IICrazy said:
and then there is also people who have no idea what they're talking about
"the Mustang2 was a well engineered car that brought about many technological advancements to the Mustang and pony car market. Things like rack&pinion steering, 4wheel disc brakes, advanced
suspension system"
"Mustang II's are not popular because they were poorly engineered, period."
Rack&pinion? The 2 was certainly not the first car around with rack&pinion, although it was the first car with power-assisted rack&pinion.
4-wheel discs? I wish it were true.
Advanced suspension system? I think it's a great handling car, but leaf springs weren't very advanced.
Poorly engineered? The 2 did have a lot of engineering for the time.
Most people feel that the two lacks respect because it lived at a time when emissions requirements made horsepower a thing of the past. But everybody else at the time had the same problem. For other pony cars and muscle cars though, improving on what the factory offered was a lot easier.
When I got my first car in back in '81 (a '76 V8 Ghia), there were not near as many hop-up parts available for a II as there were for the F-bodies or older Mustangs, particularly when it came to wheels. Sure, you could get 4-barrel carbs and headers, but decent sized wheels? Forget it. You would see Camaros and Firebirds everywhere with Mickey Thompson L50-15 steamrollers on huge Cragar S/S wheels, while virtually every Mustang II running around still had little 13" wheels. There was simply nothing available in the 4-lug bolt pattern. As a result, nearly every 'tough' looking car was something other than a II. The II was very popular in for serious drag racers, but virtually every II around on the street was mundane. So the Mustang II's reputation suffered. Yep, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it: 4-lug wheels whimp-ified the II.
Another area where I think the II's image suffered was in Hollywood. Those other guys had Smokey and the Bandit and Jim Rockford. The older Mustangs had Steve McQueen. We had Charlies Angels. Lovely ladies, but not very macho.