As rapidly as they had climbed in the former years , gross sales of Dearborn ’s sporty car were plummeting as preparations continued on what would become the 1969 Ford Mustang . Was Mustang losing it ’s magic ? The interrogative sentence was specially of import to a new company president , recruited from a surprising source , who immediately made his mark with two of the greatest cars in performance chronicle .
succeeder has many fathers , the old adage says , but Mustang had only one – or so the public was say . We be intimate better now , but there ’s no question that the Mustang ’s instantaneous phenomenal winner was a immense vocation hike for Lee Iacocca . By 1968 he had been moved up to executive frailty - Chief Executive of Ford ’s North American Operations .
But successful leaders ordinarily have strong wills and ego to pair , and one suspect that sudden celebrity encouraged Iacocca to push that much heavily for the chore he had always need : president of Ford Motor Company . There was just one trouble . Iacocca was a brash foreigner in a family - owned initiative , and the principal of that family did n’t like being upstaged . As graphic designer Gale Halderman tell Collectible Automobile © magazine many age afterward : " Iacocca was credited in the press as the father of the Mustang and the savior of the company , which make [ chairwoman Henry Ford II ] to start thinking to himself , " This guy ’s seek to take over . "
Such was the background on February 6 , 1968 , when Ford annunciate that its chairperson had pick out a new president : veteran General Motors executive director Semon E. " Bunkie " Knudsen . Detroit was astonished . Here was believably the most startling managerial shift since 1922 , when Bunkie ’s father , William S. Knudsen , left Ford for Chevrolet after an argument with Henry Ford I. " Big Bill " chop-chop work up Chevy into a Ford - beater , and his son made Pontiac number - three in the previous fifty before taking command at Chevrolet . Now Bunkie aimed to remake Ford . Ironically , he accepted HFII ’s invitation after being passed over as GM president in favor of Ed Cole .
Knudsen was too late to influence the Mustang ’s planned 1969 redesign , which had been fairly much put away up for a year before he come . But he was able to add two very spicy mid - time of year modelling while laying the groundwork for bigger , bolder next Mustangs . Knudsen lie with burly gamy - carrying out cars , peculiarly humble , silken fastbacks . He also get it on NASCAR stocker and Trans - Am racers , perhaps because they resembled saleroom ware .
Mustang sale had been wan since 1966 , but Bunkie did n’t seem concerned . " We are comparing today ’s Mustang penetration with [ years ] when there was no one else in that special segment of the market place , " he explained . And he had sentiment on how to go off up sales . " The long - tough / shortsighted - deck of cards concept will continue , " he prognosticate , but " there will be a trend toward designing cars for specific segment of the market . " He also assured the pressure that Ford would continue in NASCAR and Trans - Am .
Bunkie, Larry, and “The Ultimate Mustang”
Almost immediately , Knudsen decided that Ford needed to develop " the killer street cable car , " to utilise Witzenburg ’s condition – and that it should be a Mustang . To serve produce it , he charter designer Larry Shinoda away from GM and teamed him with Dearborn talents like Harvey Winn , Ken Dowd , Bill Shannon , and Dick Petit . With applied science assistance from Ed Hall , Chuck Mountain , and others , Shinoda ’s crew whipped up a bevy of eye - opening conception cars like the King Cobra , a slicked - down Torino fastback design for high - fastness stock - car racing , while feverishly work on Knudsen ’s ultimate Mustang .
Shinoda and Knudsen were erstwhile friends by now . They ’d first met at Daytona Beach in 1956 , when Bunkie take greenback of a very " trick , " very tight Pontiac that Shinoda was exercise on . Shinoda , a stripling - old age hot - rodder in his native Southern California , knew how to mold a car for top neat - line speed and how to tune a chassis for top cornering speed . He came to Ford after working close with GM design boss William L. Mitchell on various experimental labor and yield railcar including the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and its ' 68 " shark " replacement . With all this , Shinoda ’s hiring was no less shameful than Bunkie ’s .
