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

[Avispa]

Vlad, I'll give ya that crashing a 60 year old car to make a point can be needlessly destructive. A '59 Chevy, on the other hand......beautiful it isn't! The story goes that a kid saw one of those new in the family garage and screamed to his mom, "Mommy! Something's eating my bicycle!" Feel free to insert references to the Batmobile as needed. It took GM all the way to the Pontiac Aztek to make something uglier.

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[Vlad Soare]

The story goes that a kid saw one of those new in the family garage and screamed to his mom, "Mommy! Something's eating my bicycle!"

Fair point.
I'm biased, though. I have a soft spot for old cars. I find them all beautiful, irrespective of whether they really are or not, simply because they're so drastically different from everything made today and epitomize an era when car design was more art than science. It may have been ugly in its day, but most of today's cars are so much uglier that they make it seem beautiful, if that makes any sense.

 

[Strokerswild]

I can do this in the Mustang still. Have you tried bring taller

LOL, I'm 6'-1".

In the S550 my arm has to sit at a weird angle. In the old stuff it's a much more natural position.

 

[mindo389]

In a macabre sort of way, while junk yard scrounging for parts, I used to look at the totaled cars and wonder if the passengers made it...

 

[Hadelson]

Drove two 69 Mach Ones - lot of wheel time with both. Compared with today's S550 is like a sailing ship compared to a Nuclear Aircraft Carrier.

One was a 351 Cleveland 4 Speed and the other a 69 428 Cobra jet 4 speed (Yup-the real deal). Brakes were terrible compared with today, but average for the time. That said, they faded real quick on high speed braking. Handling was like driving brick. Steering vague and very slow. The linkage throw for both was a mile long. Clutch engagement was long and high. In spite of this, both cars were fun to drive and considered state of the art for the day.

The 428 Cobra Jet was fast and dangerous in one package. So light and would take a long time to hook. Crazy dangerous to drive in the rain. On dry pavement, you could smoke the tires up to about 60 MPH. Very front heavy. And yes, a huge PIA to change plugs as you had 2 inches clearance on either side around the exhaust manifolds. The 351 was faster coming out of the hole as it hooked up real nice once I installed traction bars. The 351 Mach one was better daily ride as not so nose heavy.

My brother had a 70 Cuda with a worked 383- 3 speed auto. The 428 CJ was faster. He would take me out of the hole and once I hooked up would sling shot past him after 300 feet.

My 19 PP1 6speed was faster then both 69's and would eat the 428CJ for lunch. I also had an 89 Taurus SHO 5 speed. This was much faster then the 351 Mach 0ne and real close with the 428CJ.
My current ride is a 19 Roush RS3 -six speed.......

Of the two, the 351 was a better Daily driver and the 428 was a weekend fair weather only car. Won a lot of beer money street light racing with them.

Saw a 428 CJ couple of years back at the Carlisle Show and nearly fainted at the sticker shock of 150K.

 

[OldPhart]

Hi - I can empathize with the response from a person who wasn't an active driver during that era. All the cars handled similarly back then except the bigger ones were more bouncy on non- expressway roads and took longer to stop. It was what it was. It was the only thing at the time so to us they rode and handled fine, better than the previous generation. Of course the handling is noticeably inferior to our modern cars. For me it's all about the memories - the nostalgia. Some with courage and key spare parts on hand actually take long trips with them today. Some of us with the muscle cars are lucky to be alive today to reminisce about it. Yes, you do have to be extra careful driving them mainly because of the inferior braking capability if you kept the drum brakes - no tailgating. I have redline radials because they track better than bias ply tires. At my age power steering is also a nice perk. I sometimes take this outfit to antique boat shows. I call my muscle car with a vintage canoe on top the east coast version of a west coast Woodie with a surfboard... Bruce

 

[W.O.T. Stang]

A bit of a story here; but it proves a point on new school vs old school:

My nephew has a 1995 Firebird Firehawk. It has all the upgrades you could get with it when it was new and he bought it with 60k miles in 2014.
I remember them being the car to have back in the day. Who wouldn't want 315hp in 1995! I remember being a teenager and hearing stories about them back in the days, so when he brought it over - i was excited to see it.

Let me tell you.. this car was a beast to drive. And not in a pleasant way..

Sure it was a 'fast car' for it's time, but the trade off's you had to live with for it to do so... The seating position and visability was horrible, the brakes felt like stepping on a brick, the steering and handling was ok - but the car just felt heavy and big and everything felt loose. It was horribly undergeared - even with 3.42 gears. Anyway - i could go on and on.. and this has nothing to do with Mustangs - but this was one of GM's higher end performance cars (even tuned by aftermarket SLP) and compared to today - it's just so out of date. Which gets me back to the point that classic cars are just nostalgia. They cannot hold a candle to anything modern. Technology has come so far and also gotten so complex & complicated - but there is no comparison. I let him drive my Mustang and he couldn't believe the difference.

Nothing at all wrong with vintage muscle. But i could never enjoy one, except as a weekend cruiser / carshow events.

 

[Copperhead73]

I had a 68 Camaro RS with a 454 back in the late 80s...really fun car to drive, but my lifted 2013 F-150 handles better. All that torque was there down low, whether you wanted it or not. Pulling out uphill in the rain was nearly impossible.

