I have a couple of particular questions. Did all Mach I's have body colored front bumpers, fender and hood trim? Or were some painted and some chrome? Did all Mach I's have the chrome body trim that runs along the sides above the rocker panels? Did all Mach I's have a blacked out hood and rocker panels? Was the Mach I gas cap the same as the regular Mustang cap?

http://www.highbeamads.com/71cap.JPG

quote:

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Originally posted by ciscokid:
Did all Mach I's have body colored front bumpers, fender and hood trim?Or were some painted and some chrome?

Yes, all the Mach 1's had the color keyed fender and hood trim and bumper as standard. The Boss had color keyed fender and hood trim , but a chrome bumper.

Did all Mach I's have the chrome body trim that runs along the sides above the rocker panels?

No, that was an option.

Did all Mach I's have a blacked out hood and rocker panels?

No, that was also and option. I have seen several all stock Mach 1's (my friend has one) that doesn't have any of the black out anywhere on the car.

Was the Mach I gas cap the same as the regular Mustang cap?

No, the Mach 1 had the pop-open cap (the one with rivets around the outer edge) as standard

Thanks,
Bill H.[/B]

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I hope this answers your questions.

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[This message has been edited by cobravenom71 (edited 12-07-2002).]

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It has the chrome side strips and the correct hood locks and ram air stuff. The car has been a racecar for most of it's life and is presently configured as a non-MachI fastback since the weight break for running in NHRA stock class was better for the standard fastback than for the Mach I. So my car presently has a chrome front bumper, hood and fender mouldings. It still has the rear honeycomb panel. I am considering putting it back into Mach I trim. Do I understand from your post that the color keyed front bumper was urethane and not painted steel? Pictures I have seen for the color keyed bumpers look like they have a bump over the front license plate that is not present on the chrome bumper, so they are different. I'll bet they are scarce as hell. Are the mounting brackets the same or are they different too?

The trunk lid has been replaced, but I have the original and it is drilled for the rear spoiler. Was the rear spoiler just an option on the Mach I? My front valence looks like it is drilled for the front spoiler, although I cannot tell when it was done or by whom. There are no spoilers on it in its present configuration.

Thanks again for all the info.

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quote:

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Is your car still weraing it factory ram-air two-tone hood paint? If it is, do not repaint it until you have made a very accurate tracing of the original.

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

BTW, the car's best ET/MPH to date has been 10.88 at 121. That is with unported heads, stock intake, carb, compression ratio and stock (0.515") lift cam (lots of duration though). It has a C4 and 5400 stall converter and 4.86 gears. 9" radial slicks. I am having a new engine done this winter and hope to be in the mid 10's. The biggest problem with this car is getting it to hook since the weight distribution stinks. The 429 is one heavy honcho.

I'll post a picture when I figure out how to do it.

You don't know anyone that has a good urethane front bumper and brackets that they would like to get rid of, do you?

quote:

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Originally posted by cobravenom71:
By the way, Steve, the two articles that you mention from 'Mustang Monthly' have incorrect information concerning the hood two-tone paint for 71-73's. It's pretty close, but not exact.

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What is wrong on them?

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

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69Mach1 R-code 4-speed 428CJ,71 J-code Mach1 429SCJ C-6 93F150 Flairside 5.8 4wd, 00 4wd XLT Expedition Sport Pkg.

I have looked in a few Mustang supply catalogs, like NPD and such, but I don't see these things listed.

Any hints would be appreciated.

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So you are saying that the hood blackout on the car shown in the NPD catalog, on page 35, is the correct layout? Earlier you had said that the Ford promo stuff was full of errors. However, this one looks OK?

I'm like you, I've owned 18 stangs, and 14 of them were 71-73's. Oh, and the 70 Torino GT too.....

My first was a '73 Grande that I'm ashamed to admit what I did to that poor car.....

Here's a link to one of my old cars:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/1971mach1/

Randy's done a ton of work to this one, just a sportsroof, but had a bunch of Mach goodies on it when I bought it, so I finished the job. Added a full gauge and harness set-up, the rear and front spoilers. Axed the original 302/c-4 and installed my first born 351c 4V with a toploader and 3.89's. Won more than a few street races with that one! That red lacquer used to buff up real nice, but only would look good for a couple weeks!

My current project is a totally original 71 Mach, 302 c-4 stripper. I guess it's not a total stripper, it has power brakes and steering, but that's it. Med Blue Metallic, with the blue std interior. I'm going to keep it low option (and weight hopefully) but am going to 351C and 4 speed again. It's a combo that just WORKS!

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

Last I emailed him, I mentioned some of the above, but I got the impression that he was going to have the motor rebuilt, andchanging things now might have been pointless to him.

I was looking for someone like him when I sold it, because I couldn't stand selling it to some punk who would destroy it. Makes me feel good to see it in such excellent shape today.

