What is it like driving '65 - '73 Mustang and how does it compare to a S550??

[kwpony]

A Revology Mustang is on my lottery winnings list.

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[dfanucci]

I have a 68 (look in my garage) and a 2020 gt.

The best way to put it, is that you are always "driving" while in the 68. There is no rack and pinion steering so the car goes wherever the hell it wants to go. Suspension is non-existent, braking from 60 takes about a football field to stop, and you better know how to adjust points etc, and be mechanically inclined because these older cars require you to touch them at least every 3 months. They smell of vinyl, gasoline, exhaust and there is zero sound insulation. The wipers are useless, it's hotter than hell inside them, and the windows don't seal worth a shit. In other words, they are a fucking blast to own! I adore mine.

The 2020 is start, floor it, hang on.

 

[Avispa]

@ dfanicci, yeah I hear ya. The ex's '64 1/2 was a real trash truck to drive. Then again, for a little guy with self esteem problems, a quick trip to the beach (Mustang Island State Park in Texas, no less) in one will cure you right away. They still get a lot of looks.

Kinda scary you can easily put a 400 HP Windsor motor in one of those things.

 

[Sig556]

I can't speak for owning a 65-73 Mustang. But I can for owing a 1967 Camaro SS 427 Tri Power with 4 wheel disc brakes. I built this car from the ground up and did all the work except for the paint. I owned it for 9 years. Now for the good part: The car was an animal and scary fast, the ride was solid but a tad harsh as to be expected. This car can not be compared to the current mustang. My 20 rides like a dream, is fast and has air. View attachment 496643

PS: I bought this car in pieces in 2005 for $10,000. I put at least $30,000.00 in it to restore it. I did all the labor myself so no cost there. I sold this car to the John Deere family in Nebraska and no you don't want to know what I got for it.

 

[Zooks527]

Back in the day, I had experience with two in that range, my uncle's '65 convertible (289 with an automatic) and my '70 Mach 1 (351 Cleveland with a 4-speed).

The '65 was a fun ride on a summer day with the top down. It was 10 years old when I was driving it (1975), had a tendency to stall, and never struck me as "fast".

The '70 was fast, fun, loud, hot, handled terribly on anything but dead smooth pavement, and had awful brakes. The awful brakes contributed to its demise in 1978, when I did an endo on the Mass Pike at rush hour after breaking the back end loose on road construction spill.

Nice for the memories. Wouldn't want to drive either now on a regular basis.

 

[Joe B.]

Had a '67 Cougar in '70 for a few months, 'till I got drafted. What I remember: low to the ground, 1 finger steering, awesome styling, and it drove far better than anything I had up until then.

 

[Black Pony]

I have owned a 1967 Plymouth GTX, a 1969 Dodge Dart GTS, and a 1971 Mustang Mach 1. As others has stated, the steering was horrible, if you ran through a puddle, you would have little or no braking. There was a lot of wind noise, water leaks around the windows, burnt oil smells and if the carbs were running rich, you would nearly pass out either from the gas smell or the exhaust. The GTX had unbelievable torque from the 440 cubic inch engine and you could get it up to 150 mph, bone stock. The Mach 1 was my favorite. It was fun to drive. After completely modifying the engine myself, without any previous knowledge of auto mechanics, I was putting out roughly the same amount of horsepower, but not the torque. I loved the 351 Cleveland engine. Back then, you could actually work on your car with very little mechanical knowledge. I would purchase a 1965-1970 Mustang fastback in a hillbilly heartbeat, but the cost to play these days is out of my price range. I wish that I had held on to those vehicles. It's one of those "if I knew then what I know now".

 

[mustanghammer]

My first car was a 71 Mustang Hardtop and my second car was a 69 Fairlane 2dr Hardtop. Both had a 302 2bbl with a C4 automatic, pwr steering, manual brakes (4 wheel drums). Neither were very fast which is good because the brakes were terrible. On the Fairlane, I installed a bigger front sway bar from a Cougar and an Addco rear sway bar along with a 500CFM holley 2bbl carb. The Fairlane handled and ran pretty decent after that. It was the first car I ever autocrossed. My first "modern car" was a 85 Mustang GT and it did everything better.

