Tempting!

 

While the roof went to the back on the 67-68, take a look at the side profile of the 65-70 cars. A visual trailing edge. Compare with the bloated 71-73.

 

 

This is the most elegantly rendered fastback trailing edge line in the history of cars, never mind Mustangs. Pure art.

 

Seems like we both misunderstood one another Steve ! What I mean by full fastback is the car's roofline going all the way back thru the decklid/trunk but yet there is still an angle or slope to it, now if this is what your referring to as a visual trailing edge ? then we are now on the same page and I totally agree with you..

But when you previously mentioned having a ledge behind the roofline, I really didn't understand exactly what you were referring to so I took it as meaning you were referring to your 65 fastback which has a horizontal, non sloped trunk..


Anyway, now I know what you mean by visual trailing edges as slopes/curves ala side profiles (65-70) Mustang..


As for the bloated 71-73 cars go.. I never liked the design as I considered them as not fastbacks, but more like flatbacks in which there was no curve, slope or roofline angle whatsoever and the visibility was a nightmare to say the very least as I drove a friend's 71 Mach 1 and couldn't wait to get the hell out of it due to not being able to see anything from the rear glass section and as for backing the car up ? Forget about it, I was so paranoid that I was going to hit something that I pulled the car off next to the curb in front of his house and told him to back it into his garage instead..

Needless to say, he laughed his butt off at me for that

 

I remember driving an early 70's Mustang as well. Makes a current Camaro seem like it has great visibility.

 

At least the current Camaro has somewhat of slope/downward angle in it's roof line.. But I think the main reason for Camaro's poor visibility is due from it's really high waist beltline along with it's lower/chopped designed greenhouse..

 

off topic, but had to comment...http://s301.photobucket.com/user/for...tml?sort=3&o=8

 

I'm definitely familiar with the flying helicopter pig, as I've been a huge Pink Floyd fan since the late 60's..

In fact someone else posted that image a few years back on here as well

 

Do we miss those guys or what ! My fav band of all time .

 

I can't believe we haven't seen the new Mustang yet... amazing.

On the topic of the "Chally" err... Challenger; I am a Mopar fan since I was a kid but I'm on my second Mustang GT since they're just the best of the current breed.

The current gen Challenger drives like a pickup truck compared to the Mustang. Isolating, numb, ponderous and huge. No thanks.

'Cuda or revised Challenger-- I will give a SERIOUS thought to either one. So far though, my 2011 GT has exceeded my every expectation. What a car!

 

We should see something as we get closer to the reveal day. I would think maybe late this year (oct-dec) we should see teasers but up until the actual reveal i doubt we would see an actual body. Wether finalized or still in testing

 

Thanks! That was for my benefit right?

 

 

http://jalopnik.com/more-proof-the-2...t-re-511354371

Another mule?

 

Looks pretty much like the other old-body mules.

 

Yet there's some of us that gleefully chose an '05 LS2 GTO over the 300hp turd of the '05 Mustang back in 2005, and would make that same choice a million times over.

Different strokes for different folks.

For what it's worth, a year later after that choice, I got a 2006 Mustang, while keeping the GTO, as the GTO was my primary and daily. The Mustang was my exes primary. It was pretty clear which one was actually the fast car (GTO) which one handled better (GTO) which one was more fun (GTO) which one had the better interior (GTO) which one had the better transmission (GTO), which one had the better brakes (GTO) and which one had the better radio (Mustang) and also which one looked better (Mustang).

Looks aren't everything. Some people wanted a better car. I still fell in love with that Mustang, regardless, even if the GTO could best it in every category other than appearance.

 

What the heck was Pontiac thinking when they designed (appearance wise) the GTO, looks like it was beat with an ulgy stick! Could have been a lasting car!

 

their budget was shot. They had a car that was slated to last three more model years before the new one was set to be made.

They americanized it by taking away the 19" wheels for 17's and took the aggressive bumpers and put on very plan, general pontiac branded bumpers on it and called it a day.

As an engineering standpoint, they did next to nothing to boost sales for three years, and to make a case for Pontiac to get it own sporty car to replace the dead Firebird.

Unfortunately (as they should have expected, but obviously didn't do any test groups) while we noted the true pedigree of a great car underneath the sheet metal, the bland bumpers and price gouging, along with low production made it a hard sell early on.

They finally spent a little engineering money with the exhaust change and hood change, which probably put Bob Lutz in a bad position when the bean counters said "You said this would cost us nothing, but now we are having to reengineer"

In 2006, the 2005 Monaro production was extended, and we got some GTO's here for '06.

So the Monaro got an extra year of overlap, which pushed back the launch of it's replacement. Unfortunately they didn't come to the table with a new coupe to replace it for sure, as it was uncertain. Through the excersize though, the Camaro was born out of it. At the time, they were looking to subsidize costs and via an offshoot of it all, create a next gen GTO based off the underpinnings of the platform, but then, of course GM started to bellyflop, and started trimming brand lines and the rest is history.

I will say this. The GTO was an amazing car, and I had a great seven years with it. If it were in the budget, I would absolutely consider buying one for a daily driver, and to keep the Mustang garaged, but that's not in the cards right now, and I can't be like Jay Leno and have ten different cars.

I love my Mustang, and part of what sold me on it, was when I test drove a Camaro, and it felt EXACTLY like my GTO, just with a new wrapper on it.

P.S. one major confusion is that sales killed the GTO. Sales (overall, not just Pontiac) kept the GTO from going forward to a new generation, it was always slated to be a low production, three year run to fill the gap at Pontiac.

 

Perhaps there were some of those who gleefully chose an 05 LS2 GTO over the 300HP turd of the 05 Mustang GT back in 2005..

However I wasn't one of them, as I proudly still own my 300HP turd of a 05 Mustang GT and would make the same choice a million times over and my reason is this, I've been die hard Mustang and Ford fan ever since the 1st generation Mustangs were introduced back in 64 and will always remain loyal to Mustang and Ford..

I also remember the 1st generation GTO from (64-70) and when Pontiac brought it back in 2004, it didn't remind you of those 1st generation cars whatsoever in fact why Pontiac even put the GTO name on it is an abomination in itself that was really nothing more than just a re-bagged bloated Cavalier with an LS2 from down under (Holden Monaro) far cry from it's original American muscle car roots..

At least when you see a Mustang, you're able to recognize it as a Mustang and although the Fox bodies were completely different from the 1st generation cars they still carried the traditional long hood and short rear deck as I owned 4 fox bodies until purchasing my current 05 GT in which you refer to as a turd, but then again, you also owned one of those 300HP turds as well..

So as you said, looks aren't everything, but on the other hand who has the most power isn't everything either and if I were so concerned about having more bragging rights ? I would simply upgrade to a set of high flow ported heads, cams or go forced induction or even better yet look for a wrecked 2011-14 GT and do a 5.0 engine swap and still come out ahead over getting another vehicle altogether whether it may be better or not..


What's important to me, is that I love and enjoy my Mustang just the way it is regardless of whether it's 300HP turd 4.6.. As I don't race my car or use it as a track car, therefore 300HP is just fine as far as I'm concerned..


So just as you quoted, Different Strokes for different folks !