A link to my latest project:

http://pages.cthome.net/hemikiller/PicPage.htm

I have been seeing a number of 73 Machs with the standard grille set-up and bright headlight bezels, like the standard fastback. One is a local car, genuine Q code Mach, that has been just sitting for about 12 years, because the guy just hasn't got around to restoring it yet. Anyway, the grille is the standard style and doesn't look like it has ever been swapped out. I'm wondering if a few 73 machs came from the factory with the standard grille treatment, for some reason.

I have seen a few 71/72 cars with the standard grille that have a grey or argent paint where the black paint is on most. Another factory oddity?

I have seen a few 71-73 cars with the dual sport mirrors right up in the front corner of the doors, like the 69/70 style, rather than back a ways, like on most 71-73. Another factory oddity?

I have seen 2 73 hardtops recently that had the engine family decal up on the top of the passenger side firewall, rather than on the driver's side valve cover. I hadn't seen that before. One was a very low original mile car.

I have seen quite a number of 71-73 (hardtop body style, anyway) that came from the factory with a rather large dent in the passenger side inner fender well in the trunk. My 73 hardtop was one of them.

My car was built in June of 73 and was several days behind schedule. I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not, but it also came from the factory with no Mustang nameplates on the front fenders, and the front seats were reversed, so that the seatback release handles were inboard. Driver's seat was where the passenger's seat was supposed to be, and vice versa.

Does anyone on the planet know why so many 72-79 Ford and Mercury cars came from the factory with one or both cowl vent plugs missing? And if only one was missing, it was almost always the driver's side. That was the case with my Mustang and with Torinos, Rancheros, LTD IIs, etc. It is weird!!

In the latest issue of Mustang Monthly, did you see the small black and white photos of the Mexican 73 Mach 1, with the huge Mach 1 name decals on the rear quarters, unique paint scheme, and unique interior upholstery pattern? I had never seen a Mexican 73 before. It also has a factory 351 Windsor 4 barrel engine! All on page 15 of the magazine.

In 1970, Ford had a 1971 Mustang show car that was a brown hardtop with a black vinyl roof. The interesting thing about it was that the door handles were the earlier two-piece handle and button style, rather than the normal 71-73 flush mounted handles. Wonder what ever happened to that car?

Have you seen the 1971 Shelby Mustangs? Most people don't seem to know they exist. They were for the European export market only.

I wonder how many people realize that at its longest, the hood of the 71-73 is 69" long! One of my brothers used to joke that a person could lie down full length and sunbathe on the hood of my car! I wouldn't have minded if the girls had wanted to do that!

Yup, you could say that I am heavily into the 71-73 cars, too! I will have one again, at some point in the future.

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David

If you try to think clearly ALL the time, it will probably drive you crazy. :D

That brown 71 show car has the earlier style door handles AND the sport mirrors in the more forward position!

There are several early 71 cars with the mirrors in that position. There is also a 73 base fastback with the mirrors like that and also a 73 Grande.

The Boss 351 prototype is pictured in there.

There is a 71 base fastback with a unique decal on the trunk lid, rather than the M-U-S-T-A-N-G pin letters. The car also is painted argent between the tail lights, rather than having the camera case textured panel.

There is a 71 with standard front end treatment that has chromed bumper guards that are mounted entirely underneath the chrome front bumper and don't stick up above it.

Various photos of 71 and 72 factory cars that are painted argent around the headlights, rather than black as was normal. Standard grilles in 73 were argent, but I didn't know that some 71/72 came that way!

Oh....that dent in the inner fender well in the trunk on the passenger's side that I was talking about was just that. Damage to the piece, before it was installed at the factory! I have seen several more 73 hardtops with that same thing. Nice, clean, factory original trunk compartment, but with a dent in that same piece! Some with a larger dent than others! I still have a trunk photo from the car I had laying around here somewhere. I'll have to see if I can dig it out and see if the dent is visible in the photo.

My 73 hardtop had the 302 and no a/c and the decal was on the driver's side valve cover.

David

The MRG is a great resource of info, but the prototype photos are just that, prototypes. If you look at the Boss 351 rear paint scheme, it is not production style. The deviations you see are those of pre-production mules with parts stuck on with bubble gum and tape.

The tape stripe that is shown on the fastback, is 1971 production. The sportsroof (01 code) received a tape "MUSTANG" id stripe for the '71 model year, then received the cast script in '72, just like on the fenders. The coupe and conv't had the stick on MUSTANG letters in '71, and then got the script in '72 as well.

The dent you are describing isn't possibly damage. It is clearance for the spare tire in convertibles, and fastbacks with the fold down rear seat option. the spare tire was moved to sit almost against the taillight panel in a convert due to the top well, and the inner wheelhouse was clearanced on all cars for parts commonality.

quote:

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Originally posted by Hemikiller:
The sportsroof (01 code)

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01 is the hardtop. 02 is the sportsroof.