The early Mustangs have some things going for them like a SLA front end and decent engine placement. I still think a 71-73 Mustang with an updated suspension/brakes would be a killer piece. That model had the best engine location of any Mustang before or since. However, finding one that is affordable and not a POS is hard to do.

 

[GregP27]

I have to laugh at part of post #4. My 1967 Plymouth GTX Hemi ran the quarter mile in 12.6 seconds as soon as I add some UNiroyal Tiger Paws tires. They were soft and would leave a trail of rubber wherever you cornered, but they DID stick pretty well for the day.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

my new DD is a 86 bronco, not quite what you're asking about, but man, I forgot how much I miss driving some old carb'ed car/truck that is nothing but an engine and 5 wheels. no radio, no a/c, it is just a truck. I haven't looked forward to my commute so much in years.

they are an exercise in patience though, to own and to drive. They require a lot more work, even if it is just small things. re-tuning carb with changing weather, light bulbs blowing out more often (but theres like...5 of them in the entire truck). alignments seems to last a week. brakes always need some slight adjustment. and that's on one that has seems a decent rebuild. if it is a rolling resto, or an original, be prepared for hours every week or two replacing this or that, upgrading this or that, etc. 3G alternator upgrades because the stock system makes zero power if you put in an aftermarket radio, lights dim when you roll the power windows up, etc. upgrading to a mini starter due to heat soak issues, etc.

and the noises, the rattles, the grinding. The smells, running slightly rich, you can smell the various fluids and oils. You get out of the car smelling like it.

and the driving experience, the wheel is overly light if it has power steering, or a complete bear to turn in a parking lot if no power steering. theres a built in amount of slop in the steering, they never handled like they're on rails like today's cars. you can get the power out of the motor, but it's not as easy and linear and smooth as modern. build a car with the hp of a modern mustang, and it'll shake your fillings out at a light. can barely use the mirrors with all the shaking. you'll never get it to handle with a modern car, unless you go so far all out there is nothing of the original car left though.

But there is just something about it, driving something old, a part of history, a classic, the smells, the vibration and feel that surpasses everything else.

Of course, the specific model makes a major difference. the handling and power delivery between a straight 6 or even 289 '67 convertible vs a GT350 were worlds apart. one was a fun and pleasurable drive. the other one was nothing but horsepower bolted to some wheels (and a whopping 306hp at that...) that wanted to rip your spine out if you didn't put 100% of your attention into driving that car the way she was meant to be driven.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

My first car was a 71 Mustang Hardtop and my second car was a 69 Fairlane 2dr Hardtop. Both had a 302 2bbl with a C4 automatic, pwr steering, manual brakes (4 wheel drums). Neither were very fast which is good because the brakes were terrible. On the Fairlane, I installed a bigger front sway bar from a Cougar and an Addco rear sway bar along with a 500CFM holley 2bbl carb. The Fairlane handled and ran pretty decent after that. It was the first car I ever autocrossed. My first "modern car" was a 85 Mustang GT and it did everything better.

The early Mustangs have some things going for them like a SLA front end and decent engine placement. I still think a 71-73 Mustang with an updated suspension/brakes would be a killer piece. That model had the best engine location of any Mustang before or since. However, finding one that is affordable and not a POS is hard to do.

I have a '71 mach 1, I've owned for 20 years now, sitting in my shop waiting for a complete resto. I am really hoping to get started on it in 1-2 years, I have two other projects to wrap up first, 1 small, 1 larger. then it is her turn to shine. Who needs a rear view mirror anyways? they are useless in those cars.

 

[Avispa]

@Sig556, the Camaro is gorgeous! First gen F bodies were a whole lot better cars than first generation Mustangs, which after all were just gussied up Falcons. And no the early F cars weren't gussied up Novas. The Camaro chassis went over to the X body, not the other way around. Nice job on the tri power, too.

