The new car arrived in 1994 wearing retro styling cues such as tri-bar taillights and a side scoop. To retain buyer interest, Ford kept boosting power and improving the Mustang in subtle but effective ways. This delay meant Ford needed to market the existing and aged Mustang beyond its expiration date until a suitable replacement could be styled and engineered. Recoiling in revulsion, these purists bombarded Ford with hate mail, effectively convincing corporate brass to keep the all-American Mustang as it was and release the new vehicle under development as the Probe. In the late 1980s, Mustang enthusiasts heard that Ford planned to replace the rear-drive model with a front-drive car based on a Mazda. General Motors released a sexy new Camaro and Firebird duo in '82, so Ford countered by continually updating the Mustang GT and engineering a special turbocharged performance model called the SVO. The new Mustang proved popular, and by 1982, Ford had endowed it with a relatively strong (for the time) V8 engine and the GT designation that continues today. There was even a performance model with a turbocharged 2.3-liter, four-cylinder engine, and a stripes-and-decals Cobra version.
Still, Ford wasn't ready to give up on the Mustang. Not surprisingly, sales reached an all-time low during this period of time. The mid-1970s represented a dismal time for the American automobile industry, and the emasculation of the Ford Mustang is perhaps the greatest example of what went wrong in the middle of this decade. Emissions regulations had stifled performance, and the convertible model had disappeared from the lineup. Reborn for 1974, the much smaller Mustang II rode on a Pinto platform to save development costs and improve fuel economy. By the time the oil crisis of 1973 hit, the Mustang had lost its edge in terms of performance and appeal. But, like Elvis Presley, the Mustang had evolved from lightweight and simple agile to overweight and cumbersome. By the late 1960s, the Mustang competed against the AMC Javelin, Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda and Pontiac Firebird. Ford sold hundreds of thousands of Mustangs, convincing General Motors and Chrysler Corporation to release their own variations on the theme. The Ford Mustang debuted in April of 1964 as either a coupe or convertible with six or eight cylinders under the hood, and became a national sensation.
0 kommentar(er)
