1978 Mustang – Muscle Car Facts

“1978 Ford Mustang II takes you away from an ordinary day” 1978 Mustang brochure

• 1978 was the first and only year the King Cobra was offered.
• A new options package named the “Fashion Accessory Package” was introduced and marketed particularly to women.
• With a redesign coming for the 1979 year model, the 1978 Mustang was the last year of the second generation Mustangs, as well as the last year for the Mach I.

From 1975 to 1978, Ford changed very little about the body style or performance of the Mustang. They made up for the lack of change by offering different option packages each year. 1978 was no different, and along with the Appearance Décor Group—a package designed to make the hatchback models sportier—the Fashion Accesory Package was the first option package Ford marketed directly at women Mustang drivers.

The 1974 Mustang brochure introduces the option like this: “Fashion Accessory Package. Especially for you, lovely lady!” For the exterior, the only feature this package included was a pin stripe, but the interior included Fresno body-cloth seat inserts, illuminated vanity mirror and pockets on the doors, among other things.

Most notable, however, was the introduction of the King Cobra. The exterior is most noticeable by its large front air dam, rear spoiler and the large snake decal stretching across the hood, strikingly similar to the hood bird on the Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Also worth nothing, a “5.0” decal was used for the first time on the King Cobra, a practice that would continue for many 5.0 litre Mustang’s to come. The King Cobra came standard with the 302 cubic inch V-8 engine that produced 134 horsepower (this engine was available for all other Mustang models, as well). About 5,000 King Cobras were produced.

Other engine options were the standard 140 cubic inch four-cylinder that produced 92 horsepower and a 171 cubic inch V-6 rated at 103 horsepower. Both these engines were the same options (along with the V-8) that had been available since 1975. The regular Cobra option was available as well, and was basically a trim package with top and hood stripes and a “Cobra” decal on the side.

After a production decrease the previous year, 1978 saw total production increase to 192,410, up almost 40,000 Mustang from the 1977 model year.

Coupe

Other than the option packages available, little changed with the coupe version of the Mustang, though the rear seat did receive a division in the center where it previously had been a single cushion since Mustang’s inception (this was standard on all models). The 1978 models also added the option of a removable moonroof. As it had since 1964, the coupe remained the best selling Mustang model, with production at 81,304 and the lowest Mustang base price of $3,824. In 1978, the coupe was the only Mustang with a suggested base price under $4,000.

3-Door 2+2

Like the previous year, all hatchback models distinguished themselves from the coupes with a black grille and were available with removable T-Tops. Because of this, and the available Cobra II and King Cobra option packages, sales of the formerly slumping model were significantly up again this year, with production totaling 68,408.

Ghia

New this year to the Ghia was fold-down rear seats, formerly only available on hatchback models. Otherwise, the Ghia remained very similar to the previous two year models, with standard aluminum wheels, side accent stripes and a leather wrapped steering wheel.

Mach I

For what would be its last production year, the Mach I battled back from a few years of declining sales and saw an increase to 7,968. Still, it was the lowest selling model in the Mustang line with competition from the Cobra II and King Cobra option packages available for the hatchback, and had the highest base Mustang price of $4,430.

Competition

The only cars that could still be called pony cars were the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, which were still selling cars with high-performance engines, though emissions regulations, economic woes and a fuel shortage would end even their successful run (116,535 Firebirds were sold in 1979) by the end of the decade.

Those same problems are what Mustang had been trying to take advantage of since the 1974 smaller redesign. Now, Mustang was competing with other compact and sub-compact cars like the Toyota Celica and Honda Accord, which were selling more and more cars every year as Americans began to accept and buy more imports. Though the AMC Gremlin ceased production in 1978, it had sold nearly 700,000 cars since it was launched in 1970.

This market Mustang was competing in was fairly new and largely depended on the ever-changing economic tides and government requirements. An American public once interested in only American vehicles that were either huge and/or high-performance were accepting smaller cars, many of which were imports. The Mustang II was a response to this, and the third generation would take the response even further.