 

[dpAtlanta]

I had a 1970 Formula 400 which handled like a Kroger shopping cart with a bad wheel compared to my current ride. I thought it handled GREAT back in 1980.

Imagine if you could go back in time with your current S550... the looks you would get...!!!
If someone challenged you to a drag race... or if you took someone for ride.
Of course, your nav system would not work, and your XM radio would be dead!

As long as you are pondering this useless thought, how about taking your S550 back even farther?
Woodward Avenue in 1965?
Show it off to Henry Ford?
Show up at a Roman Chariot race?
Etc...!

This would make a great car movie!

 

[3rdRGR]

I had the pleasure of being offered to drive a coworker's late 60's Firebird convertible. He said that I could only drive it in the parking lot because it was SO different from modern cars.

Being 6' 1", I was surprised the seat had no travel. I had my knees up around the steering wheel. The seat just doesn't go back.

Next, the steering was power-assist but , to me, barely. The biggest shock was that it took SEVERAL revolutions just to make a right turn.

Throttle response was so different.

Brakes? well I felt I had to push way too far before they started to grab.

Was this really state of the art back then? How did people drive the car?

The car sounded fantastic but I learn quickly to appreciate the advances we now have even though I feel we have gone too far too.


I would love to hear what it is like to drive an early Mustang and how it compares to a modern S550.

Please post your experiences on these classics.

Thank you.

First car was a 67 Mustang with a 289 Automatic. This was in 1986. We had a country back road in southern Michigan that was paved, straight as an arrow and you could see a cop from a mile away. It was on the way to Grama's house, so I traveled it often. I'd get it up to 110-120 and it was so loose and floaty at those speeds it felt like at any moment it would disintegrate. Lap belt only. Steering wheel with a big center hub that was in the proper place to put your nose into your brain if you ever hit somebody. Every other morning in the cold months it would flood trying to start it for the first time. I'd pop the hood, pull the lid off the air filter cover and stick a screwdriver into the carb butterfly to hold it open. Va-vooom every time. The school parking lot was a mile and half away and half the time it would stall as I slid into my spot and put it in park. It was known as the "auto shut off." Most of the time you'd get where you were going by the time it heated up enough on the inside to be comfortable. Horn didn't work. Hub cab would fly off if you took a corner too hard. Those were the days.

FF 2018 Roush RS2. Yesterday, again thanks to the wife, we were running late for church. As the dash digital readout read 97 I calmly looked over at my wife and remarked "do you feel how stable this car feels at this speed?" She said, wow, you're right. It felt like we were going 35. Apple car play gets me to my favorite podcast as I click back to Waze which tells me where the cops are sitting. Will hold over 1g on a skidpad. 460 horses at my beckon call, and I call them a lot. In August the car can freeze me out in two minutes. Is there a romance to that 67 and what period of life I was in when I owned it? Absolutely. Would I ever go back? No way in hades.

 

[Deckard B26354]

What it is like to drive an early Mustang? You had to drive it or you would end up in a ditch. At 100+ it was all over the place and usually not where you wanted it. Slam it into a hard right hand turn and look out the driver side window and you were looking at the pavement it was yawed over so far. Brakes that I'm sure were hi-tech back in the 20's. Power nothing, well take that back it had powered windshield wipers. Hot in summer and cold in winter. A symphony of rattles and squeaks. Used to think it was pretty quick but looking back I think it was mostly just loud. I really miss that old 67 mustang, it was the perfect car for a 17 year old wild child that was me. 54 year old me, not so much. I'm pretty comfortable continuing to missing it.

How does it compare to a modern mustang? They may as well be from different planets. It is strange to me in some ways as I feel this heritige between the two but there is very little in common between these cars seperated by 52 years. I bought the new mustang hoping to recapture something from the past, it hasn't been there for me for the most part. What I got in the end was something much better, a new adventure in a new chapter of my life.

What the heck, that last part sounds like something out of a Hallmark movie. Oh well, deal with it cause it's late and I ain't rewriting it.

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