289 Ford Mustang Engine History Article

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289 Ford Mustang Engine History

The 289 Engine was made famous by the Ford and Shelby Mustangs. However, prior to that, the 289 engine had a long an interesting history.

Author: Jeff Lilly

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In the year 1957, Robert McNamara led Ford Motors towards a partnership with Holman and Moody together with Smokey Yunick to improve their performance in car races. When Robert McNamara left Ford and entered the United States political arena, Lee Iaccoca took his place as General Manager at Ford. As the top man of Ford, Iaccoca emphasized that Ford should focus on car performance which gave birth to the light weight case iron 221 V8 engine. The 221 V8 engine was first introduced in the year 1962 and found under the hoods of Ford Fairlane. Not too long after that, Ford offered the improved 260 version with a 3.8 bore and the 289 version with 4 inch bore.

Ford Mustangs first rolled out of the production plants in early 1964. It was made available in two models which are the convertible Mustangs and the coupe Mustangs. Both models were offered in three individual trim lines. The base model sported a 170-cid six cylinder engine. The mid level model was equipped with the 260-cid V8 engine. Lastly, the premium model contained a 289 -4V engine within. A few months down the road, Ford Motors enhanced their offering and provided the Mustang with a 289 V-8 engine.

With the new and improved engine, a customer had a choice of 3 or 4 manual or automatic transmission. In the year, an estimate of 120,000 Mustangs was produced with the 289 V-8 engines. The 289 was considered one of the most innovative engines if the time. It was small and lightweight built with a thin layer of casting made of mostly nickel.

It was made to be durable for on the street cars yet it was also suitable for race cars because it is small and light. Thus research and development on the 289 was continually done to improve the engine’s performance for the race track. The 289 later evolved into the 302 and 351 engines that we see today. There are many companies that carry parts for these engine such as Tony Brand and Jack Rousch which put on huge displays at the SEMA Show each year.

The following year brought several changes to the Mustang. The most significant change was the synergy between Ford and Shelby to manufacture the Shelby’s GT350. For the Mustang, the 289-2V engine with 200 horsepower was retired and replaced with an upgraded 289-4V engine with an increased horsepower of 225. Besides changes in the engine, the Mustang also received a makeover which consists of interior carpets, special seat covers, and wood grain steering wheels. In April of 1965, the Mustang was also available in the Shelby GT 350 which was co-created by Ford and Shelby. There were roughly 550,000 Mustangs in the market in 1965.

The Mustangs produced in 1967 and 1968 were known as the second generation Mustangs. In these two years, the Mustang was challenged by strong rivals. Pontiac introduced the Firebird and Chevrolet launched the Camaro. Like any business, Ford responded to the new rivals by producing a slightly larger Ford Mustang. To support a larger Mustang, the two empower the Mustang with higher performing engines with 120, 155, and 200, 225, and 271 horsepower. Hot from the oven was the 390 cubic inch V8 engine with 315 horsepower. Despite increase in competition, the Ford Mustang was selling well. Out of the 460,000 odd models of the Mustang sold in 1967, only 400 of those still employed the 289 engine with 271 horsepower. The majority of the Mustangs utilized the latest 390 engines.

Post 1968, the 289 engine was made as an available option to the Mustang buyers. However, its performance was far from the new engines. A 302 cubic inch small block V8 was created and offered in two and four barrels with 220 and 230 horsepower respectively. The public began to favor the more powerful engines which marked the beginning of the end for the 289 engine.

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So regardless of which engine you have the SEMA Show will have many parts suppliers on display which will help you learn about the 289 and other Ford engine produced.

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