In the first year, Ford sold more than 600,000 Mustangs. Derivatives came quickly as customers wanted to personalize their Mustang. There were numerous body styles, from coupe to fastback to Mustang convertible, and scores of powertrain and styling packages.
The original MACH1 Mustang was introduced in 1968 as a concept car with a hatched fastback, aggressive hood and side scoops and a unique paint scheme. In 1969, the Mustang Mach 1 was one of three new Mustang models that made it into production. It featured the familiar fastback body with simulated side scoops high on the quarter panel, an aggressively raked air dam on the front and a spoiler on the rear, “comfort-weave” leather seats and the now famous, “shaker hood scoop” mounted directly onto the carburetor and fitting through an opening in the hood.
Underneath, the 1969 Mustang MACH1 offered a 250-horsepower 351 Windsor V-8 or a 335-hp 428 Cobra-Jet mill. Mach 1 and its stablemate, the Mustang Boss 302, reenergized the fastback, tripling sales of the body style in 1969. The much smaller Mustang II model, introduced in 1974 as a response to the nation’s “energy crisis,” was the weaker sibling to its older muscle car brothers. The 1974 Mach 1 featured a 2.8-liter V-6 with dual exhaust while the other Mustang s of the period carried 2.3-liter I-4s as the base engine.
Mustang
