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THROTTLE BACK
Downsized, With Less Power, Ford's '74 Mustang II Mach 1 Was an All-New Approach to Performance
By Jim Smart
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Mach 1 - it's a name that conjures up mental images of General Chuck Yeager, an experimental post-war rocket plane, and a wild ride the retired general and the world will likely never forget. Mach 1 is about speed - give or take 750 miles per hour at sea level. Now that's fast.
When Ford introduced the Mustang Mach 1 in 1968 as a '69 model, the marque had cetainly earned the name with an optional 428 Cobra Jet big-block, Drage Pack, Magnum 500 wheels, sport slats, and more. The Mach 1 name was about power, handling, and brute straight-line acceleration. By the time 1974 rolled around, the Mustang had become a different car entirely. Its largest mill was a 2.8L German-designed Vulcan V-6 with two-barrel carburation and mechanical lifters, backed by either a four-speed or an automatic transmission - not exactly features we associate with the Mach 1 name. Ironically, the Mach 1 lived through 1978, enduring some of the Mustang's leanest performance years.
But Ford's change in agenda didn't make the '74-'78 Mustang II Mach 1 a bad car. No way. Ford's all-new '74 Mustang Mach 1 was an engineering quantum leap beyond its ancestors, because it sported better vibration isolation, extraordinary handling, improved fit and finish, rack-and-pinion steering, and unequaled comfort. Inside, the car was richer. It came standard with full instrumentation (including tachometer), comfortable high-back bucket seats, and a digital clock. Despite all the negative press the Mustang II receives today, the automotive media and the public liked the car when it was introduced in the fall of 1973. Ford sold 385,993 units that first year and produced about 175,000 units per model year thereafter. The Mustang II sold very well.
Gordon Burns of Livonia, Michigan, has been living the Mustang II experience for 25 years. This is Gordon's silver anniversary time capsule from 1974 - a Bright Blue Metallic Mach 1 hatchback with just 2,300 miles showing on the odometer. No need to check the prescription on your eyeglasses. That's two thousand three hundred original, undisturbed miles on a Mustang II since July 14, 1974. You might be tempted to ask us why - Why preserve a low-po? Our answer: Why not? How often do you get the opportunity to look 1974 in the eye without the OPEC-induced gas lines to ruin your morning newspaper?
Behold Ford's sporty Mustang for 1974, featuring a 2.8L OHV Vulcan V-6, C4 Select-Shift automatic transmission, 3.00:1 axle ratio, power front disc brakes, power rack-and-pinion steering, original equipment General radials mounted on styled steel wheels, and sport Mach 1 graphics.
The Mach 1 for 1974 was about European-style power and handling. Gone was the gutsy, spine-decalcifying torque of a big-block. In its place was the refined snap of the Mercury Capri's V-6. Take our place behind the wheel of Gordon's deuce. Driver-to-steering wheel relationship is good. Touch the gas, turn the key, and listen to the European hum of 171 cubic inches of two-barrel carbureted V-6. Slip the C4 into drive and begin your trek into nostalgia. The C4's planetaries whine through First. Upshift to Second is smooth. The V-6 supplies us with ample low-end torque. What makes the Mustang II different than its '65-'73 predecessors is its crispness. It's a responsive car with a solid feel in the seat of your pants. Lean on the gas and the 2.8 responds. Enter the apex and the little deuce holds the road. This was the Mach 1 for 1974.
It's surely no accident Motor Trend picked the '74 Mustang II as its "Car of the Year" for 1974. It was an all-new Mustang getting back to the size of the original, with simulated sidescoops, a mouthy grille, three-element taillights, and a sassy style the masses could relate to. Gordon has kept this little Mach 1 under wraps for a quarter of a century because it symbolizes the generation that kept the Mustang name alive at Ford. The '99 Mustang owes its very existance to the nibble little quarterhorse that Gordon brought home from a Taylor, Michigan, Ford dealer so many years ago.
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