Ford Mustang

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The first Mustang left the assembly line the morning of 9 March 1964, and by the end of this year, has been sold 263,434 cars. In mid-1965 was a model of a fastback body, aimed against the competitive model Plymouth Barracuda and looking harmonious base coupe. Very attractive appearance was a car with a body convertible (convertible).As a basis of design was used stylistic "key" successful luxury coupe Continental Mark II mid-fifties, with its distinctive proportions with a long hood and short trunk and plastic sides of the bus with a kink in the rear wheel arches. However, compared with the exterior of "Mustang" was less severe and more dynamic.The design was considered for its time, very successful, albeit unconventional for America - even expressed the opinion that in this respect, "Mustang" with its clean lines of a relatively compact body and a moderate amount of chromium in the finish was closer to the European rather than American models to the mass of the years, with their characteristic size redundant and unnecessary fad shiny ornaments.From a technical point of view of the same car was not a revelation.The base engine is a well-known in the U.S. six-cylinder powerplant from the Ford Falcon, bored to 170 cubic inches (~ 2.8 liters.), It is aggregated with a three-stage mechanical or two-and three-speed automatic transmissions.The front suspension has been generally adopted from the same "folk", and structurally a variant of the usual parallelogram suspension on two-wishbone suspension - in this case, a shock absorber in a block with a spring was put in the space between the arms and placed over the upper arm. Such a suspension (in America it is called the «double-wishbone») was slightly smaller than the usual parallelogram, in particular, freeing space for large engines V8. Sway bar was offered as an option.The rear suspension was dependent, with a longitudinal semi-elliptic leaf springs and a rigid beam axle.Brakes in the base were the drums on all wheels, vacuum booster was offered as an option. Completes the picture worm steering gear with circulating balls from the "folk" with a large gear ratio (power steering in those years was in this class are relatively malovostrebovannoy option).As a result, although the handling and driving characteristics were better than the basic model - "Folk" - at the expense of a lower center of gravity and change the settings chassis, but not by much.In 1965, the standard Mustang interior introduced separately adjustable driver seat and passenger, radio AM, shift lever on the floor. Also optionally available are sun visors, mechanical remote control mirror, floor console and bench front seat. Another example of the interior was «Rally-Pac»: clock and a tachometer to mount on the steering column. He was available for $ 69.30 (with the installation of an approved $ 75.95).In April 1965, the package offered to buyers GT, it includes: tuned suspension, sharper steering, front disc brakes, dual exhaust system and a special body paint.Particularly powerful version of the famous racing driver Carroll Shelby studio - Shelby GT350 - produced in the body fastback, to complete 289-m engine V8, boosted to 306 hp and sold in salons anyone.In 1966, the base Mustang was equipped with a base 120-horsepower in-line six cylinders and a capacity of 200 cubic inches (3.2 liters). In the form of options were available in three 289-x engine V8, ranging from 200 to 271 hp Version of the Shelby GT350 was now available in four colors, with automatic transmission and a mechanical supercharger Paxton, allowed the achievement of certain motor speed to increase capacity up to 420-430 hp Also in 1966, the Mustang was one of the first mono car radio with bands AM / FM, and sun visors became standard equipment.