Like I said - styling is personal. But PLEASE - PLEASE don't call the King Cobra's anemic, EPA and CAFE (new for 1978) addled TWO barrel a "Boss 302". It wasn't. It had 8.4:1 compression ratio and churned out a monster 138HP. And it had a Borg Warner 4 speed.
HAHA - I still think the Pinto was the best car I ever owned. Dang thing was a tank and handled the snow well. Never had any issues and if you ignore the potential for rear end collision gas tank fires was a pretty safe car. Once when a driver hit me lightly in the rear I jumped out of the car and ran - the driver in the car that hit me almost had a heart attack (this was when the news had all the info on the cars catching on fire with rear end hits). Even today the Pinto lives on in Ethics College Courses all over America!Here's to stooping low. I got your Pinto, right here baby!
Like I said - I don't do blind brand loyalty. If a manufacturer doesn't make a car / truck that is pleasing to ME (I'm the one paying for it and driving it after all) the brand doesn't matter. But bring up the bankruptcy of GM - I'm assuming you are referring to the TARP bailout?...that's a bit disingenuous. Ford took over 5 billion in low interest government loans during the bailout, not to mention Ford Motor Credit borrowing 15 Billion. In fact many auto industry experts consider these government backed loans and the fact that Ford agreed to streamlining EV and "clean" vehicle development to try and meet the then goals of that Presidential administration's EPA - were major factors in keeping Ford FROM filing bankruptcy.Low enough that they went BANKRUPT
OK, that’s enough. Leave the Edsel alone.
My only comment on the Mustang II and Vega is that all American car mfr at that time were forced to make those types of cars. They ignored the signs of what was coming and then rushed to try and compensate. it took decades to recover from that. So I would not use those era cars as a benchmark to compare Ford, GM Chrysler products as they all sucked. Today those 3 brands are fairly equal in the quality of their products and most people go with what they prefer. I think the reason why the Mustang stands out a bit with sales is because there is an unbroken line of them being produced. The camaro, challenger and charger all had lengthy breaks of them being produced and the charger is now a 4 door. I actually like the charger and would get one except that it is auto only and is a deal breaker for me. Otherwise it is a pretty kick ass car.
Agreed. We won't even talk about how bad QC was for all Domestic manufacturers in the 70's and into the 80's. Yeah - when the Charger came back, it was weird it was a 4 door - but I could have gotten over that. Not having at least an extra cost option for a manual transmission was also the reason I never looked at one seriously. Just personal preference. I know modern 8 and 10 speed automatics perform better than a manual - it's just personal preference for me.
So you think I am defending the Mustang II. Are you attacking the Mustang II? Because they sold 1,107,718 in five years? Or for some other reason? How did Mustang II ruin your life? Pictured above is 1978 King Cobra with Ford 302 ci V8, Edebrock 4V/manifold, Long tube headers, Ram Clutch, high volt ignition, Comp cam, Tremec 5 speed, 2800 pound GVW. Is that a fast car? No it can't be. It is against the law to modify a Mustang in America. I got you Pinto right here baby!
I was in 1st or 2nd grade then. Keep in mind you could also buy a '78 Firebird / Trans AM with a big block and a 4 speed. Low HP - but tons of low to mid range torque. Or a '78 Z28 Camaro 4 speed with a 185 HP 350...By the way let’s not forget this one. Maybe not a GT350 but pretty damn nice for 1978.
Why are you mad? The Mustang II did nothing to me. You list the specs on a built Mustang II and that is somehow considered representative of the FACTORY version? People have different opinions. In the car world that's GREAT for us - because if all of us like the same thing we'd have CRAP for aftermarket and CRAP for factory performance cars - because there wouldn't be any competition for market share. I wasn't referring to a modified car. Chevy Vega's SUCKED. But a lot of the suckage went away with a healthy small block dropped in.
Remember the 1979 Chevy Monza. It was an offshoot of the Vega and could be had with a 5.0 small block in it. Unfortunately you had to pull the engine to get to the back spark plugs
I don't care what you do or don't do.loans and BANKRUPTCY are two different things
