71-73s ain't wimps!
71-73 Mustangs and Cougars had some of the most potent cars of the Musclecar era. 71 had both the 429CJ and Boss 351, 72 had the 'watered down' 351HO, and the 73s still had the 285hp (net horsepower rated) 351CJ.
They say the 71-73 were too heavy, but the fastest production Mustang was the 71 Boss 351 by most magazine accounts. Too bad they never offered the Boss 351 in a Cougar! The 71-only 429CJ suffered the same fate as the earlier generation Mustang/Cougar's available 428CJ - too nose heavy for its own good. Poor weight transfer for straightline acceleration and just too much front weight bias for responsive handling. The small blocks handled much better!
That's why I like my 351Clevelands! They have the deep breathing heads of a canted valve big block, but the lighter weight of the small block. With a little tweaking here and there, my ~stock 351CJ BetaCat ran14.4s, all day, every day, through the stock dual exhaust on street tires. Not bad for a 3700 pound car, eh? With engine mods, more converter, slicks and a set of headers, AlphaCat will run a 12.8. Oh, and I still have my power windows, interval wipers, four speaker stereo, leather seats...
Let those magazine guys diss the 71-73 Cougars. They can eat my dust!!!
