If you're looking to modernize your street rod's handling, the Mustang II's rack-and-pinion steering and reasonably good disc brakes provide a well-worn route; it's not a particularly tough swap (as such things go), and you get great aftermarket parts availability. Mustang IIs have donated front-end parts to just about every smallish car and light truck you can imagine. That's why it came as a shock to see a fully intact '74 Mustang at a local yard yesterday. This car is equipped with the "Cologne" 2.6 liter V6 engine, so perhaps the serious junkyard vultures know something about the V6 cars that I don't.

We're also partial to the Mustang II. A Pinto-based Mustang? Great idea. And don't forget about all the non-car products that Travis follows in the Auto Branding Adventures. There are countless examples but our question is, what's the worst?

The Triumph Spitfire has good Hell Potential, of course, but it's just too slow to be cool enough. But when you go for the GT6... now you're talking! So head on down to Columbia and pick up this 1971 Triumph GT6 (go here if the ad disappears) for just one thousand dollars. That seems pretty cheap, doesn't it? Well, some negative-minded folks might read the part of the car's description that reads "car has set for 23 years" and flee in terror... but you're not like that or you wouldn't be here! Really, storing a British Leyland car in a pine forest in the Deep South is much like storing a good bottle of wine in a temperature-controlled cellar... except for the constant rain, temperature extremes, and critters making nests in the upholstery, that is. But the engine turns over by hand, so a tiny portion of the battle is already won!

Is there any American vehicle that can possibly stack up against a British Leyland sports car in a PCH challenge? Yes! You say you've always admired the Boss 429 Mustang, but those numbers-matching, Barrett-Jackson schmucks have pushed the price up too high to even contemplate one for your own project? You just need to expand your definition of eligible Mustangs, is all, and you can start by looking at this 1974 Mustang II with 429 Police Interceptor engine (go here if the ad disappears). Someone has managed to fit several acres of 429 into what amounts to a Pinto engine compartment, and you even get a tough 9" rear with 4.11 gears as part of the package. It looks like some work is needed here, but if, by some miracle when you finish the project you'll have the most badass Malaisemobile in your time zone. Imagine the respect you'll get using your Boss 429 Mustang II as a daily driver (that is, if you can survive past the first week after you get it on the road)!

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Note to designers: Put a huge horse emblem on the grille, so everyone knows it's not a Pinto. You hear me? Not a Pinto! Oh, wait... the Pinto had a horse emblem, too.


Also, those scoop-like indentations in front of the rear wheelwells let you know it's a Mustang. Some things never change. Actually, some of the Fox Mustangs lacked this feature.


A fair number of kit cars used Mustang II taillights (and, of course, the front suspension), which themselves were reinterpretations of the mid-60s taillight design.


Hey, isn't that a '66 Mercedes-Benz 200D parked around the corner? I wonder if the Mustang and the Mercedes share an owner.