My "stable" ca. 1969. Left to right, '63 Falcon, it has a 430 cu. in. Lincoln w/4-speed in it; the trusty '65 Mustang, described below, and the '58 T-Bird my wife drove. My Dad built the garage with the help of his kid brother, Jim, a year before I was born. We bought the house from my folks when my Dad retired, 1966. Here's the "engine-room" of that '63 Falcon. The extreme width of the engine required extensive re-work of the front spring "towers" using steel plate welded in. The stock big iron exhaust manifolds were retained. Built after the Mustang entered the picture. My original muscle car, ordered new in Aug. 1964, with High Performance Package, which included 271 HP 289 cu. in. engine, 4-speed heavy-duty gearbox, big Ford car 9-inch rear axle, 5-lug wheels. Nearly 1 HP per cubic inch was a feat back then, if the car was to remain "streetable". Along came the "smog" era, ~ 1973, and the Arab Oil Embargo, enforced curtailment of engine emissions, and the Muscle Car Era all but ended. Fast cars became things of the race track only. Stricter and stricter emissions regulations in the 1980s forced abandonment of traditional fueling methods, i.e., the Carburetor became a Dinosaur, Electronic Fuel Injection became universal, emissions requirements became easily met, and lo and behold, a New Muscle Car Era slowly emerged! Engines are today becoming smaller, yet far more powerful than the behemoths of years back, all the while remaining non-polluting! Whereas my little 289 carbureted engine developed 271 horsepower, about 1 HP/cu. in., today cars are being sold with twice that output, or more! Does the public need 'em? Not for me to say. But, they buy 'em, the name of the game. I just can't afford today's new car prices, or it's likely I would be driving a 600 HP Cobra! Instead, my "toy" now is this: It's 23 years old! Fuel-injected, of course, 5.0 Liter V-8, 5-speed manual transmission. Runs like a top! Frank