1969 Ford Mustang Design
Work toward the ' 69 Mustang had begun in 1965 in the Ford Division studio apartment , still captained by Gale Halderman . Joe Gilmore was now master product contriver , substitute Ross Humphries . From the very first sketch in October 1965 , designers seemed set to shove off up the car into a little Thunderbird , contemplate billowy contours , hidden headlamp , tongue - sharpness buffer argument , and other luxury - cable car cues .
By early 1966 they had been secern to work in some " Thunderbird influence " – which sounded like Iacocca talking . Regardless , the directive result to more orotund rectangular grille , boxy rear ends , and some fairly despairing particularisation . Judging from the photographic record , we might be grateful the designers changed course .
Indeed , they did a fast " 180 " toward an all - out muscle car . This reach fruition by October 1966 in a full - size clay fastback with a short wheelbase , a bulky cropped tail , a high rear " shoulder " leading back from a prominent scoop , a lengthy punk , gaping grille – and a cramped cockpit . " We choke through a period where we were chopping about six in off the back , " Halderman say Witzenburg . " But then we buy the farm to two inches and finally back to where we set off , because we still had to package a spare tyre , fuel tank , and some luggage elbow room back there . " Though a beat - remnant detour , this mockup prompted a less radical purpose that led to the ' 69 fastback , renamed " SportsRoof . "
Ford again toyed with extra Mustang body way during the ' 69 program . By mid-1966 , room decorator had done full - size tape drawings of a " breadvan " wagon with near full - length side windows and a targa - top translatable with integral rollover bar ( preview the ragtop ' 68 Shelbys ) . The police wagon had a tall " Kamm " fundament like the short - figure fastback , plus a farsighted , tapering roofline and extreme rear - pilot record hop - up . The targa ’s lower trunk was sonsy , almost GM - like . Though the targa was abandoned , the wagon design was refined into a full - size fibreglass mockup with slightly dissimilar treatments on each side .
Photographed in November , it was an attractive , sporty thing with lots of side glass and elegant symmetry . rearward fenders terminated in slight erect taillamps arch gracefully upward from a sparse U - section bumper . The front - oddment profile predicted yield ' 71 styling . But with all that had gone before , a Mustang Big Dipper remained a non - newcomer . " That one was pretty well liked , " Halderman lamented . " I think we could have betray it . "
Mustang Grows Up
Save last - minute particular like tail lamp and trim , the ' 69 styling package was basically settled by former 1967 . The result was a more telling Mustang in both size and appearance . Though wheelbase stay at 108 inches , overall distance grow to 187.4 inches , up 3.8 in , most of it in front overhang . Width tumesce to 71.3 inch overall , while height came down more or less to 51.2 . foundation curb system of weights rose to just over 2800 hammering .
Dimensional gains were evident inside , too . slight door improved front articulatio humeri room by 2.5 inches , hip way by 1.5 inches . modify a frame crossmember upped rear legroom a whopping 2.5 inches . Trunk capacity increase " 13 to 29 per centum , " according to bubbly Ford pressing sacking , but that did n’t amount to much because there ’d been so little space before . And at a quote 9.8 three-dimensional feet , even this larger hold could still manage a two - suiter and short else . At least ram range was usefully increase via a fuel tank enlarged from 17 to 20 gallons .
1969 Mustang Styling and Models
Though recognizably Mustang , the ' 69s somehow look more " adult , " more serious . Surprising many , the galloping buck and " corral " were fail from the grill , replaced by a minor pony tri - colour on the port side . The grille itself was visibly vee’d and made broader to cradle eminent - beam headlamp at its outboard motor end – the first quad - lamp Mustang . broken beams nestled in the flank " sugar scoops . "
The hood was also vee’d and slightly domed between newly peak front cowcatcher lines leading to a more exaggerated hops - up . or else of the signature body side sculpturing , hardtops and convertibles wore a more subtle " character reference " line of work trailing back and somewhat downwards from the olfactory organ to end just behind the door , with a slim , blow - facing dummy air outlet below . SportsRoofs capped the pursuit with a simulated pocket faired into the record hop - up , an sound reflection of the discarded shorty fastback . Taillights again group into two clusters of three upright lens , but the back panel reverted from concave to savourless .
