiator support was shared, so we now benefited from a larger more efficient cross flow radiator like the Lincoln's and full size Ford's used.
Along with the new Torino suspension pieces, the game changer on our cars is the steering system. An integrated system with no rats nest of leaking hoses, tubes and fittings. A steering box just like the ones used on full size Fords and a variable ratio box available on the performance Mustangs. While not a perfect system, you now at least had something that would handle and ride way better that any production Mustang before and had power steering that you could actually enjoy using. You also had the never offered before option of power windows, and the ability to borrow some Cougar parts so you could have a power seat. You also had the option of a production installed 429 without being outsourced to Kar-Kraft for heavy front end mods.
I'm not a hater like the 65-70 folks can be, so I'm not trashing the pre 71s. They were built just as good, and handled about the same as anything else from that time era. As far as the complaints on the Sportsroof/Fastback rear window visibility, I feel it's a non-issue. If anyone's behind me, that's their problem!!
With all the improvements and engineering advancements throughout the first generation Mustang's lifespan, I feel that our cars really were the best of the first generation Mustangs and were capable of taking on any challenge from ANY other performance car on the road then.
Wow, my throats dry! I'm off to the VIP Lounge for a couple of cool drinks. Remember, 71-73's get front door parking, all others..street side parking! :whistling: