In retrospect, the #Mustang II wasn't actually all that bad, and it was the right car for the time
Mustang II Forty Years Later | Ford Media Center
Forty years ago this fall, a completely redesigned second-generation Ford Mustang hit the road. Mustang II was a radical departure from the 1973 model it replaced – 19 inches shorter, 500 pounds lighter and, for the first time, not available with a V8 engine.
I still hold that had they either named it "Pinto GT" or styled it a little more butch the Mustang II would be a minor classic, not a punch line.