With sales falling and girth increasing, Ford reinvented the once-popular Mustang pony car in 1974. The Mustang II would now be a subcompact and was 500 lbs. lighter than the year before, just in time to save money at the gas pump (thanks to the OPEC oil embargo).
This ’74 Mustang II coupe last ran in 2014 and needs some tinkering, but the seller has cleaned it up some. Located in Stephenville, Texas, this project Ford is available here on craigslist for $3,000. Kudos to Pat L. for another discovery!
Ford no doubt accomplished its financial goals with the ’74 Mustang II as sales did an almost immediate turnabout. As such, Ford executive Lee Iacocca would strike gold twice with the pony car, which sold more than a million copies over the next five years.
Because of the downsizing that took place, a 4-cylinder engine could now do the work of an I-6 and a 2.8-liter V6 would take over for the 302 V8 (which would come back later). The “new” car would borrow a lot from the Pinto in its design and for that reason, it’s probably the least sought-after iteration of the Mustang today with collectors,
The seller has owned this Ford for at least a decade and had it running the last time that far back. The fuel pump may have done it in, but if you pour gasoline directly into the carburetor, you can get the engine to show signs of like.
The Mustang has an automatic transmission, and we don’t know if the downtime has hurt it any (other than it will need a change of fluids). We’re told that everything is there except for the fan shroud and the lower front valance.
Photos provided by the seller show the Ford before and after it received a bath. It seems to clean up well enough and the body looks okay, but there’s no discussion of any rust or anything else relative to the physical car.
The seller goes out of his/her way to make sure you know what you’d be getting into with this Mustang as a project.
Reading between the lines, at 70,000 miles and wearing “II” badging, this Mustang won’t be worth a small fortune regardless of how much you might put into it.