Alejandro de Tomaso offered the Carrozzeria Ghia coachbuilding and design firm to Ford in 1970, and never a few years handed earlier than Ford dealers around the globe had been promoting Ghia-ized automobiles to the lots. Sure, all the things from the Fiesta to the Granada (each the American and European varieties) obtained Ghia badges and touches of Italian-influenced luxurious and magnificence. The Mustang II wasn’t omitted of the Ghia occasion, in fact, and I’ve discovered this option-stuffed ’77 Mustang Ghia in a Denver self-service yard.
In keeping with the construct sticker and buck tag, this automotive is a Ghia Hardtop, constructed on the storied River Rouge plant (now referred to as the Dearborn Truck Plant) and offered out of Denver. The paint is Mild 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 signifies that this Mustang shall be crushed inside a number of miles of the spots the place it was unloaded from a prepare and offered new almost a half-century again. Did it spend any time residing exterior of this space? We’ll by no means know.
The inside is finished up in Aqua Media fabric 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 lower 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, nevertheless, has the large 302-cubic-inch (5.0-liter) Windsor V8, which made a mighty 139 horsepower. The worth tag on this engine added $294 to the price of a $4,096 automotive (that is about $1,390 and $19,365 as we speak).
A four-on-the-floor manual transmission got here commonplace; if you happen to needed the three-speed SelectShift computerized, it price you $248 (about $1,173 in 2021 {dollars}).
The actual big-ticket buy on a ’77 Mustang was the air-con, a really pricey luxurious merchandise throughout the Early Malaise Era. The salesmen at Fordland extracted 443 bucks (round $2,095 now) for the refrigerated air on this automotive.
Sure, it was doable to get an AM radio with 8-track tape participant again in these dark days of car audio, and that is simply what this automotive has. The fee: $192 ($908 after inflation).
Add the Mach I “styled steel wheels with trim rings” and all the opposite goodies and you may see that the choices on this automotive most likely added 50% to the out-the-door price, as soon as the unique purchaser signed on the line which is dotted. That is how car-buying was, for probably the most half, in 1977 America.
The Mustang II was primarily based on the Pinto, making it light-weight and fuel-efficient in comparison with the portly Mustangs of the early 1970s, and Ford sold more than a million of these cars throughout their 1974-1978 gross sales run. 43 years after the ultimate Mustang II rolled off the road, I still find many of these cars in massive self-service yards. In truth, it is simpler to search out Mustang IIs within the massive yards than it’s to search out junked Fox Mustangs as we speak.
It is loads 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 downside comes from its Pinto bloodline. Whereas plenty of enthusiasts love these cars, they are not quite a few sufficient to avoid wasting each uncared for Mustang II from doom.
As a closing indignity, hot-rodders now not seek out the front suspension components from V8-equipped Mustang IIs for their projects. A couple of many years in the past, these things would have been yanked inside minutes of the automotive’s look in a boneyard’s stock … however these days you should purchase aftermarket reproduction kits that look higher underneath your gow job.
By 1977 requirements, the Mustang II was certainly a sweet-handling automotive.
