The second chapter of the Mustangs history is as exciting as the first one. Ford had to contend with a couple of very important factors. First and foremost the Mustangs popularity and sales success was a hard thing to repeat and second the competition would be trying to take in some of that success away.
For the first change over in the Mustang it had to be a better, nicer looking car, with better performance, but yet it had to look like a Mustang. There couldn't be any doubt about it.
The familiar features had to be there. The side scope, the running horse up front, and the now familiar and defining shape of long hood and short rear deck. The three body styles would remain in the line up.
The hardtop coupe, the convertible and the fast-back.
As performance wars increase so did the need of a bigger engine for the Mustang. Ford decided to give the Mustang a boost by giving it the first big block engine the 390 ci. That had to be considered when designing the new car. It had to be a bit bigger so the engine could fit. The weight distribution also had to be looked at so it could maintaining it's good stability.
The final design was a well balanced style, that did look like a Mustang even though a little bigger and a bit heavier (less than 150 pounds more). The most striking changes were a bigger grill, a more sculpted side scoop and the rear treatment was a recessed panel with integrated rear lights and the word mustang in the back. An optional hood had hot air extractors with built in turning signals.
There were of course improvements in the Mustang with the new design some examples are dual hydraulic braking system, anti corrosion brake lines, for the first time in a Mustang a combined auto / Manual transmission the Select Shift Cruise-o-Matic, improved padding in the interior for safety, safety handles on the doors and shatterproof glass.
What did all that do for sales? Well people agreed, sales continued strong. The Mustang started a trend to win on the sales floor war against the new competition, that still holds true today.
The 1967 Mustang performance
