1975 Mustang Mustang Ii second Generation Mustang
When the second generation design of the famous Ford Mustang, or the Mustang II, made its debut in the mid-seventies the world was a much different place than it was when the first Pony cars hit the streets in the sixties. By the time the 1975 Mustang was released, the second year model of the new design, the country was on the verge of a major fuel crisis and the auto market that had for years been shelling out bigger, heavier, and more powerful cars every year would soon be turned on its head. For those at Ford Motor Company who had been hard at work, though had kept one eye looking torward to the future, this new design would be crucial to their company's survival during this devastating time for auto makers. The sixties had marked the birth of the muscle car and the emergence of "American Muscle" as the dominant beast on the strip; even more power was what the consumer market expected from the second generation Pony cars, but a high performance, rubber shredding street machine was not what they received. This new design, instead of continuing on with the tradition of ever-increasing raw street power, ushered in design qualities that were heavy influenced by factors related to fuel economy and the efficiency of their power-plants.
The 1975 Ford Mustang was offered with three distinct engine packages, the first of these being a 2.3 liter in-line 4-cylinder engine that delivered under 100 horsepower, a 2.8 liter V6 that registered just over 100 horsepower, and the 1975 model itself marked the reintroduction of the popular 302" V8 into the second generation Mustangs. These engine options were a far cry from the 302", 351", and 427" options that had been offered in the years leading up the mid-seventies and the influential fuel embargo. This new Mustang was offered in three trim packages, beginning in price with the base model hardtop (priced at an estimated $3,500.00), the hatchback, the hardtop ghia, and the Hatchback Mach I, which retailed at just over $4,000.00. The 1974 production year of the second generation Mustang yielded nearly three times the sales figures of the 1975 model year, with just under 200,000 units having been sold in 1975.
Surprisingly, for a car design that ten years earlier had revolutionized the idea of the American muscle car, the Mustang II was based off of the Ford Pinto platform. The Pinto itself was considered a subcompact-sized automobile, and not a very desirable one at that. The fact that the second generation Mustang was a Pony however, as well as having been built just slightly larger in overall size than the Pinto, boosted the classification of the Mustang II to something similar to a heavy compact. Though they are not some of the more desirable cars for Mustang enthusiasts, this generation did help The Ford Motor Company to survive the economically challenging seventies, and the product brand was revitalized in later years with the third generation of Mustangs. In the years between however, Ford did make some adjustments to their Mustang product line, realizing that the Pony car had to retain some semblance of being a seriously powerful muscle car. Certain features designed to boost sales and regain the Mustang's popularity among those consumers with sports-styling and performance in mind included slight changes to the appearance of the car as well as and various power packages and options that were made available throughout the years.