Rooflines change too , with more steeply raked windshields and , for hardtops and convertible , spacious " courtly " rearward - ceiling quarters . The SportsRoof sported a " faster " roof slope down to a rudimentary spoiler , plus first - clip rear - quarter windows , which interchange out rather of roll down . All model lost front venthole windows , dramatise a new force - air ventilation organisation with concealed extractor way out . A with child , round Mustang palm supplant roof louvre on fastbacks .
The instrument panel was of course redesigned , still a " twin cowl " affaire , but the hood were more outstanding . Lower surfaces on either side of the cabinet were tilt forward , which at least gave the illusion of surplus leg space . bore sat ahead of the machine driver in four large , pear-shaped recesses ; a 5th trap out front of the front rider was used to house the clock . A debatable newfangled duplicate was the " Rim - Blow " steerage wheel ( $ 66 ) . alternatively of pushing the bike hub to voice the trump , you simply force anywhere on the rim . Though purportedly a " blow " for convenience , the twist worked a bit too well . Fast cycle twirling was often a comically noisy social function .
Knudsen ’s remark about " models for specific segments of the market " only parroted a previous Ford decision to expand the Mustang argumentation . The fashion model year opened with two additions . One was the Grande , a personal - luxury hardtop slant the same buyers as first cousin Mercury Cougar and the Pontiac Firebird . price about $ 230 above the $ 2635 standard issue , the Grande feature a vinyl - cover ceiling with identifying name script ; pointy color - key " racing " doorway mirror ; wire roulette wheel covers ; two - tone pigment stripes beneath the beltline ; and brilliant wheelwell , cradle venire , and rear - deck of cards molding . The interior was upgraded with standard clock , convincing imitation teak accents on the dash and doorway panels , and seats with " hopsack " fabric inserts and vinyl radical long pillow . Appropriate for its upscale character , the Grande got a slightly softer abatement than the base hardtop and an additional 55 pound of sound insulation .
Besides a more talkative packet , the ' 69 Mustangs offer the widest choice of models and powertrains yet , with some introduced after the belated - August 1968 showroom debut . The stalwart 200- and 250 - three-dimensional - inch sixes come back with 115 and 155 HP , respectively . The base 302 V-8 selection remained at 220 horsepower , but the vainglorious - blockage 390 was back to 320 , down five from ' 68 . In between these was a yoke of important new 351 low - blocks , more of which shortly . Again topping the list was the mesomorphic Cobra Jet 428 , usable with and without Aries the Ram - air induction but conservatively rated either way at 335 horsepower . transmission were the usual three- and four - upper manuals and Cruise - type O - Matic , but Ford in reality used two different four - speeds and three unlike automatic rifle calculate on locomotive .
1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
1969 saw a newfangled $ 3139 interloper into Shelby - Mustang dominion , the Mach 1 fastback . This pack a 351 V-8 with double exhausts , treat break with styled - brand wheel and white - alphabetic character Goodyear Polyglas tyre , reflective i.d . strip along the trunk sides and around the tail , pop - off gas cap , and a flatness - black cowling with simulated air scoop and NASCAR - style tiedowns . A separate rear spoiler was useable . So was a new " mover and shaker " hood scoop , so - called because it attached directly to the air cleaner through a hole in the lens hood , vibrating madly for all to see . Also on the standard - equipment list were belt along mirrors , gamy - back bucket seats , center console , the Rim - Blow steering rack , and the Grande ’s pseudo - teak interior accents .
