1969 Ford Mustang Mach I

1969 Ford Mustang Mach I

It may just be that this time the stylists I have done too good a job. Look at the Mustang Mach I and you expect miracles鈥攄rive it and they are not forthcoming. The pieces are there鈥攎ost of them anyway鈥攂ut the sum is far short of its parts. Understand that we're not saying high speed is a new deal. Speed has been the thing with cars since the very first bucking, snorting horseless carriage appeared to change the ways of the world. If early, awkward devices were slow, at least the fenders were shaped like birds in flight and the radiator ornaments were windblown figurines. Who could forget the intuitively streamlined boat-tailed speedsters of the Twenties or the Chrysler Airflow of the Thirties or the GM fastbacks of the late Forties? Those were the happy, innocent days when a teardrop was the slipperiest thing going. Can you imagine telling Henry Ford that what the 999 really needed was a chopped off tail and a spoiler? But now, in The Year of the Automobile 1969, your car can't even be clothed in semi-Edwardian fashion unless at least one end鈥攁nd preferably both鈥攈as flaps.

Enter the Mustang Mach I, fashionably spoiled at the rear and not lacking competition inspiration on any other part of its anatomy either. Outwardly the Mach I is a blend of dragster and Trans-Am sedan. In a year when every manufacturer offers hood scoops, Ford outdoes them all with an AA/Fuel dragster-style bug-catcher sticking right out through a hole in the hood. Even more than that, it's only partially ersatz. Let no one hint that Dearborn stylists are revisionists when they assault the mirror problem, either. The outside rear-view mirrors are housed in body-colored fairings to cheat the wind. Scoops are always good things to have, even if they aren't functional, and that's justification enough for the mock air gobblers on the rear fenders just below the C-pillars. From its pinned hood to its tape-striped spoiler, the Mach I is the 1969 edition of what Ford Motor Company stylists think you want in a specialty car. It still looks like a Mustang but it's the toughest one yet. 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鈥攁ll 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. 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. Well, fetlocks anyway. We expect a lot from a package as bold as the Mach I鈥攂ut it doesn't come through. The big 428 Cobra Jet needs very little introduction to performance enthusiasts.

However, shoehorning it into the engine room is a task with a difficulty-quotient exceeded only by changing the spark plugs once it's there. Conservatively rated at 335 hp at 5200 rpm it's the same prime mover that pushes NHRA super stock Mustangs through the quarter in the mid-11s with speeds in the 120-mph range. Torque is its most important product and torque is available on instant notice without having to climb high into the rpm scale. The standard dual exhaust system, which ends in two pairs of chrome tipped pipes under the rear bumper, allows the Cobra Jet to rumble in a fashion that puts its competition to shame. It's so loud at full throttle that we wonder how it will fare with the law in some of the more picayunish states like California and Pennsylvania. With all of this鈥攁nd a 3.91 axle ratio to hoot鈥攖he Mach I was pretty well prepared for the acceleration part of the test. That is to say it was all ready except for its built-in lack of traction. Even the F70 Goodyear Polyglas tires failed to help much and quarter-mile times suffered accordingly. Our best efforts resulted in a 14.3-second run at 100 mph but most runs were clustered around 14.4 seconds. Now this isn't slow鈥攍et there be no misunderstanding about that鈥攂ut the potential of the big Cobra Jet doesn't really show up when you have to part-throttle most of the way through low gear. In this case the automatic transmission is clearly the most advantageous setup because it allows the driver better control of wheelspin. Even so, anyone wanting to get the most out of his Cobra Jet should think of big sticky tires as a necessity.

Ford expresses confidence that the Mustang Mach-E, which has 50/50 weight distribution, will be the best-handling SUV it offers. When the GT model does come out, it will come in two variants: the standard GT and the GT Performance Edition. Both GTs will boast 459 horsepower and 612 lb-ft of torque, and Ford claims the GT Performance Edition is capable of zero to 60 mph in the mid-three-second range. Speculation about a Shelby variant got the thumbs down from Ford, but there's still a possibility that we could see Mach-Es at a performance level above the GT. The Mustang Mach-E features three driving modes named Whisper, Engage, and Unbridled. Each offers specific changes to the driving experience such as steering tweaks, varied pedal feel, gauge-cluster graphics, and specifically tuned sound. Ford developed sounds that mimic, among others, Blade Runner and Batman's Tumbler, and when the EV is started, it sounds like the ominous background rhythm in the Stranger Things theme song. Whisper mode is for calm driving. The steering is relaxed, the throttle is less aggressive, and the graphics and ambient lighting inside are subtle. The Engage mode is for a more balanced drive.