1970 Mustang, the Last of the Classic Pony Car?

1970 rolled around and Ford remained the leader in the pony car revolution. With Camaro comfortably in the rear view mirror little was done to change the 1970 Mustang. It was a very successful year at the race track for Mustang winning the Trans Am series with the likes of Parnelli Jones at the wheel of the Boss 302 Mustang. It is interesting to note that 1970 also brought the last year of production of the “classic” Shelby Mustang and even those were 1969 Mustangs with minor changes from 69 and updated VIN numbers.

At a glance the easiest way to tell the difference between a 1969 Mustang and a 1970 Mustang is the ever changing grill. The 4 headlight system from 1969 is now gone replaced by single headlights place on the outside and flanked by simulated air scoops. The protruding 3 lense tail lights, they were replaced by a similar 3 lense set up but were now inset into the tail panel. Also gone was the simulated air intakes behind the doors.

Thankfully there still remained a wide choice of power trains on the 1970 Mustang. Amazingly the 6 cylinder engine was still the standard offering up 155 Horse power. For those not so faint of heart the 429 Boss engine was also available rated at 375 horse power which most Mustang enthusiast will agree was grossly under rated to satisfy government regulation at the time. An interesting note about the Boss 429 is that the automatic Transmission was not available in the standard boss bust was available in the Boss 429 with the Drag pack option.

In 1970 more than ever to that point Mustang reached out to the Luxury crowd with the Grande model. Offering 55 pounds of special insulation for a quieter ride and special high back bucket seats with cloth hound’s-tooth insets.

Was this the last year for the true classic Mustang pony car? Most will agree that is was, but don’t sell short the awesome models to come.