Ferguson has a special place in my heart as one of those pioneering but eccentric firms that flipped the establishment a bird and did something awesome. That something was to develop an AWD system that found its way into F1 cars and road cars, notably the Jensen FF based on the amazing Jensen Interceptor. But did you know that Ferguson worked their multi-wheel magic on the original ponycar – the Ford Mustang?

I knew that Ferguson had already converted some Ford cars over to AWD, and at some point I’d like to get into those, but for the moment, we’ll deal with the ‘Stang. Details are fairly sparse, and it looks like this was a one-off job. But it was impressive enough that in 1970, Auto Motor und Sport gave it a pretty extensive writeup. A German Mustang fan club posted the article on their webpage, and so if I’m reading the internet-translated version right, it looks like Ferguson got their mitts on a ’69 or ’70 Mustang rocking a 427, and proceeded to graft in the major drivetrain components from the contemporary Jensen FF.

That meant the installation of an automatic transmission (standard to the Ford) and differentials front and rear. This required widening the transmission tunnel to accommodate the transfer case, and raising the engine and fitting a shallower oil pan to clear the front differential. Some upgrades included Dunlop Maxaret anti-lock braking, and suspension swiped from the contemporary Shelby Mustangs.

Auto und Sport thought it worked great! 0-62 mph in 7.7 seconds, and it had pretty good roadholding with a 60/40 weight bias, with the rear getting a fixed 63% of drive torque. They claimed it handled wet and snowy conditions confidently, which is about what I’d expect from what was essentially a Jensen FF in Mustang clothing. And considering that the automatic was not geared for sporty driving, the performance was pretty impressive for the time, especially considering how much weight this primitive AWD system added.

Anyone know what happened to the Ferguson Mustang?

First Mustang Club of Germany, Image