Letter of the Month: Legend of the '74 Mustang

Letter of the Month: Legend of the '74 Mustang
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Feature Article from Hemmings Muscle Machines

December, 2011

LETTER OF THE MONTH: Legend of the '74 Mustang
My first car, when I was 16, was a gold 1968 Mustang, but I was always a GM (Chevelle, GTO) man. I had been looking for a Chevelle or GTO for several years when a friend told me about a 1974 Mustang convertible being stored in a machine shed. Knowing that Mustang convertibles were not manufactured in 1974, I did not pay much attention to my friend's persistent reminders about the car for approximately two years. Then, I told my friend to call the owner and arrange a viewing of the supposed 1974 Mustang convertible. The Mustang convertible turned out to be a 1973--302, automatic, with factory A/C--and had been stored indoors for 17 years without being started or moved. All of the tires were flat, the rear window had fallen in, and the entire car was covered in 17 years of dust and mice droppings, but the interior and body were in extremely good condition.

The car was hauled out of the building and cleaned up; a battery was installed, gas was poured down the carburetor, and the engine fired right up. I purchased that 1973 Mustang convertible four years ago and have been working on it ever since--it is still a work in progress. After being stored for so long, I am truly amazed that everything on the car works, including all of the lights, the windshield washer pump, and the A/C. I love driving the car, and everyone is amazed; the car gets the thumbs-up and compliments everywhere I take it, from young and old alike.

Other than installing a B&M shift kit in the transmission, I have made no modifications to the drivetrain and I have done nothing to the engine internals. The car runs great and is a pleasure to drive.

Since I purchased the car, I have replaced the following items with OEM or concours-correct parts when available: fuel tank and all fuel lines; carburetor, which was restored by Pony Carburetors; coil and leaf springs, plus shocks; brakes and brake lines, battery and starter cables; all coolant hoses; shifter bushings; and the convertible top. I also added a set of Cragar wheels with Cooper Cobra tires.

The car was delivered in Omaha, Nebraska, when new and was stored for 17 years in a machine shed near Blair, Nebraska.

I am now 47 years old and driving the car does remind me of the days spent in my first Mustang when I was 16. By the way, the little girl in the picture is my daughter, Madison.
Tony Mitchell
Elkhorn, Nebraska

Full-Size Fanatics
Love your mag and especially your articles--they always hit home. I have owned countless pony cars, mid-size and 'Vettes (recently sold a '62 Corvette we owned for over 28 years), but have always leaned towards the big cars. Presently, we have a 1966 Impala--original L36, four-speed from Tennessee--and a '63 Bel Air 283, soon to be a 409, four-speed. There is something about a large full-size with the power to move it along effortlessly, and our '66 sure does that. My wife likes to cruise and enjoys the added room in the Impala.

Great to see your article ("A Love for the Large," HMM#97, October 2011); hope this gets everyone thinking that the big cars are a real alternative. Remember, big-block, four-speed, bench seat: it just doesn't get any better, especially when it's in a big car.
BJ (Bernie) Coffey
Goderich, Ontario, Canada

Yes, Terry, let's raise a glass to full-size performance American cars! These were some very awesome cars despite their size. Your column took me back to the days of my car-crazy youth in Jersey City. We had quite a few "full-size" warriors roaming the streets. I remember a guy who lived a block away from me who owned a '64 Ford Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop with a 427/four-speed. I had a friend who bought a '65 Pontiac Grand Prix with the 376hp Tri-Power 421, and he backed it up with a four-speed and 4.11s. That thing would haul! I knew another guy who had a '66 Chevy Impala with a 396/four-speed combo; I'm quite sure it started life as a 325-horse. What he wound up with, I don't remember. The thing I do remember is, it had a straight seat (no SS).

And then there were the "bait and switch twins." In '67, these two guys bought what appeared to be identical Marina Blue Impala Super Sports. Same color paint, same color interior, same color vinyl roof. The "bait" car was a 396/four-speed. The "switch" car was an L72 427 425hp/four-speed. Back then, street racing was as big in Jersey City as it was anyplace else. They would set up the run with the bait car and then show up with the switch car. The ordinary onlooker couldn't tell the difference, but if you paid close attention to them (like I did), you'd know which was which. After a friend of mine (who is now deceased) lost his money betting against the Impala, I walked him over to the car and pointed out the differences. Given that the guy who owned the bait car lived two blocks from me, I would see it every morning while walking to school. On several occasions, I saw the switch car sitting in the service department at our local Chevy dealer on Communipaw Avenue.

