2022 FORD MUSTANG roof

Of them all, perhaps the best-known and
most accessible to the widest owner base
is the Mustang Mach 1, a sporty fastback
first introduced in 1969 that had the look,
features and performance that helped
define the muscle car era.
In postwar America, the Jet Age influence
was all the rage -- especially in the auto
industry, where tail fins and air intakes
influenced progressive car designs. It was
then when the terms Mach 1 and Sound
Barrier became part of public conversation,
as jets and rockets were being employed
in aeronautic experiments to help
humankind soar past the speed of sound.
Ford
’s first use of the Mach 1 name came
on a concept vehicle – a wheel-less
single-seat pod tethered to an arm that
allowed it to glide on a cushion of air
around a circular track set up at the Ford
Rotunda in the spring of 1959. Ford ’s
Levacar Mach 1 Concept was an
air-propulsion flying car of sorts,
suggesting that vehicles in the future could
use ducted air to levitate and maneuver at
high speed while off the ground.
The Mach 1 name was resurrected in 1966
for another Ford concept car that was
meant to preview some aerodynamic and
styling advances for a futuristic
high-performance Mustang fastback. The
two-seat Mustang Mach 1 Concept that
was shown at the 1967 Detroit Auto Show
featured a slanted areo-grille, severely
chopped roof, large air scoops and steeply
slanted rear glass as part of a full
hatchback -- a design feature that
wouldn ’t appear in production until 1974.
Ford updated the Mustang Mach 1 Concept
with a new front-end treatment in time for
touring the auto show circuit in 1968 to
herald the popular pony car ’s third styling
refresh due the following year. By the time 1969 had rolled around, the
again restyled and upsized Ford Mustang
was facing a series of new challenges, both
in the muscle car wars taking place out in
the marketplace by an onslaught of
powerful new competitors, and inside of
Ford Motor Company, where a new, Steed
for Every Need marketing approach
expanded pony car offerings to five distinct
models with at least 10 different
powertrain combinations. Ford's Mustang
had galloped into its fifth model year
refreshed with unmistakable good looks,
thanks to its 2+2 fastback now called the
SportsRoof, featuring upper rear-quarters
cut with forward-facing scoops and a
dramatic tail that incorporated an upswept
rear edge.
Even though the GT equipment group
introduced in 1965 was again available for
a final year, it was overshadowed for 1969,
as the hot ticket was an all-new Mach 1
model – wearing the name borrowed from
those radical recent Mustang show cars.
The new Mustang Mach 1 came standard
with the 351, a desirable mix of appearance
enhancements, plus special reflective
bodyside stripes and an uplevel interior.
Later, a flat-black rear decklid spoiler and
a set of rear window louvers were added
as dress-up options. To many enthusiasts
today, a ’
69 Mach 1 equipped with an
optional new-for-’ 69 428 Cobra Jet V-8 is
the first true Mustang muscle car and a
top-shelf collectible.
Other than yet another front-end
freshening (including going back to just
two headlamps and adding non-functional
outboard air inlets) and the elimination of
the side scoops, the biggest change to the
1970 Mustang lineup was a move to the
Cleveland-design 351 V-8 over the Windsor
351 version from the year before. The GT
model was dropped in the face of the
Mach 1's popularity, but the 428CJ engine
option was again available across the
board. By 1971, Ford ’s famed
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2022 Mustang (CZG) Mach 1, enUSA, Edition date: 202110, First-Printing Introduction

first-generation pony car had already
undergone its fourth major facelift, growing
in every dimension to accommodate even
bigger engines. The ’
71 Mustang featured
an extended nose with a body that was
wider, close to a foot longer and around
600 pounds heavier than the original. The
SportsRoof-only Mach 1 model was now
Ford's bread-and-butter enthusiast model,
especially with the optional new big-block
429 Cobra Jet engine, good for 370
horsepower.
There were only minor changes on tap for
Mustang in 1972 and ’ 73, most of them
dealing with the options list and the
continuing emasculation of engine
offerings and horsepower in the face of
emissions and fuel economy regulations,
as well as the elimination of a convertible.
The automotive performance world soon
came to a screeching halt in the wake of
an oil embargo and resulting gas
shortages, forcing most Americans to
abandon their muscle cars and
V-8-powered rides in favor of smaller,
more fuel-efficient vehicles. Ford saw the
market shift as the perfect time to return
its pony car to its roots – a compact,
affordable, sporty car whose styling and
image captured the spirit and imagination
of the American public.
When the new-from-the-ground-up,
second-generation Mustang II was
launched for the 1974 model year, it was
the first Mustang equipped with a
four-cylinder engine. An all-new 2.3-liter
I-4 produced around 90 horses as the
standard powerplant for the downsized
Mustang II - yet performance was roughly
equivalent to the previous Mustang’ s big
inline six. The Mustang II was available as
a hardtop two-door notchback coupe or a
three-door hatchback-style fastback.
Buyers had a choice of either I-4 or V-6
power, as well as a three-speed automatic
or four-speed manual transmissions. To
keep Mustang’ s performance image going even in a world where consumers favored
fuel economy over horsepower, an
enthusiast-focused Mustang II Mach 1
model was offered as a three-door
hatchback-style fastback, replete with
bucket seats.
There
’s little question that the saving grace
for the Mustang II’ s performance
reputation came when Ford finally realized
it needed to put the 302 V-8 back onto the
Mustang option list for 1975-78. The V-8
was available in any model, but first only
mated to a three-speed automatic
transmission, as a four-speed manual was
delayed a full year until a suitable clutch
could be tooled up. The two-barrel 302
shoehorned into the Mustang II got
catalytic converters to help meet 1976 ’s
tighter emissions standards, and saw an
increase to 139 horsepower – nearly equal
to the ’ 73’s standard V-8 power level. The
Mach 1’ s optional Competition Suspension
package offered stiffer springs, adjustable
shock absorbers and fatter front and rear
stabilizer bars to improve handling, and
kept it a popular enthusiast choice over all
five years of Mustang II's production. By
the dawn of the third-generation Mustang,
the Mach name would not return again to
the Mustang line until some 25 years later.
After the 1979-93 Fox Body Mustang years
had come and gone with the reintroduction
of a GT model, new sheet metal on a
revamped SN-95 platform helped to
rekindle consumer interest in a
fourth-generation Ford Mustang.
Enthusiasts lavished their attention upon
the 1993-1999 Mustang Cobra
performance model developed by the Ford
Special Vehicle Team skunkworks group,
while Ford engineers looked to specialty
models to fill the mid-market slot between
the standard Mustang GT and the
upmarket Cobra.
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2022 Mustang (CZG) Mach 1, enUSA, Edition date: 202110, First-Printing Introduction