History of the Car Ford Mustang Essay Example

guy became president of Ford. Also around this time, the U. S. was experiencing the Middle East oil embargos. Mustang fans begged for smaller, more fuel efficient engines in the mustang rather than their gas guzzling V-8s. This was the preliminary round for the “dark era” of the mustang, where body style went bad, and engine power slumped to pathetic levels.

The 70’s weren’t all that bad for the mustang, in the early times, it kept some of its 60’s roots but more towards the 80’s is when things got bad. The 80’s were without a doubt, the worst decade for the mustang, production of the car hit new lows, sales were down and people just didn’t want the current mustang models. Although most cars in that time period were weaker cars, in terms of horse power, the mustang at one point was coming off the assembly line with a 210hp V-8. To put that in perspective, the new Toyota Camry hybrid gets 210hp, from a little I-4 and it’s a hybrid.

In the early 80’s there wasn’t even a V-8 option, the strongest engine you could get in a mustang was a 120hp V-6. In the later 80’s ford introduced the fox body Mustang, this was a boxy mustang with a bit more power under the hood. In 89 Ford dropped a 5. 0 liter V-8 in the mustang, this boosted sales a little but they were still down compared to other years. It wasn’t until the 90’s when the mustang went on the rise again, with a redesign in 1994. Mustang sales soared in comparison to the 80’s. Ford also re-introduced

the Shelby with a powerful 4. 6 liter V-8; a new, less powerful GT was also available.

The Shelby was even chosen to be the Indy 500 pace car. The 90’s were much better to the mustang both cosmetically and horse power wise, the body style kept getting better up into the early 2000’s. Ford redesigned the mustang again in 1998, no new engines were introduced, but the body style had some significant improvements over the 1994 style. The 98’ style lasted into the 2000’s with the same engines. It wasn’t until 2003 that ford gave the mustang a little more muscle, with a 260hp GT and a 350hp Shelby. The biggest change for the mustang came in 2005; Ford completely redid the exterior and made it look more like the early 60’s mustangs.

They also gave the GT a 300Hp V-8 and Shelby introduced a 500hp V-8, mustang fans were pleased with the new style and output of the mustang. This style and engines remained for 5 years, in 2010 ford redid the body style and made the mustang look more modern yet still hold its 60’s roots. In 2012 the mustang got a whole new set of engines. The base model V-6 had 300hp and the GT had 415hp, the biggest change of all is soon to come, the 2013 Shelby GT 500 is going to have a 6. 3 liter V-8 with 635hp, they go on sale this summer.

Ford also redid the Boss 302, for the first time since 1972, you could buy a brand new Boss mustang. The Boss has a 302 V-8 (hints the name) and

pushes 444Hp, but that’s the street version. The ford stock car racing team has a much faster Boss that easily beats the BMW’s, Audi’s, and Camero’s. There is a Liguana special package for the Boss, it removes the back seats and adds a support bar in their stead. This sheds a lot of weight off the mustang and allows the Boss to beat the older GT500’s off the line. Mustang fans are pleased with the new Boss and most dealers can’t keep them in the show room they are selling so fast.

Now, with the mustang being such a great car, there has to be some competition, better yet, a rival, and the Chevy Camaro fills that spot perfectly. The Mustang vs. Camaro rivalry has been going on since the day the first mustang rolled off the line. Although the mustang is better now, it wasn’t always. In the 80’s the Camaro was faster and more popular than the mustang and even in the early 90’s. The competition was fierce after ford redid the mustang in 94’ and Chevy thought they could beat the mustang into submission with a 375Hp SS.

This Camaro was a lean mean fighting machine, although the Z28 Camaro was fast at 300Hp, the SS was the fastest, the major downfall to the SS was the $60,000 dollar price tag. The Camero’s numbers dropped so low that in 2002 they stopped production and the mustang was left without its rival. In 2009 however, Chevy came out with a new Camaro and was gunning for the Mustang. In 2011 both cars had similar engines, the 300Hp V-6 and Camaro with

a 375Hp V-8 (SS) and Mustang with their 415Hp V-8 (GT). In 2012 Camaro came out with the Zl1, a 575Hp V-8, Chevy was looking to take down the top mustang, the Shelby GT500.

Of course, both Shelby and Ford didn’t like the sound of that, so that’s when they got the bright idea of dropping the 6. 3 Liter V-8 and not letting Chevy get close to smelling the exhaust coming off the new Shelby. Ford and the Mustang have been through thick and thin, and both car and company have survived it all. The mustang is without a doubt, one of the greatest muscle cars ever built, no matter whether you prefer Chevy or Ford, the blood of a mustang still courses through our veins. Much like the ferocity we fight our wars with, we are the best in military, and in cars, so no matter what, America just wins.