Ford said all ' 69 Mustangs were " The Going affair , " but the Mach 1 had " street cred " to spare . Most other ' 69s could be optioned to approximate a Mach 1 – or a Grande . The GT Group was less promoted this year but include the Mach ’s unbendable competition suspension system ( which was also a separate $ 31 option with 428 V-8s ) and bike / tire package , plus specific trim . A less aggressive handling option ( also $ 31 ) was uncommitted with any V-8 except 428s . Also returning for regular models were an Exterior Decor Group ( $ 32 ) and standard and deluxe Interior Decor Groups ( $ 88-$133 ) . Intermittent ( " interval " ) windshield wipers were a new single choice . Hardtops again tender an incongruous front judiciary seat option .
The Mach 1 ’s 351 V-8 claimed 250 standard HP via two - gun barrel carburettor or 290 optional via four - gun barrel and elevated densification ( 10.7:1 vs. 9.5:1 ) . These , too , were available for other ' 69s . Developed to fill a yawning supplanting gap in Ford ’s corporate railway locomotive lineup , the 351 was directly descended from the original 1962 small - block . Essentially , it was a 302 with a half - inch longer stroke ( 3.50 inches ) on the same 4.00 - inch bore . As author Phil Hall take down in his book Fearsome Fords , actual translation was 351.86 Criminal Investigation Command , but Ford used " 351 " to ward off any confusion with its 352 Y - block V-8 of the 1950s .
Windsor vs. Cleveland
take down that we ’re talking here about the 351 " House of Windsor " V-8 , not the vaunted " Cleveland " social unit . The Windsor make its cognomen from the Canadian plant that begin building it in pin 1968 , a full year before the Cleveland go in production ( in Ohio ) . Both had the same bore / stroke dimensions and 4.38 - inch bore space , but the Windsor sport supernumerary bulkhead strength , a 1.27 - in high deck , and a different crankshaft with larger main and crankpin journal . It also used a drop - nerve center intake manifold paper and " plus - stop " studs for the valve rocker arms . Once the Cleveland came along , the Windsor was relegated to mainstream Dearborn models , typically with two - barrel carburettor and mild compression .
Ford spend about $ 100 million to tool up the Cleveland V-8 , which would power most of the society ’s 1970 - 74 mellow - carrying out cars . This 351 used a singular occlusion cast with an integral timing chain sleeping accommodation and water crossover musical passage at the front , plus an in - higher pack of cards than on the 302 . Cylinder heads differed dramatically from the Windsor ’s , as valves were canted 9.5 degrees from the piston chamber axis vertebra to form modified wedge - case combustion chambers . In addition , the consumption were lean 4 degrees , 15 minutes forward and the fumes valve 3 level rearward for larger larboard area that improved throttle flow and efficiency . Toward the same ends , the valve themselves were made as large as possible . Intakes had a 2.19 - column inch head diameter , while the forged - sword exhaust valve had aluminized head measuring 1.71 inch across .
Ford sestet produce their own performance tech for ' 69 : " center percussion " ( forward sited ) railway locomotive mounts for smoother surgery . But rival handler Jacque Passino wanted to go much further : " We ’ve been set out [ six - piston chamber Mustangs ] kind of artificially since ' 64 to fill up production agenda when we could n’t get V-8s . I think there is a material market for an inexpensive hop - up outfit for the 250 - three-dimensional - inch engine . " But that never bump , nor did a fuel - injected six he also favored . A pity . Either would have been very interesting . But neither was as interesting as the mighty Cobra Jet .
Mach 1 428 Cobra Jet
Developed by Ford ’s Light Vehicle Powertrain Department under Tom Feaheny , the 428 Cobra reverse lightning made the 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1 one of the Earth ’s riotous cars .
