I think you’re just used to it. When I drove a 65 it caught me off guard for sure. Since then I’ve daily’d unnasisted cars and gotten used to it, but it’s still a chore. An hour of stop and go traffic on hills feels like an eternity, and that’s a 2000lb car with fully rebuilt drums all around.

I wonder if having front drums was a factor. Only some of the first gens came with front discs (I assume you know).

Probably wrong. First gen mustangs rarely had power assist. It was an option but majority didn’t have it, at least on the early models.

I’ve driven one and it did indeed feel scary AF. Like pressing wood together. I don’t know exactly the problem but I figured they can still threshold brake, it would just require a ton of pressure.

I have an unassisted all drum 1970 corona which initially was also scary, but once you realize how hard you can brake it becomes much easier, but still a chore.

Manual brakes are lighter, simpler, no parasitic draw, and provide more feeling/feedback than assisted. Many dedicated race cars use them for this reason, even when they could easily use a boosted setup.

They are not a safety feature, in fact they are a giant safety liability technically as engine failure now equates to a level of brake failure (eventually). They are a convenience feature.

I like having a powerful brake pedal as it makes driving way easier, and helps with quickly reacting in traffic, but manual brakes can be just fine.

I have a 1970 Toyota corona with unassisted drum brakes all around that I daily’d for years and could easily lock the tires up. It was a chore, especially on hills in Seattle traffic, but totally doable. No steering or brake assist, I could turn it off and still have full inputs. Basically a soapbox car on downhills if I wanted.