Hi there, I've written a song for my country/bluegrass band that refers to a Mustang 65 and I need to check i have some details right.
How should i refer to the horse emblem? Can I refer to it as a 'stallion in the grill' or should this be 'pony' or ???
What are the engine and gearbox spec's for a Mustang 65? (the bigger the better). How do American's refer to the engine size? CC, Horspower, litres?? Hope someone can help.
The baddest motor in a 65 was the 289 High Performance. known everywhere as the "hipo" The mustang had a 3 speed automatic transmission or good ole "4 on the floor" a 4 speed manual transmission also called the Ford Toploader. The name refers to the location of the access panel.
How do American's refer to the engine size? CC, We do cubic inches. 289 was the largest in 65. the max hp for 65 was 271 hp.
I commend you for asking in order to get your lyrics correct. It sounds like carp to a Mustang owner when you hear stuff that is totally wrong. I am that way about cops or military. Like I HATE it when someone talks about the .38 revolver and says the safety is still on. A tip of the hat to ya for askin'.
It's a PONY ....as in Pony Car
In 1965 it was the 289 cubic inch V8 (4 barrel carb) for stock... we called them "cubes" rather than cubic inches or even ci. "Modern" cars use cc and liters. In the 60s I never heard the terms liter or cc associated with cars in the US. Motorcycles and lawnmowers, yes. Cars, no.
Track down some Jan and Dean records ; )
Entering into the unknown, V'ger seeks information used to maintain his Vintage Burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 w/289 ci 4v oem A Code V8, C4 Trans,
16x8" Vintage 40 wheels, with BF Goodrich gForce T/A 225/50ZR16 tires, American Racing "Mustang" Centercaps, and a whole lot of other stuff; )
Lee Iacocca confirmed in a recent issue of Mustang & Fords that the P-51 was NOT the inspiration for the name of the car. Mustang was used because it invoked freedom. Though originally Cougar was the name slated to be used.
There was a model in the '66 Galaxie lineup called the "7 Litre", named after its newly introduced 428, and it wore badges that said exactly that. Ford ads for the stillborn '68 Tunnel Port 302 called it the FIA 5 Litre or something similar. I'd have to look it up again. The SCCA's Group II class had a 5 liter cutoff point, with a 2 liter max in Group I. There might be other instances but these come to mind right now.
66 6F HCS opined in news:DOadnYIy6cNvn snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com:
ALWAYS been the "official version".
Well, ALL DUE respect to Mr Iacocca... we owe him for that. But did he PICK the name or did he think it up?
I had several family and family friends at Ford who knew a guy who knew a guy... and they were all adament that the name was dual derivative.
And that the name was partially selected because of the design/profile similarities to the P-51, coincidental or not.. but look at pics and you tell me!
not just the idea of the "pony".. which really didnt come into it until after the car was released.
I have a copy of how the name selection process was done for the Mustang. It will be showing up in an article in Mustang Monthly next year. There were about 20 names that were considered and they were placed on a like/dislike graph based on a survey done by Ford research. Many of the names eventually were used for other cars. BTW, Iacocca liked another name and it wasn't Mustang. I'll have to check what it was, but it wasn't Cougar, either. Mustang scored the highest, which is why the name was selected.
I checked the graph and the name that Iacocca wanted was "Turino." It actually scored fairly low, however. Other high-scoring names were: Panther, Sprint, Cougar, Commando, Dolphin, Monaco, Monte Carlo, Flare, and Futura. The lowest scoring names were Carnelian, Redwing, Fangio, Gypsy, Beachcomber, Lafayette, Tara, Aztec, Thunderstar, Calli, Le Diable, Ascari, K2, Rouge, Turino, and Runabout.
The lowest scoring name was Carnelian (way low), and the highest, obviously, was Mustang. The second highest was not Cougar, but Panther, which tied with Sprint. Then came Cougar.
This information is from a final report, "Name Research on Special Car" by the Ford Division, released May 7, 1963. My dad was in Ford management in Dearborn at the time, which is how I was able to get a copy of this. Jim Smart has written an article about it for Mustang Monthly, and it will appear sometime next year.
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