Alejandro de Tomaso offered the Carrozzeria Ghia coachbuilding and design agency to Ford in 1970, and never a few years handed earlier than Ford sellers world wide have been promoting Ghia-ized vehicles to the lots. Sure, every thing from the Fiesta to the Granada (each the American and European varieties) acquired Ghia badges and touches of Italian-influenced luxurious and elegance. The Mustang II wasn’t ignored of the Ghia get together, in fact, and I’ve discovered this option-stuffed ’77 Mustang Ghia in a Denver self-service yard.
In line with the construct sticker and buck tag, this automotive is a Ghia Hardtop, constructed on the storied River Rouge plant (now often known as the Dearborn Truck Plant) and offered out of Denver. The paint is Gentle Aqua Metallic and the vinyl half-roof (now scraped off) was Aqua as properly.
Sure, this can be a automotive that was shipped straight from Dearborn to Denver, after which it was offered at Fordland on sixth Avenue in Lakewood (now the location of Larry H. Miller Ford). That implies that this Mustang will likely be crushed inside a couple of miles of the spots the place it was unloaded from a prepare and offered new practically a half-century again. Did it spend any time dwelling outdoors of this space? We’ll by no means know.
The inside is finished up in Aqua Media material and Corinthian Vinyl, and it seems that Ford was utilizing the time period “Corinthian” for upholstery lengthy earlier than Chrysler famously did so with the Cordoba.
The unique purchaser of this automotive did not minimize corners within the choices division. The bottom engine in 1977 was a Pinto four-cylinder rated at 89 horsepower, with the 93-horse Cologne V6 out of the Capri as step one up. This automotive, nonetheless, has the large 302-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) Windsor V8, which made a mighty 139 horsepower. The value tag on this engine added $294 to the price of a $4,096 automotive (that is about $1,390 and $19,365 at this time).
A four-on-the-floor handbook transmission got here commonplace; if you happen to wished the three-speed SelectShift computerized, it value you $248 (about $1,173 in 2021 {dollars}).
The true big-ticket buy on a ’77 Mustang was the air con, a really expensive luxurious merchandise through the Early Malaise Period. The salesmen at Fordland extracted 443 bucks (round $2,095 now) for the refrigerated air on this automotive.
Sure, it was attainable to get an AM radio with 8-track tape participant again in these darkish days of automotive audio, and that is simply what this automotive has. The fee: $192 ($908 after inflation).
Add the Mach I “styled metal wheels with trim rings” and all the opposite goodies and you’ll see that the choices on this automotive most likely added 50% to the out-the-door value, as soon as the unique purchaser signed on the road which is dotted. That is how car-buying was, for essentially the most half, in 1977 America.
The Mustang II was based mostly on the Pinto, making it light-weight and fuel-efficient in comparison with the portly Mustangs of the early Nineteen Seventies, and Ford offered greater than 1,000,000 of those vehicles throughout their 1974-1978 gross sales run. 43 years after the ultimate Mustang II rolled off the road, I nonetheless discover many of those vehicles in massive self-service yards. Actually, it is simpler to seek out Mustang IIs within the massive yards than it’s to seek out junked Fox Mustangs at this time.
It is lots simpler to make a Fox go quick than a Mustang II, which explains a part of the explanation so many Mustang IIs are allowed to face The Crusher, however the Mustang II’s actual picture drawback comes from its Pinto bloodline. Whereas loads of fans love these vehicles, they are not quite a few sufficient to save lots of each uncared for Mustang II from doom.
As a remaining indignity, hot-rodders now not search out the entrance suspension parts from V8-equipped Mustang IIs for his or her tasks. Just a few a long time in the past, these items would have been yanked inside minutes of the automotive’s look in a boneyard’s stock … however these days you should buy aftermarket copy kits that look higher beneath your gow job.
By 1977 requirements, the Mustang II was certainly a sweet-handling automotive.
