This year, the Super Cars are better than ever, but the sporty cars are grabbing the headlines with their big power boosts. Pontiac's GTO, the Hemis, and Ford's 390-engined intermediates had the power, Oldsmobile's 4-4-2 had the handling, and the Buick Skylark Gran Sport had the brakes. Last year, the "Super Cars" were the big news. One touch that we liked for its refreshing honesty were those louvers in the hood they're real! Obviously inspired by the upward radiator ducting on the Ford GT racing cars, these embryonic slits exhaust a small percentage of radiator air, probably improving the cooling plus melting windshield ice. It looks like Ford has decided the Mustang is going to be around for awhile, so why not invest some money where the occupants can enjoy it? The ride has been improved to the point that it's every bit as good as most of the intermediates, except over thank-you-ma'ams and the like. The interior sparkles with a new instrument panel layout, and more luxurious hardware. It's heftier, and more substantial looking. It's a much better looking car than the photographs show, and we think the styling is tougher than last year's. And it's very hard to throw it off balance or make it come unglued.Īnyone who likes the old Mustang ought to go nuts for the '67. True, initial understeer is there, but oversteer can be induced by a flick of the wheel here, a poke at the throttle there. It doesn't seek the right line instinctively, the way a thoroughbred will, but once pointed in the proper direction, it clambers eagerly around the corner. The Mustang corners willingly, if somewhat clumsily. With power steering, street tire pressures and no limited-slip differential, we felt we were going as fast around Ford's neat little handling loop as we ever have, with no more effort or discomfort than driving a Continental in a straight line. Of course, those fat Firestone Wide Ovals don't hurt, either. The Mustang's chassis has been around long enough that Ford has learned to tune the suspension. If all this rubber-peeling speed weren't matched by good handling and braking, we'd be a little nervous about this swing toward Watusi engines in Pigmy chassis. And this year, the "Sportshift" feature that allows instant 1-2-3 upshifts and 3-2 downshifts comes with the Mustang automatic. Manual 4-speeds are keen, but the automatic is keener, even faster out of the hole, too. We could do without the tape deck and the tilt wheel and all that, but we'd hate to lose the power steering and automatic transmission. Maybe we're getting feeble but we don't think we'd like to own a car like this with manual steering. Nonetheless, we enjoyed having those options. In a car stripped of luxury items, and with a 4-speed, we figure the 390 could easily get down into the mid-14 range (or as fast as last year's Shelby Mustang). Driving as laconically as we ever do in a car like this, we knocked off 15.2-second quarter-miles with the air conditioner and the stereo tape deck going full blast and letting the XPL 3-speed automatic shift when it felt like it. As a matter of fact, the Mustang 390 GT is the fastest of the current sporty-type cars from Detroit-including the Camaro, Barracuda, Marlin and Mustang's heavier brother, the Cougar. compact, it comes on like spit on a griddle. In a heavy, full-sized Ford it isn't much to sound off about, but in a 3400-lb.
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