10 Ford Mustangs That Belong in a Junkyard
The Mustang, of course, is a legend in the world of American muscle, but it hasn’t exactly been a picture of health during its longevity.
After all, the Mustang is Ford’s longest running nameplate and began in 1964 as a cheap sports car helping ignite the pony car revolution. But it didn’t take for long for it to become an icon of muscle cars with legendary models that turned us on with its killer looks, its standout design, or its jaw dropping performance. The Mustang still reigns at the drag strips, and tears up the streets as we speak today, thanks to its powerful engines.
Ford has produced its fair share of duds, but let’s not pretend the glory is all it’s all it’s cracked up to be. But whether it’s engines that were unreliable or just downright lackluster performance, some Mustangs were so far off the mark that they’ve become the subject of jokes in muscle car circles. Here’s a look at 10 Mustangs we wouldn’t go near, even with a ten-foot pole, as the seventh-gen Mustang hits the scene.
1969 Ford Mustang E
Before EcoBoost engines and the futuristic Mach-E comes the 1969 Mustang E—Economy for short. It had an incredibly underwhelming 4.inch inline 155 hp 6 under the hood, making the Ford a run of the mill pony car that Ford was trying to run in the MobilGas economy run. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t exactly a winner.
EcoBoost engines and the futuristic Mach E are incredible, but they've got nothing on the 1969 Mustang E’s E—Economy. This underwhelming pony car was almost as desperate as Ford’s attempt to compete in the MobilGas Economy Run under a lackluster 155 hp 4.1litlere inline-six under the hood. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t exactly a winner."
1974-1978 Ford Mustang II
In the late ’60s and early ’70s the Mustang was really rocking with hard core V8 power and lots of muscle. However, city life notwithstanding, the ’74s — the second generation Mustang — were a sharp left turn into disappointment.
After CAFE standards and rising imports, coupled with the oil crisis, American automakers had to dial down engine power and shrink displacement. Ford jumped on board in 1974, making the Mustang available with its first ever 4 cylinder—88 hp, 140 ci peashooter—or a so so 2.8 liter V6 and 105 hp. V8s made a comeback in 1975, but even those weren’t giving up much more than 122 hp by 1980. Not muscle car material exactly.
1978 Ford Mustang II King Cobra
The second gen Mustang II was sent off in 1978 and the powers that be at Ford decided to do it with a special King Cobra edition — limited to 4,313 units. I mean let’s be real there was nothing special about it. It was an absolute joke, and the Mustang likely ranks among one of Ford's worst efforts of the car.
Hoping to hype up the King Cobra’s performance image, Ford put a 5.0 liter V8 under the hood... don’t get excited, it didn’t give the Cobra any performance boost over the standard Mustang. The real 'upgrade' was all show: some stripes, a deep air dam and a flashy 'Pontiac Trans Am style' cobra snake decal. All bark, no bite.
1979-1984 Fox Body Mustang
Making up the range between the first and second gens, the third-gen Mustang, from 1979 to 1993, was a Fox-Body Mustang. The second oil crisis had really thrown a wrench in the works for Ford, so the beginning years were a bit rough.
For fuel delivery, early Fox-body Mustangs continued with carburetors, making for pretty anemic engines. Seriously, things didn’t really take off until the mid ’80s, when the V8s could push out at least 200 horsepower. Finally in 1985 Ford hit their stride with fuel injection and a boost to the Mustang.
1994-1995 Ford Mustang GT
Back in 1994, Ford finalized a major redesign after 15 years of the Mustang model, dropping the Fox Body and replacing it with the SN95 chassis. Along with the new platform came some styling shake-ups: Coupe, convertible and hatchback body styles were all shown together, along with the coupe hearkening back to convertibles that made a comeback as well as the notch and hatchback styles being officially retired.
Behind the hood, you stole between a V6 or the 215 horsepower 302 small block V8 gone from the Fox Body Mustang. The truth is, it was old fashioned, and stayed with a cable operated clutch, pushrods and distributor. It had a tendency to have head gasket failures and those maddening intermittent cut outs.
1998 Ford Mustang GT
Another headache of a model year was the 1998 Mustang. The biggest gripe of many owners was the seat of the pants launch lurch often associated with automatics, which they said plagued every Coprocarx model, not to mention less altruistic reliability issues. Not exactly smooth sailing.
A big gripe with these Mustangs was the cracked intake manifolds, which was due to a factory defect in their composite material. Eventually, Ford owned up to the problem, but the only cars they would fix were those made within seven years of the car hitting the assembly line. That left owners with older models still paying some pretty hefty repair bills.
1999-2001 Ford Mustang GT
A much larger facelift to the SN95 was bestowed around the time of the early 2000’s, bringing it a fresh new look and a few power gains. The problem with this strand of the modular 4.6 liter V8 was a serious quirk—the spark plugs would pop out when you were driving. It turns out Ford didn’t drill the threads deep enough at the factory. Talk about a facepalm moment.
Owners of the SN95 had their own share of problems with the manual transmission: gears that stuck or slipped out of gear, as well. These problems were eventually addressed by Ford in the 2002 model, but if you want a SN95, you should steer clear of the 1999–2001 Mustang GT—the years are trouble from top to bottom.
2006 Ford Mustang
A CarComplaints study has named 2006 the worst Mustang model year. With 247 owner complaints, it’s obviously all up hill from that point—failing underpinnings, peeling paint, name it. This one’s a total lemon.
This 2006 Mustang is a nightmare on wheels. But the transmission is never content with old age and always seems to cark it at around 65,000 miles, and the electrical bits are always found pulling the battery down flat and leaving you stuck. Then factor in exploding Takata airbags, peeling paint and the constant struggle to getting replacement parts, and you’ve got a car that’s more trouble than it’s worth.
2011 Ford Mustang GT
The 2011 Mustang GT has owners who have logged a jaw dropping 561 problems on Carproblemzoo and 93 complaints on CarComplaints. The Coyote 5.0 liter V8 that it came with had its own serious set of problems—most terrifyingly, an airbag that could explode, sending shrapnel into the cabin. Not the kind of thing you want in a muscle car.
Engine replacements, or rebuilds, were common and plenty of owners had to contend with piston defects—but nothing compared to the manual transmission, which liked to slip out of gear. On top of all this, the model had a laundry list of other problems, including body corrosion beneath the paint, power loss from a corroded throttle body, and paint flaking from the front edge of the hood. Gluteus flatface, big big thumbs down, definitely not Ford’s finest hour.
2012 Ford Mustang GT
Ford got rid of the old 4.0 liter V6 in 2011-2012 and is now using the new 3.7 liter Duratec V6. On paper at least, 305 horsepower seemed like at win, and better fuel efficiency thanks to upgraded transmissions. In fact, despite what anybody had told me up to this point, this engine actually had a fondness of engaging limp mode, randomly down shifting, and rapidly slowing to a halt without provocation. Now those are not exactly confidence inspiring.
Plenty of owners had their throttles bodies replaced in attempts to cure the problem, but Ford never owned up to the problem. As if that wasn’t enough, the 2012 Mustang GT came with a host of other headaches: This class also has had problems with slipping transmissions, control arm failures, and hood corrosion as well as peeling paint off the hood. Not the smooth ride you’d expect. Definitely not.
