I guess a box is cheaper than a curve to make. But still... until the new Mustang came out they really had wasted the name. The new one looks fantastic.
the only mustangs that were really a waste were the 74-78 coupes. they were all pigs, but at least the fastbacks looked fairly decent with ground effects. no worse than the same era firebirds or camaros.
the 79 stang was the first fox chassis mustang. ford's been building the stang on that same chassis from 79 till 99 i believe. at some point they changed it's designation to the fox4 chassis, but from what i've been able to tell, it was essentially the same with some added bracing.
for the record, ford built (i think) 26 different models on the fox chassis. a couple were the fairmont, couger, ltd2, and i think that ugly slpoe backed lincoln was a fox chassis too.
the 79 stang was also the beginning of the re-birth of the american hot rod. it was followed by the camaro(again) a couple years later.
by the mid to late 80's ford had the mustang performing much better than anything in it's class, or price range. they held that performance edge till mid ninetys i think.(my 89 only ran 15.2 stock....12.2 when i was done, fully street everyday driver) it's a shame that they've gone and overpriced it now, as although i like the fox chassis mustangs, i absolutley love the brand new ones. problem? for 30-40k, it's still just a mustang. and for that money i can buy a used cessna.
<<S>>
