1967 Ford Mustang Fastback Retro Review (Mustang chronicles part IV)

A copy of a 1967 Mustang owners manual will have to make do for a photo.  I don't have a photo of the car in this episode.

    It was a hot Summer night sometime in the early/mid 1990's.  I'm guessing it was well after Midnight?, I don't know all the details.  I had been out of the USN for a year or two by that time and was living back in my hometown of Bellevue, Ohio.  Besides yearning to get back to SoCal and listening to music, a lot of my time was spent just driving around.  Anyone who has followed Moon in the Sky knows that I have a love for the original Ford Mustang.  I have had two so far in my life and hope to raise that number as the time goes by.

    Anyway, since getting sober the previous year, when ever my mind would not quit or I just could not sleep (which was quite a bit), I would just jump in my 1967 Mustang coupe and take a drive along the coast of Lake Erie.  There were quite a few 3AM drives like that, just me and my tape player to help me get my mind together.  Honestly, looking back I miss that!  I really do, I know it sounds crazy when going through a crappy time in my life, but there was something about it that I do miss.  Anyway, that is not what this episode of Moon in the Sky is about.

    The people I used to hang out with at that time in my life were/are still into vintage cars.  One of my best friends has a 69 Dodge Charger, another one would have a rotating stable of 1950's to 1970's Fords.  We would all gather uptown and just drive around our town and other towns close by.  Think of the 1973 classic film "American Graffiti" and transpose it to the 1980's and 1990's.  Not much had changed for us who were young at this time in America.  And thank God for that, because I feel so grateful I got to have that sort of youth when I did, even if I did not know it then.

    Another of the retro-60's Muscle Car group I knew all had a '67 Mustang.  I also drove a 67 Mustang, but that is the only thing that was same with our cars, the year of manufacture.  Mine was a base model coupe with a Straight-Six 200 engine and C4 Cruise-O-Matic transmission that was possibly capable of about 120 HP.

   John's '67 Mustang was the Fastback 2+2 body style and had a big block 390 cubic inch engine with a toploader 4-speed manual transmission.  When Chevy introduced the Camaro in the 1967 model year to compete with the Mustang they offered a big block engine (I think 396?, not totally sure?).  This sent chills down the spines at the Ford camp so in haste they made the 1967 Mustang slightly longer and widened the shock towers to put their own big block engine in it.  Then engine that was chosen ended up being the 390.  Just off the top of my head, I think the 390 put out about 320 HP?  (I did not spend hours researching this one, so I could be wrong?)

   Late this fateful night John actually let me drive his Mustang!  He was like that...want to take it for a spin?, here's the keys....  I was leery of letting my Girlfriend drive my Mustang in a parking lot for a hundred yards...  

    That night we were hanging out at a Ken's barn, which is about three miles outside the limits of Bellevue, Ohio.  Pushing in the clutch, putting the gear in neutral and turning the key...the engine roared to life.  And I'm talking about about a throbbing pulsating coming from the other side of the dash and firewall, not the meek like sounds my 200 made...  This sounded like a monster that had been awakened, I you have not drove a big block muscle car from the 60's...there is no way I can explain it.

   Pushing the clutch and putting it in reverse and backing out, then putting it into first I pulled up the the stop sign.  Then letting the clutch out and pushing the fuel pedal and turning onto the main road that lead to town...

  

                                                                    HOLY SH!$!!!!!!

   The tires made a squelch that came from some unearthly source, the RPM gauge instantly jumped to the right, the speedo went up to a very high number that I have forgotten....  I was thrown back in my seat with a feeling of thrill in my gut.  

    Barreling down US Rt 20 headed towards a sleepy unsuspecting Bellevue, Ohio, I pushed the clutch in again, let off the fuel and put the Hurst shifter into second.  The clutch springs back hard enough to give me shin splints, once again the tires scream.  Once again the tachometer does it's time honoured dance of speed and power and swings to the right.  The speed increases...

    Putting it into third, I glanced at the speed...I was well over 70 MPH, with very little effort.  With my Mustang with the straight-six it took some effort and time to get here, with the 390...this was laughable.

I think the tires gave another screech well I let off the clutch in third as well.

    I was about to push the clutch in to put it in fourth gear well I saw the outskirts of town fly past very fast.  First the blue War-surplus quontsa hut that was the local NAPA, then the Dairy Queen, then the sign that reads "Welcome to Bellevue, Ohio, Built over subterranean streams". "Speed limit 35"...  I was going well over 85...

   I never made it into fourth gear....instead I found out the brakes worked just fine.  I drove through town and then back to Ken's barn.  I handed the keys back to John and thanked him for the life changing drive.  Jumping into my Mustang, it literally felt like a wind up toy.  Here I got to drive the smallest and largest engines offered in the 67 Mustang within minutes of each other.

   Looking back at this, it makes me feel sad for the youth of today who might never get to experience something fun like this.  A chuck of Detroit steel on Cragar SS Wheels with Hurst Shifter and an engine that will make the fuel move before you very eyes...  And with this little drive, I can sort of understand the mindset of the insurance companies...but damn that was fun!!!!

    John has passed on a couple years ago. Before he passed, he gave me a license plate frame from his Mustang, I still have it and it is on my current '67 Mustang.  I ended up selling my Mustang that I had then (yes...I hope to have it back!!!).   

   I ended up finding another '67 Mustang (both of my Mustangs have been featured on Moon in the Sky), this one has the 289 engine, which would put it power wise somewhere between my straight-six 200 and the big block 390 engine.  Hopefully I can have some fun and not get into trouble with this one?  

 

My first '67 Mustang...this is NOT the one I was doing 50 MPH over the speed limit in...