When this title was first published in 1980, I was a sergeant in the United States Air Force, stationed in the dust bowl region of Western Oklahoma. At night, I wrenched on Lockheed C-5 Galaxies and C-141 Starlifters parked on the Altus Air Force Base flight line, taking in the fresh aroma of freshly tilled soil and rich Midwestern agriculture. By day, I played with two classic Mustangs - a '67 hardtop and a '68 fastback. I still have the '67 hardtop. At the time, I hadn't a clue there were magazines dedicated to the cars I loved so much. I would discover Hot Rod's Mustang on the newsstand when it was little more than a Petersen annual. I still have that magazine because I never throw anything sporting the Mustang name away.
This magazine wasn't much to write home about when it was launched because it was a slap together of Ford snippets from Hot Rod Magazine on cheap newsprint - pretty unimpressive by today's standards. In those days, we were thrilled to find anything in print dedicated to Fords. We snatched up copies of Mustang just to read about something in print that wasn't a Chevrolet.
Hot Rod's Mustang has always been mostly about modified Mustangs. Our technical articles in the beginning, as you might imagine, addressed how to get more power from a Ford V-8. Not much has changed. We're still showing you how to make more power in these pages. In 1980, we were impressed with getting 350 horsepower from a small-block Ford. Today, cam, head, and stroker technology is bringing us 600 horsepower - unheard of in 1980 on a street car.
We've long shown our readers how to do things themselves - build transmissions and rear ends, freshen up old interiors, prep and paint cars, replace bumpers and trim work, troubleshoot electrical systems, straighten out unhappy cooling systems, install headers and dual exhausts, pick the right wheels and tires, and a whole lot more. We've always been good at this because Hot Rod's Mustang has always been staffed with enthusiasts who do this stuff themselves. Most of what we have run in this magazine through the years has been on our own cars and those of friends - things we have tried ourselves and shared with our readers.
Most of our car features in the early 1980s were about wild and crazy modified Mustangs at a time when the trend was toward concours restorations. Restoring to stock was politically correct, yet most enthusiasts wanted to modify and drive their Mustangs. Seems modifying and driving a Mustang was a West Coast thing while restoring to stock and trailering was traditionally Midwest and East Coast. Hot Rod's Mustang never wavered much from modifying and driving, which should tell you something about this magazine's West Coast roots.
Mustang has always been about speed, power, and personal expression - with the occasional smattering of antiseptic factory originals. From the start, Mustang was a well-balanced magazine, with careful attention to all readers. We showed our readers how to build a powerful supercharged small-block. Two pages later, we tackled restoration issues. Mustang quickly proved to be the magazine for just about everyone who loved Mustangs. Circulation soared to 200,000 readers with a healthy advertising base that consisted of names and treasured friends still with us today.
Can you imagine - "How To Buy A Used Shelby" in 1981? At the time, they were considered rare, but affordable to just about anyone with access to a modest bank loan. Things changed dramatically in the years to follow, with unimaginable values and selling prices centered on the age-old laws of supply and demand. | 
Niche magazines like Hot Rod's MUSTANG catered to Ford loyalists who had given up hope on there ever being a new high-performance Mustang from Ford ever again. The 1980 Mustang in Ford showrooms at the time of our debut didn't sport displacement any larger than 255ci with a two-barrel carburetor. Enthusiasts went with the tried and proven classics instead. | 
"Bogus Boss" in Issue Number 2 gave us our first look at how to build a small-block powerhouse. John Vermeersch of Total Performance, who remains very active in this industry today, was building Cleveland-head small-blocks long before it became fashionable in a world full of big-inch strokers. The numbers - 318 horsepower and 275 ft/lbs of torque - impressed us in 1981. Don't laugh - that was 25 years ago! |