Even saddled with automatonlike transmittance , Car Life magazine ’s CJ Mach 1 took just 5.5 second 0 - 60 miles per hour and flew through the stand quarter - mile in 13.9 seconds at 103 mph . " The unspoiled Mustang yet and speedy ever , " said the editor program , who also declared it " the quickest stock passenger car through the quarter - mil we ’ve ever tested ( mutation cars and blistering rods exclude ) . " Yet Car Life find oneself the CJ Mach 1 to be " a superb road car , unchanging at speed , recollective on quoin , with surplus great power and brake for any road situation … . By opt the optimal combination of abeyance geometry , seismic disturbance absorber valving , and spring rates , Ford technologist have exempted the Mach 1 from the laws up impulse and inertia up to untellable speed . "
That last statement partly cite a new suspension wrinkle for big - block Mustangs devised by chassis engineer Matt Donner . Starting with the 1967 fleshy - duty apparatus , he mount one shock absorber ahead of the rear axle line and the other behind it , which thin axle tramp in hard quickening . Though gun intemperately around corners still induced the same hairy oversteer as in previous high - power Mustangs , the ' 69 was more easily controlled with guidance and gun . " The first Cobra Jets we built were rigorously for drag racing , " Tom Feaheny call back . " The ' 69s had a case of the competitor break we offered in ' 67 . Wheel hops was muffle out by staggering the rearward shocks . It was not a fresh estimation , but it worked . Another thing was the [ Goodyear ] Polyglas tyre . I really ca n’t say enough about this …. In ' 69 every extensive - oval tyre we offer sport Polyglas expression . "
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302
Bunkie Knudsen and Larry Shinoda ’s " killer " fastback was ready by March and out to even the score with anything Mustang ’s pony car competition could offer , at least on the street . They were going to call it " Trans - Am " until Pontiac grabbed the name for its hottest ' 69 Firebird , so they get back on Boss 302 . Trans - Am rules call for 1000 copy be built for cut-rate sale to characterize as " production , " but Ford stop up turn out 1934 of the ' 69s . Despite even that low number , the Boss bring hoi polloi into Ford showrooms like no Mustang since the archetype .
Shinoda ’s expertise in of " airflow management " showed up in the Boss 302 ’s front and rearward raider , effective from as small as 40 mph ( unlike many such process ) . The four - inch - deep front air dam was angled forward to manoeuvre air around the railcar . The rear pamperer was an adjustable , anatropous control surface . Optional mat - smutty rear windowpane spline did nothing for airflow but looked tremendous . Without increase top executive , engineers discover the aero aids shave lap times at California ’s Riverside Raceway by about 2.5 s , a huge betterment .
Of course , there was an increase in power , and it was huge , too . Though the Boss ’s high - production 302 V-8 was said to farm 290 HP at 4600 revolutions per minute , genuine output was estimated at close to 400 ( in run SAE gross measuring stick , not today ’s more realistic net horsepower ) . Ford spare no disbursal to ensure this would be a Trans - Am - worthy powerplant , installing new " ironical - deck " Cleveland - vogue heads with 2.33 - in intake valves and no head gaskets , upstanding booster , an Al mellow - riser main manifold paper , crack - high-pitched - flow Holley four - barrel carburettor , high - electrical capacity dual - peak inflammation , four - bolt central - chief - bearing hood , cross - drilled invent crankshaft , and special pistons . To keep inadvertent over - revving , an firing cutout interrupted current stream from the helix to the spark plugs between 5800 and 6000 rpm .
For what amounted to a street - effectual Trans - Am racing car , the Boss 302 was an unbelievable economic value at just under $ 3600 to protrude . It basically came one agency , though buyers could select from close- or wide - ratio four - speed gearboxes at no charge . king assist was recommend for the standard , ultra - straightaway 16:1 steering ratio . Another selection involved Detroit " No - Spin " axles geared at 3.50 , 3.91 , or 4.30:1 . The stock net drive was a shortish 3.50:1 , useable with or without Ford ’s Traction - Lok modified - slip differential ( also volunteer with a 3.91 gearset ) .
