Turn your noses up all you want, but if it weren’t for this generation’s robust sales, Mustang might not still be with us.

I love how the photo tagline is “Sweet handling” and in the background there are hot air balloons.  Not exactly my first thought for a sweet handling metaphor.

An actual owner’s opinion here: after returning from a tour in Germany, I bought a used one for my wife. Coupe, Cologne V-6 and a 4 speed. It had better than decent handling, good brakes, and good performance for its time. It was genuinely fun to drive. Its biggest drawback IMO, was the Pinto design gas filler behind…

Found it.

Yeah? Well, if they’re so bad, why do people put the front suspension into literally every hotrod?

hotrods and restomods use entire mustang 2/pinto front ends to this day. It’s a common swap on older solid axle cars and trucks, racers, all kinds of projects. Funny that a car so reviled also gave us possible THE definition of a simple wishbone suspension

Fun fact about the Ghia (and possibly some other models of the Mustang II) - it had a muffler with a “two into one” design. Not a resonator, but the final muffler itself, which was pretty weird for the time:

Hmm.... green...

David, I’mma let you finish...

Long-Voyager... paging Long-Voyager to the Jalopnik comments section.

We need a return to this sort of monochromatic look - I have a soft spot in my head for the Dodge Spirit R/T from this era

Twin turbo DOHC Mitsu V6 should bolt right in, no?  As a kid who grew up in pentastar minivans, it’s been a lifelong daydream.

SRT-4 turbo swap! Much easier.

Is that the 3.0L 6 that had bad valve guides and burned oil like a 2 stroke?

Aww man, that’s just sad. I can’t believe how....uh....(can’t believe I’m saying this)..cool.....these look to me now.

Thank you! Some of the prudes in here are insufferable.

This is an awesome DD. I’m seeing all this whining about mixed years and aftermarket parts, but I don’t care. This is a sub-20K car, if you like one thing from year X and another thing from year Y, this is the perfect car to mix them together.

This isn’t going to be a nightmare to work on or tank in value and never return like an Audi.

Saw the cover photo and voted NP immediately. I don’t care if it runs, if its infested with rats, or if Osama Bin Laden owned it. That fucking thing is fucking gorgeous, and is worth every penny. 

They never do.