1970 Ford Mustang Convertible

Here it is, the last year before the bloat: a 1970 Ford Mustang. The '69-'70 Mustangs were already noticeably pudgier than previous models, and enthusiast magazines of the time had taken note. In a test of a 1969 Mach I with a 428 Cobra Jet, Car and Driver wrote:

Since the basic Mustang shape has been a howling success in the market, you can't blame Ford for sticking with a winner. But you can blame it for excess. Since the long hood/short deck styling theme has been rewarding, more of the same should be even better, right? So for '69 the Mustang grew 3.8 inches—all ahead of the front wheels. Believe us, that is the last thing the Mustang needed. The test car with its 428 Cobra Jet engine has 2140 of its 3607 lbs. balanced on the front wheels and that's with a full gas tank. Fifty nine point three per cent of its weight on the front wheels. Double grim. Any rear-wheel-drive car would be hamstrung with that kind of weight distribution and the Mustang is no exception. It can't begin to put its power to the ground for acceleration. And, when it comes to handling, the most charitable thing to say is that the Mustang is all thumbs.

Ouch.

The 1970 models were more of the same. The base engine for '70 was the 120-horsepower 200 cubic inch Thriftpower inline-6 cylinder. The Grabber Orange convertible in the photograph, however, sports a shaker hood scoop and dual exhausts, so it's no six-banger secretarymobile. The scoop is most likely attached to a 4-barrel 351 Cleveland V-8, with an 11.1:1 compression ratio, rated at 300 SAE gross horsepower.

The pony-and-tri-bar emblem on the '70s is in the center of the grille, while on '69s it was offset to the driver's side.

That 351 Cleveland had to lug roughly 3400 pounds of Mustang down the road, the bulk of it over the front wheels, so you had understeer for days, which you could turn into oversteer by glancing at the throttle and thinking heavy thoughts. Acceleration was traction limited, running 0-60 in the mid 8-second range with the 4bbl 351 and a three-speed slushbox.

The one in the photos was snapped in July of 2014 with a Nikon Coolpix S6500.