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The Mustang II wasn’t a performance match for the Firebird and Camaro. GM released the Chevy Monza and its other GM clones. The power, engine sizes, and body size were close enough to be direct competitors. Anyone ever drove these two back to back to compare them with similar size engines? Was one better handling than the other?
Motor Trend tested them together in 78 I think. They preferred the Monza...said it felt complete whereas the Ford felt like several design elements were just put together.
Nope, Mustang II was competitor to the Monza because both were available with V8 engines...Pinto completed against Vega...Monza was considered upmarket from the Vega, just like Mustang II was a step up from the Pinto.
I never thought of them as competitors, but I can see it in some respects.
I think the Pinto was competing with Monza/Vega more than Mustang II was.
Both came in two door notchback and sport hatch and available in 4, 6, & 8 cylinders. Both were also RWD and offered sports packages for higher performance (for the era)
The M2 was never meant to compete with Camaro/Firebird.
Two things led to the M2, gas prices, and Ford wanting to get the Mustang back to its roots, a simple, reliable car for both men and women to drive and enjoy, not some hot rod to take to the strip. When the Stang came out, it was marketed for professional women of the time, secretaries, nurses, etc. Side note, Pinto and M2 shared the same platform.
Same with the Monza, which was released a year after the M2.
I have driven both, didnt care for either, but the Monza did corner a little better, and seemed to have a more "gripper" feel than the M2. I also drove King Cobra, which put the Monza to shame on the straight ways, but also lacked cornering.
The M2 was never meant to compete with Camaro/Firebird.
Two things led to the M2, gas prices, and Ford wanting to get the Mustang back to its roots, a simple, reliable car for both men and women to drive and enjoy, not some hot rod to take to the strip. When the Stang came out, it was marketed for professional women of the time, secretaries, nurses, etc. Side note, Pinto and M2 shared the same platform.
Yeah, the MII was supposed to get the Mustang back to it's basic roots, but gas prices and the gas crisis had nothing to do with it. It was insurance costs that did it. Remember, the MII was proposed and developed in '70, when the BOSS 429 was still ruling Ford's showrooms. But the insurance company writing was on the wall for the big inch musclecars even at that time. Hell, even emissions issues that plagued the '71-up musclecars didn't exist when the car was first drawn up.
I still love the MII and the suspension was so easy to work with and modify for outstanding handling, and the engines were easy to hop up (and there was room in the engine bay for a pretty large engine).
My FIL at the time bought the wife a 1976 Monza Coupe, 4 speed, complete with luggage rack on the trunk. I put real wire wheels on it. It was blue with a white vinyl top. It was a darn good looking car for what it was. BUT, it also had the cast iron block with aluminum heads (or the other way around-don't remember). The POS spent more time at the dealer than we had it. For our time of ownership, they had the car 3 months more than we did. Everytime it would blow a head gasket. Every time they came to pick the POS up, they hammered us 75 bucks for the wrecker. The 5th time it blew a head gasket with 18,000 miles on the clock, I drove the thing to the dealership. The engine locked up as I drove it into the service area. I figured the engine had been damaged enough and I wanted a new one. They kept the car 7 months, that's 7 months, and when we went to pick it up, they brought it to us on the front of a wrecker- the battery was dead and still had the same engine in it. The car was so dirty you couldn't tell what color it was. It's a wonder I didn't get to see jail time for that as I blew up. They also wanted $400.00 to flush the radiator. I could have put a new one in it for just over a hundred. I was told in no uncertain words that the car would never be serviced by them again. Needless to say, It's rare that I let anything GM even park in my driveway. Everybody that knows me knows I won't ride in one and don't bring theirs on my property. It cost GM a ton of business not to mention every chance I got I told the story about being screwed with a GM car. I understand, everybody makes a lemon but it's how a company stands behind its product that counts. GM could care less about it's customers, ask anybody with the vibrating new Silverados, they'll tell you nothing has changed at GM.
Conversely, my nephew bought a Mustang II with the turbo 4 banger. While not as bad as the Monza, it was junk on 4 wheels. It never failed to start and run but half the time the turbo didn't work. The thing rattled like it was missing half of the required bolts to hold it together. He ended up trading it for a new 1979 Camaro which was just another POS. Noisy, rattles, just junk on 4 wheels. I've always wonder how so many people can be so brain dead that they think these are great collector cars. They were crap when they were new.
Conversely, my nephew bought a Mustang II with the turbo 4 banger. While not as bad as the Monza, it was junk on 4 wheels. It never failed to start and run but half the time the turbo didn't work.
No MII came with a turbo 4 banger. The turbo didn't start until '79 and the Fox body cars.
Trapper, I think you are talking about the Vega engine, was used in some Monzas too, it had an aluminum block and an iron head. Now an iron block and an aluminum head can make some sense, but the other way around was just because it was cheap to do, I guess.
That was a really dumb design, and these engines usually were at best turds.
I still see a few Mustang II cars around, some in good shape. I see this one Monza around, not in the best shape, frequently parked near a trailer park with the windows open, unattended.
The Mustang II could be had with a 302 V-8, while dead stock they were not so great, the formula for hopping up the 302 is well-known, you can make plenty of power with them.
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