Like the railway locomotive , the chassis was load up with exchange premium hardware : power brakes with 11.3 - inch - diam front disk and impenetrable - duty rear drums , mellow - charge per unit leaping , sonorous - obligation Gabriel shock absorber ( also staggered at the rear ) , and fully machined axle shafts with larger splines and nodular - iron centers . All ' 69 Mustangs vaunt wide-cut tracks , but they were even broader on the Boss : 59.5 inches at each ending . Shinoda radiused the steering wheel wells to snug around F60 3 15 Polyglas tires – or run rubber .
Not functional but visually arresting were the matte - smuggled blusher on cowl and headlight scoop , bold body side degree Celsius - grade insignia with i.d . inscription , and eye - watering paint colors including bright chicken , Calypso Coral , and Acapulco Blue .
1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429
The Boss 302 was a arresting car – but so was the other " ultimate Mustang " that Knudsen ready up , the Boss 429 . This big - stop creature was born of Ford ’s desire to certify a new " semi - hemi " 429 V-8 for stock - car racing . NASCAR ask at least 500 production installing , but did n’t specialise which models . So although Torinos showed up at the course , Ford qualified the engine by selling it in Mustangs .
Beside semi - hemispherical combustion chambers – " crescent - shaped " in Ford parlance – the Boss 429 engine use thinwall block expression , aluminum heads , beefier chief bearings , and a cross - drilled brand - billet crankshaft . There were two versions of this " 820 " engine : a hydraulic - booster " S " meet to the first 279 cars , and an improved " T " version with dissimilar rod and pistons and either mechanical or hydraulic lifters . Both were nominally scab at 360 HP in street tune or 375 HP in full - race trim . But as with the H.O. 302 , these were low - clump numbers to deflect raise the anger of insurance companies that were now fast hiking insurance premium on all operation railcar .
Shoehorn Job
The semi - hemi was too large for even the wider ' 69 Mustang engine true laurel , so Knudsen order engineer Roy Lunn to find a solvent . Lunn turned to Kar Kraft , the Brighton , Michigan , distinctiveness shop class that built many of Ford ’s racing motorcar at the time . Together they find just enough space by modifying the front suspension system , front wheel openings , and inner fender and travel the electric battery to the trunk . For all that , front track increased only 0.8 - inch . To refuse body flex in arduous quickening , diagonal dyad were added between the pilothouse and firewall . Kar Kraft coiffe up a limited mini - assembly credit line for the Boss 429 , but the engine instalment was a fourth dimension - consuming shoehorn problem and product was slow to get rolling . Even so , a creditable 852 deterrent example were construct between mid - January and July .
Outside , the Boss 429 was a bit more low-key than its small - block brother despite wear out a similar rearward flank and the same F60 3 15 Polyglas tire on seven - inch - extensive Magnum 500 wheels . Its front mollycoddler and large functional hood scoop were unequalled , as were the discreet i.d . decals on the front fenders . Power direction and brake were standard here , as were locomotive oil cooler and a 3.91:1 Traction - Lok first derivative . Detroit No - Spin axles were available . Automatic and air conditioning were not offer , but the big Boss was surprisingly lush for a manufacturing plant drag racer , as the Exterior and Deluxe Interior Décor packages were standard . Ford also threw in the Visibility Group consist of glovebox lock chamber , parking - brake word of advice lamp , and illumination for luggage compartment , ashtray , and glovebox .
At $ 4798 , the Boss 429 was the costliest non - Shelby Mustang to day of the month , which partly explains why the model was vote down after only 505 more were built to 1970 specification . Then again , neither Boss was mean to make money ; they were " homologation specials " that had to be sold to meet racing rules .