There were countless other cool full-size cars out there at the time, too: These are the ones that stood out. As you said, they were big, comfortable and, if done right, downright monsters! Thanks for the memories and please keep them coming.
Martin Villa
Via e-mail

I'll pitch in from the Oldsmobile camp. Of course, there are not a lot of full-size performance car options from Oldsmobile. Okay, some arguments could be made for some of the original '40s Rocket-engine Olds, and certainly the late-'50s J2 offerings. But in the classic '60s-era performance circles, one has to think a bit to even come up with a full-size version of a "performance car." Starfires were certainly not sleds by any stretch, but they're a "not quite."

My #2 pick would be the 1970 Toronado GT (W-34). One of five W-Machines offered in 1970 by Oldsmobile, the 400hp motivation puts it into that performance car arena. But the 11.5 lbs./hp is still up there a bit.

Step in my #1 pick: the 1965 Jetstar 1. Sure, I may be a bit biased because I have one, but the 10.5 lbs./hp puts it squarely into the performance car category, for any size car.

Add the four-speed (almost unheard of in a full-size Olds) and an Anti-Spin rear and you're good to go. That's mine in spades. It is one of 233 four-speed Jetstar 1 models produced in 1965. It is pretty much original, and still sports the original drivetrain, and is fully documented with a build sheet and Protect-O-Plate.
Kurt Shubert
Amherst, Ohio

Keep Comparing
I read the article, "DNA-bodies" (HMM #97, October 2011) with a great deal of interest, as I also have a '70 Chevelle SS 454 and a '70 Pontiac Judge. The comparisons were interesting and informative, and I am grateful for these fine articles you publish, which is the reason I subscribe. My humble collection consists of five Chevrolet convertibles with the exception of the Judge, which I just couldn't resist purchasing.

The side-by-side comparison chart on page 25 was great, and I personally welcome more of these drivetrain comparisons. Although I'm a Chevelle fan because of styling and performance, I suspect Steve's planned purchase of the '70 Buick Gran Sport will top them all. Please republish his article upon adding the 4-4-2 and Gran Sport.

I would love to see a comparison of the Chevelle, GTO, 4-4-2 and Gran Sport, each having the same drivetrain ratios and engine displacement/hp. Also, a comparison of similar Fords, GMs, and Mopars would be great. That would really give us readers something to debate.

I do take exception with comparing the performance of the Chevelle (3.31:1 rear-end ratio) to the GTO (3.55:1 rear-end ratio). This is not a direct comparison. I suspect the 3.55:1 ratio is why Steve prefers the GTO's performance and feels the Chevelle is sluggish. I have a little '67 375hp Chevelle with the 3.55:1 ratio and its performance is impeccable. I suspect that only having nine more horses than my 366hp GTO, it would leave it way back in the fine dust. You compared a 366hp GTO to a 350hp Chevelle, which is significantly more power margin than 375hp to 366hp.

I realize direct comparisons are difficult to find. Just keep them coming!
Junie Weeks
Kingston, Tennessee

We like presenting comparisons when we can, though logistically, these can be tough to pull off. That's the primary reason that some of our side-by-side articles may not always include the ideally equipped models. In this case, the 366hp Pontiac engine was the base offering in the Judge, though by the numbers, a base GTO with a 350hp 400 might have looked like a better match. Remember that during the period when these models were marketed, power ratings were still not being regulated very closely, so sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole story. Your 375hp Chevelle is a good example, as its L78 396 should have a mechanical-lifter camshaft, higher compression, a Holley 780 and other bits that made those engines run really well--better probably than the 375hp rating might indicate. The Ram Air III Pontiac, with its hydraulic cam and D-port heads, was also quite a bit different than the Ram Air IV, despite the fact that Pontiac claimed there were only four horsepower separating them. You really had to get these cars out to know what they could actually do, which is what we attempt to do. Ideally, we'd spend some time at a drag strip, but most owners these days don't seem to like that idea. Just the same, we'll continue to work bring comparisons of seemingly similar cars to these pages to offer a fresh perspective on these machines.


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