Mustang II vs. Monza

Chris_V wrote:

jstein77 wrote: You know the Mustang II was basically a glorified Pinto, don't you?

yeah, just slightly longer wheelbase and factory V8. Proportionally they are a little goofy, which is why I photoshopped that silver convertible up there. Moved the front wheels 4" forward and a few inches upward to fix the proportion problems of the front fender, and then sunk the stock bumpers in by a similar amount in order to make them less bulky while still being there.

Dang you got it! I looked at that and said wow M2's aren't that bad at all. Great work!

bravenrace wrote: One of the reasons I posted this was to see what you guys thought of the Monza. I wonder how many of the critics have had much seat time in one. I had a '79 Starfire (same car) with a Buick V-6 and a 4 speed. It was really a very nice driving and handling car. And once I put a cam, 4 bbl carb, sway bars, Koni's and good tires on it, it was extremely fun and well balanced. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat if it was solid and the right price.

I have to admit...I'm on your side in this. I had the Pontiac "Sunbird" (also a 79) for half a minute. Same Buick 231, but an automatic. Also had the "radial tuned suspension" option. Can't recall the option code (especially since I bought it used), but folks at the time said it did for the little car what the F41 option did for the big one (F-body Firebird).

Mine wasn't a "Formula", but it did have those wheels.

I like the look of the Monza a lot better. What kind of rear suspension did they have? In California I see lots of '64-'70 Mustangs. Particularly near SF I think because there was a plant in Milpitas. I never see Mustang IIs. There's a shop nearby that has a beat looking semi abandoned Monza.

Wikipedia's GM H body page indicates that they had the same rear suspension design as the Ford Fox body.

I don't think there's much MII in that car left. At least their shouldn't be.

In reply to ST_ZX2:

My very slight bias on these two makes me lean towards the MII, but barely, however I do have have a 73 Capri

Moparman wrote:

Streetwiseguy wrote:

Moparman wrote:

bravenrace wrote:

jstein77 wrote: You know the Mustang II was basically a glorified Pinto, don't you?

Just like how the Monza was a glorified Vega. What's your point?

And the Gen III Camaro was based on the Monza, and on and on we go.

That last one is a pretty big leap, I'm afraid. They shared a rear suspension design and a manufacturer. The third gen was a fairly clean sheet of paper, but it did use GM design philosophy, and shared a parts bin. Lower control arms from Monte Carlo, seats from Cavalier (shudder) interior fitments from "crappy plastics 'r us"...

I thought it was a bit more than that. I seem to remember there was some front suspension sharing as well. The original S10 pickup was also a recipient of H-body tech.

The Monza had upper and lower control arms, coil springs and shocks. The Camaro had struts. Nothing common between the two.