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The Death of Muscle Cars - Muscle Cars of The Past
By
the Auto Editors of Consumer Guide
The 1972 Ford Mustang and 2010 Muscle Car War
1972 Ford Mustang
Mustangs looked much the same for 1972 save revised badging
and standard (instead of optional) wheel-lip and rocker trim.
The most discouraging alterations occurred under the hood. First,
stricter emissions standards dictated reduced compression for all
engines to accommodate low-calorie 91-octane fuel. Second, Ford and
other automakers now switched from quoting horsepower in SAE gross
measure to the more realistic SAE net method -- which had the unhappy
effect of making the actual power losses look even worse on paper.
With this, compression on the 250 six was dropped a full point (to
8.0:1), resulting in 95 net horsepower. A half-point drop (to 8.5:1)
left the two-barrel 302 V-8 at 136 horsepower. Among 351s, the
two-barrel unit claimed 168 net horsepower on looser 8.6:1 compression,
while the four-barrel was down-rated from 280 to 275 horsepower (and no
longer called "CJ").
Performance fans cried in their beer, but Ford made amends at
midseason by reinstating an HO 351 option, albeit decompressed to 8.8:1
and 275 horsepower. As before, three-speed manual was the standard
transmission for the six and two-barrel V-8s, with four-speed and
Cruise-O-Matic optional. Four-speed was otherwise standard and
Select-Shift automatic available -- except in California, where even
stricter emissions levels mandated automatic with all V-8s. "California
versions" would be another yearly burden for automakers in the
Seventies.
At least the HO had low enough exhaust emissions to be sold in
the Golden State, "a feat many other manufacturers (Chevrolet with its
454s, for example) had not been able to accomplish," as Car and Driver
noted in March 1972. The magazine got an early drive in an HO fastback,
and though the thrill factor was inevitably lower than with the
short-lived Boss 351, there was still a certain magic at work.
1972 Ford Mustang hardtop
Repeal of the federal excise tax allowed Ford to trim base prices.
This standard hardtop came down $182 to start at $2729.
"[This car] is no Little Lord Fauntleroy out to play," C/D reported.
"It's big and it's self-assured. Everything is massive. When you lean
on the Hurst lever…you can feel about 10 pounds of brass synchronizer
rings and steel hubs sliding into position.... There is little demand
for finesse, only machismo.... The HO doesn't really feel like a
high-performance engine at all. You don't have to wait for the good
part of the torque curve. It's there all the time -- flat rather than
peaky like the old Boss 302s."
Of course, performance was down thanks to the lower
compression and a less radical solid-lifter camshaft, but the '72 HO
wasn't exactly sleepy, C/D reporting 6.6 seconds 0-60 mph and a
standing quarter-mile of 15.1 seconds at 95.6 mph. And more go was
readily available for determined hop-up artists with a Ford parts
catalog. "Just change the camshaft (the adjustable rockers are already
there) and raise the compression ratio back up where it belongs," C/D
advised. "And if you are really serious you'll bolt on a
higher-capacity intake manifold and carburetor."
Best of all perhaps, this HO was available in any '72 Mustang.
And it looked amazingly cheap at $119, though it required other
equipment that added up to a fairly stout delivered price. Among these
mandatory options were the comp suspension ($29), F60-15 tires on wide
wheels ($92), power front-disc brakes, 3.91:1 rear axle with
Traction-Lok ($56), and heavy-duty battery and radiator. "But you need
that stuff anyway," C/D asserted. "And when you get it all you find
that the 351 HO drives just like last year's Boss [351]. It rides like
a Grand National stocker and understeers -- plenty. Ford apparently
likes its cars that way."
The 1972 Mustang Mach 1 was a good candidate for Ford's
optional emissions-tuned
350 HO V-8, which would be Ford's last performance V-8 for quite a
while.
C/D spoke for many performance fans in summing up this Mustang: "The
idea of paying more [over $4000 delivered] for a slower car is
irritating, but that's the way it is in 1972. Still, the HO does have
some potential. Which is more than can be said about most of the
competition." Sad to say, this would be Mustang's last performance V-8
for a long while.
Here's a sneak peek at the various sections:
* The Birth of Muscle Cars Learn how the speedy 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 fired the public
imagination and ignited a Detroit horsepower race that produced a slew
of "factory hot rods." In the 1950s, Chrysler unveiled its Hemi engine,
and Chevrolet its small-block V-8. It was all a preview of muscle cars
to come.
* How Muscle Cars started - Need For Speed In many ways and for many reasons, America lost its innocence in
the 1960s. Learn why no-holds-barred performance cars were just one
casualty of wrenching social changes.
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