Tim and Barb Wise's 1969 Ford Mustang E (Efficient)
The Ford Mustang lineup is getting its most radical addition ever later this year, when the all-electric Mustang Mach-E goes on sale. But it won’t be the first time the automaker has built an efficient Mustang with an E in its name.
In 1969, Ford introduced a special edition of the pony car simply called the Mustang E that was designed to deliver the best fuel economy possible. It originally intended to enter it in the cross-country Mobilgas Economy Run, but the long-running event was canceled for 1969 and never held again.
Based on the fastback SportsRoof Mustang body, the E featured a 250 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine equipped with a specially-tuned carburetor, a high-stall torque converter, a rear axle with tall 2.33:1 gearing and a Mustang E badge on the rear fender. Power-sapping air conditioning was not an option.
According to journalist Steve McKelvie, the E had a fuel economy rating of 19 mpg highway and 13.7 mpg, compared to the standard six-cylinder's 16.2 mpg and 12.9 mpg. The trade-off was that the E was nearly three seconds slower accelerating to 60 mph, requiring 13.3 seconds to reach the speed.
Ford was only required to sell 50 cars to qualify as a production model for the Mobilgas Economy Run, but Mustang expert and archivist Kevin Marti told Fox News Autos that 96 were produced, which still makes it one of the rarest Mustang models ever.
Mustang enthusiasts Tim and Barb Wise own one of them, and didn’t even know what it was when they found it for sale near their Springfield, Ill., home.