Those old muscle cars are a fantastic driving experience, but it isn't based on what the car does so much as the feelings it evokes. I love my current mustang because in some ways it brings a similar feeling of nostalgia, while at the same time delivering wonderful performance. Best if both worlds to me.

 

[OldPhart]

Hi again - I'm not trying to convince anyone they should own one of these old cars. It isn't going to appeal to everyone, but I assure you there are forum participants who can relate. We don't buy these old cars because we have fond or false memories of the seating or handling characteristics. The handling, ride and performance aspects are the reason I own the Bullitt. As I stated, it's the nostalgia and memories, plus it helps to be an old geezer to grasp the nostalgia thing. Car night gatherings are also pretty much an old guy thing where we relive old times, renew acquaintances, B-S, etc. We even enjoy the young guys joining us with their current rides - some new and some old. Sometimes I'm in awe - you have 900 hp in that little Honda Civic!

In my case, the GTO was my first new car I bought after finishing college. Not everyone's first car is a fond memory, but when I bought mine it was a cool car to own. In fact it was one of the fasted cars on the road at the time, albeit limited to straight line performance. In addition it was a serious upgrade from the 10 year old Fix or Repair Daily car I was driving during college - like night and day! So, one has to put things in perspective. It's interesting that uncomfortable seating was mentioned. I hadn't really noticed that until just recently when I realized how high up my arm was when resting on the window sill and have made arrangements to get the sagging springs upgraded over the winter. Happy travels... Bruce

 

[Norm Peterson]

Yeah, I very rarely drive the 68, and when I do it's short distances. I never pull out in front of anyone or ride anyone's ass. Makes me wonder how people drove back when the car was new. Were they as aggressive?

Pulling out in front of somebody would have been a foolish move. I still won't do that even though everybody's car can stop better now than 50+ years ago. Sadly, most drivers aren't any better than they were back then, and may not be as good.

Following a little too close was somewhat less risky - the car in front of you wasn't going to be able to stop much better than your car.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

Live axle rear suspension. Complete and utter garbage. Truly terrible engineering for a performance car. The only thing that would be worse, is to also have FRONT live axle suspension too.

A well-done stick-axle suspension is better than a poorly or indifferently done IRS, and can be made to run uncomfortably close to newer and better IRS systems. Not just for the straight line stuff, either, I'm talking about cornering and handling. No argument as far as relaxed ride quality is concerned, though.


Norm

 

[Bill Hamilton]

I owned a new 2003 Mach 1 and old 1970 Mach 1 at one time. When I was asked to compare the two, my standard answer was the new Mach was faster, handled better, more comfortable, and got better gas mileage. The only thing the older one did better was I got more "smiles to the mile" in driving it.

The 2003 Mach 1 has been replaced with a 2014 Shelby GT500 and 2019 Ecoboost convertible, and the answer is still the same . . . The old one still gets more looks and smiles .

 

[Bikeman315]

I owned a new 2003 Mach 1 and old 1970 Mach 1 at one time. When I was asked to compare the two, my standard answer was the new Mach was faster, handled better, more comfortable, and got better gas mileage. The only thing the older one did better was I got more "smiles to the mile" in driving it.

The 2003 Mach 1 has been replaced with a 2014 Shelby GT500 and 2019 Ecoboost convertible, and the answer is still the same . . . The old one still gets more looks and smiles .

Your Mach 1 is beautiful. Any thoughts of adding a 2021 to the stable? They would make quite the pair.

 

[Bill Hamilton]

Anything is possible (LOL). In 2004 the ADM's went away and there were some really good deals towards the end of the production run of Mach 1's. I can see that happening again, in white of course, although the Jet Fighter Gray does look good in person.

 

[Zoso]

We have 4 different mustangs in the family currently. I spent some time driving each today. I enjoy them all.

The biggest difference I notice is the 66 will NOT tolerate mistakes or help save you from yourself if you do something stupid. It would be very easy to slide that car off the road sideways. It does have a pretty stout built motor though. I never drove it with the 289 at factory power levels. That may make it more manageable. But its probably good cars and coffee wasnt a thing in the late 60s. Or there might not be as many of these beautiful cars left today to enjoy.

The 96 and also the 2012 Rousch both still have a little of that feeling of, things could get out of hand quickly. But they seem easier to approach their limits. I'm guessing ford got progressively better at making the solid rear axle handle safely through the years.

The 18 is a whole different feeling to drive. You have to turn off nannies, and switch modes/settings before it will let you get a little wild. Even when pushed way harder than legal street limits, it all seems pretty manageable if you dont make any obviously huge stupid mistakes. It's the only one I wouldn't hesitate to let my grandmother drive to church. With all the settings in normal comfort mode, it is docile and 100% controlled for even a novice to driving sports cars. It doesn't feel at all dangerous. It does daily driver duties and touring/road trips with ease. It does at times seem almost boring though. That is in itself amazing that today we can have 460hp low 12 second 1/4mile cars that are so easy to live with and control.

The 12 Rousch and the 18 have almost the same acceleration times. But the Rousch feels WAY faster. The 66 doesnt feel as quick as the others, but its definitely the most exciting to drive quickly(although its limits are much slower than the others). Everytime I get out of it, my heart is racing and I'm smiling. But I am sure glad I dont have to drive it to work every day.

They all are a joy to drive for different reasons. I am eagerly awaiting to see what the next generation mustang will be like. I just hope it continues to have a V8 rumble for years to come.

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