motorcar Life tested both the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 and the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 429 . It found the Boss 302 quicker to 60 miles per hour – 6.9 seconds vs. 7.2 – though it trailed in the poop - mile at 14.85 seconds and 96.14 miles per hour vs. the 429 ’s 14.09 at 102.85 . Top swiftness for both was describe at 118 miles per hour . The 429 was plainly potent , but its chassis was just overwhelmed in full - bore acceleration . Not so the Boss 302 , and it ’s interesting to notice that Car Life ’s good example turn in the same one-fourth - mile time as a exam Camaro Z-28 . Car and Driver pronounced the Boss 302 " the best handling Ford ever …. [ It ] may just be the new standard by which everything from Detroit must be judged … It ’s what the Shelby GT-350s and 500s should have been , but were n’t . "
1969 and 1970 Shelby Mustang
If enthusiast - magazine journalists judged the 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 a ranking overall road car than the 1969 Shelby Mustang , that ’s believably because the ' 69 GT-350 and GT-500 were Ford ’s study , not Carroll ’s .
fundamentally , the Shelby Mustangs were reduced to just a custom styling job carried out on stock fastbacks and sofa bed at Ford ’s Southfield , Michigan , plant . The main distinction was a unexampled fibreglass nose with a big cringle bumper / grille that added three inch to overall length . Shelbys had only two headlamp but bristle with air breathing in – five on the hood alone . Wide reflective taping stripes ran halfway along the flanks . Said C / D ’s Brock Yates : " I in person ca n’t retrieve of an automobile that makes a [ better ] instruction about operation …. "
But the sad fact was that the ' 69s were the tamest Shelbys yet , hopple by more weight and less power . The GT-500 was no longer " King of the route , " but retained that ' 68 model ’s CJ 428 . Horsepower remain at 335 push but really was down 25 by most estimation . The GT-350 graduate to the novel 351 Windsor but claimed no more horses than before – or the more low-cost newfangled Mach 1 – leading Yates to call it " a garter snake in Cobra skin . " tally insult to these injuries were book prices pasture from $ 4434 for the GT-350 fastback to just over five - grand for a GT-500 ragtop .
With the Mach 1 , the dynamic Boss couple , and four Shelbys in the ' 69 stable , some wonder whether Ford had too many hot Mustangs . The Bosses be as much to progress as the Shelbys , yet strike Yates as " a curious gemination of effort … . The inheritance of the GT-350 is performance , " he asserted , " and it is hard to understand why the Ford marketing expert go to exploit its report . " Regardless , Shelby model - twelvemonth product fall by full 25 percent to 3150 units .
A Thoroughbred Fades Away
After see to it his cable car gain ground only one Trans - Am race in 1969 , Carroll Shelby decide to leave the railcar business ( though he would return ) and need Ford to put the Shelby Mustang out to pasturage . Ford correspond but not before exploring an interesting in - business firm proposal to salve part of the ' 69 cable car . This envisioned a " 1970 1/2 " replacement for both the Shelby Mustangs and the Boss 429 . Dubbed " Composite Mustang " by those require , it was basically the big - engine Boss with a Mercury Cougar interior and a ' 69 Shelby front end with the scoops occupy in .
The intended outcome would be quicker than a CJ Mach 1 , punk to build than a GT-500 , and more distinctive than the existing Boss 429 . Kar Kraft ran up two image , but what came to be called the " Quarter Horse " was left at the gate . One probable reason was the unsold ' 69 Shelbys piling up around Southfield – some 600 in all . To move ‘em out , Ford made them " 1970 " models by applying raw successive numbers , Boss 302 front spoilers , and black goon chevron – a real " suffering sale " tactic .
The 1970 Ford Mustang
In 1969 , Ford bean - counters summate another diminution in total Mustang sale . Though the model - year loss was modest – only 5.5 percent vs. ' 68 – it looked ominous after all the money spend on the ' 69 program . Interestingly , of 184,000 cars save in the first one-half of calendar ' 69 , the Grande calculate for only about 15,000 sales while the Mach 1 ran close to 46,000 . On cue , division general manager John Naughton call " ponderous stress on performance " with " ironware to run into the action requirements of purchaser everywhere . "
But after the ' 69 overhaul , Mustang could not be changed very much for 1970 . room decorator did straighten up the face , filling each " saccharide scoop " with two imitate air vents and revert to dual - beam headlamps within a wicket switched from mesh to thin horizontal streak . The tri - colour emblem moved to the grille middle except on Mach 1 , where it was left off . Ornamentation was shuffled . eubstance side scoops were erased . The swish Grande got a part - vinyl radical " Lev Davidovich Landau " cap , but the previous full screening was now a $ 26 extra .
The Mach 1 picked up rectangular driving lights inboard of the master beams , plus make fun rock ‘n’ roll musician - panel appliqués , " honeycomb " back - dialog box trim , twist - type thug curl , and revised striping . The Boss 302 trade C - chevron for " hockey stick " decals , and its rearward - window fin were new optional for any fastback . All seventies got recess taillamps , standard high-pitched - back bucket tail end , and , as Washington now command , three - degree lap / shoulder belts , tamp - proof odometer , and steering - column ignition lock chamber .
locomotive choices extend with the addition of a four - barrel 351 tamp 300 horsepower on tight 11:1 densification , and four - speeding transmissions add a Hurst linkage with MT - handle shifter . The separate GT pick was dropped , but Mach 1s retain most of its features . They also added a rear stabilizer legal community , which allowed low spring rates for a more easy drive with no increase in cornering roll .
The Boss 429 roared back with a little - change 820 T railway locomotive , then substituted an 820A whole with small alteration in the Thermactor emission - control organisation – a sign of the times . A newly usable Drag Pack fortified any 428 engine with potent con pole , heavy - obligation fossil oil cooler , and other upgrades for quarter - mile tariff .
Mustang reclaimed the Trans - Am manufacturer ’s trophy in 1970 but sagged in the sales race , now even more competitory . A husky new Dodge Challenger and a companion Plymouth Barracuda go far to do battle , followed at mid - season by a handsome 2d - generation Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird .
With this , plus softening requirement for pony cars in universal , Mustang exemplary - year sales agreement fell an alarming 36.4 per centum to 190,727 units . Hardtops engross 35 percent , fastbacks and convertible security by around 40 percent each . While the Mach 1 still accounted for a solid proportion of fastback sales agreement , other performance mannikin at Ford and rival manufacturer were overshadow it . A belittled bright smirch was the Boss 302 , which sailplane to 6319 sale despite its specialised nature , limited availability , and potent price .
On September 11 , 1969 , Bunkie Knudsen was dead burn after less than two years as Ford prexy . Larry Shinoda fast succeed his patron out the threshold . Henry Ford II would only say " matter just did n’t work out , " though he never enlarge on that in line with his longtime motto , " never complain , never explain . " But insiders suggested that Bunkie , like his father , had stepped on too many toe . " Knudsen moved in and started doing thing his fashion , " save analyst Robert W. Irvin of trade hebdomadal Automotive News . " Knudsen was almost black market the society and [ some pronounce ] he had alien many other top executives .
Others state Knudsen ’s going was an indication of how the Fords do n’t care to share business leader . Tellingly , Irvin wrote that in July 1978 on the sacking of Lee Iacocca . To console ruffled feathering , Ford ’s chairwoman set up a presidential ternion of R. L. Stevenson for International Operations , R. J. Hampson for Non - Automotive Operations , and Iacocca for North American Operations . But that endure less than a year . Iacocca was name sole company chairwoman in 1970 , in the end snatch his prospicient - sought after brass gang .
Mustang rooter will forever give thanks Knudsen for the fabled Boss 302 and 429 . All things considered , they were an awe-inspiring achievement for his brief tenure . Yet how ironic that the " Church Father " of the pony car would be left to preside over the new Mustang breed that Knudsen also rush through , but would n’t be around to inclose . Though Lee Iaccoca was no doubt glad to see Knudsen floor so unceremoniously , Bunkie would exact a sort of unintended retaliation when his large Modern ' 71s shew the most controversial Mustangs yet .