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

quote:

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Originally posted by cobravenom71:
Yeah, Steve your'e right about that, the 73 grilles were significantly different. that was because of the change in the front bumper design.
What do you mean by 'diamond' shaped? My 73 Mach 1 has the correct grille and there is no diamond shaped cutouts. They do have a somwhat 'elongated' honeycomb pattern, a kinda' 'squashed' version of the 71-72 Mach grilles. Is that what you are reffering to?

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You're right, I thought they were diamond shaped horizontally.

This pic of Pat's car shows it well:

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

As far as the emissions decal, my 71 302 Mach has it on the valve cover. My '73 Grande' was a Dearborn 302 car and it was on the cowl. a pair of '72 351C 2V Grande's that I owned were "T" cars and both on the cowl. Like I said, it's just a guess, but there may be some rhyme or reason in there somewhere.

Steve, thanks for the correction, it was late when I posted that....

As far as the standard 71/72 grille being argent and not black, I can see that now. It has been 25 years since my family had the 72 base Sportsroof, I was only 10 at the time, and memory for little details like that fades. And even in color photos, lots of times it shows up looking black. BUT--it IS a rather dark or 'dull' argent. I have seen some that seem different: brighter silver. Take for example the 72 Grande on page 207 of the Recognition Guide. But that is not the only one I have seen. Well, maybe some owners have painted them brighter. But there 'might' have been some inconsistencies at the factory. (I have 2 pairs of 1975 NOS Ford wheelcovers that were stored in boxes out of the light. They were supposed to be all identical. But one set was made a little later than the other and the blue painted centers on one pair are a bit darker than on the other pair. Enough so that they do not match well at all, as a set of 4.)

Prototypes and pre-production cars equipped differently than production cars. Okay, that makes sense.

The mirrors---I don't know about that one. Maybe pre-production 71 cars had them just stuck on, farther to the front, like 69/70. But what would explain a factory photo of a 1973 car with the mirrors far forward like that? The 73 base fastback on pages 208-209 of the Recognition Guide--that might be a fairly recent photo of an owner's car. If you look closely, there appears to be a little paint off the front edge of the hood and I think there is perhaps some wax around the side marker light. So an owner might have added the sport mirrors on that car, too far forward and without inside remote cable. BUT--the brown 73 Grande on page 217 is not an owner car. That is a Ford file photo. They used that same image on postcards, etc, back in 1973. After producing that body style since 1971, with the mirrors normally farther back, what explains a car like that one, a full two years later, with the mirrors far forward? It's not just the camera angle, either.

Kit, good point about the chrome strip at the rear of the hood and front fenders of the 71 Grande. If you look carefully at the pre-production cars of 71, in the Recognition Guide, ALL models seem to have that, except maybe the Boss 351 prototype. Even the pre-production 71 Mach 1 on page 185 has it. Additionally, the bronze 72 base Hardtop on page 203 also has it! Think maybe for that photo, Ford stuck a 1972 plate on one of their pre-production 1971 cars?

The 71 base Hardtops and base Sportsroofs both came standard with the camera case textured applique between the tailights, the chrome strips with it, and the chrome pin letters for the trunk lid. It is stated in the Illustrated Facts and Specifications Manual, the Salesman's info book, etc. And there are photos. The tape stripe on the trunk lid of the Sportroof must have been an option. It may also have been an option to delete the applique and use body color paint between the tailights. I have seen quite a number of base 71 Sportsroofs with the pin letters and tailight panel applique. In fact, the only ones I have happened to see with the tape stripe are a few photos in books.

On a related note, that black camera case texture applique on my 73 Hardtop was getting kind of hazy. I came up with the idea of using an indelible ink Redi-Mark marker to go over the whole thing. In normal daylight, it made it look shiny black and like new again. At night, with someone's headlights shining on it, the iridescence of the ink was visible. Gave it an interesting, subtle, neon purple glow!

Kit, for some reason Ford DID build a few regular production cars in oddball color combos. In 1971, there were 4 Mustangs painted Bright Yellow that had Vermilion interiors: 1 Grande, 1 Mach with interior decor option, 1 Convertible with standard vinyl buckets, and 1 Convertible with knitted vinyl buckets.

In 1972, there was 1 base Hardtop in Medium Bright Yellow, with Vermilion standard vinyl bucket interior.

Those are all found in the book 'Mustang, By The Numbers' by Kevin Marti, from the 1967 through 1973 Ford database. A lot of oddballs to be found in that book. VERY interesting!

In 1971, there was 1 Grabber Blue fastback, either base or Mach, that had a Vermilion Mach decor interior! Just imagine that color combo!

Could someone post a photo of the 'dent' that you are referring to? Because the ones I have seen are irregular in shape, not all the same, and don't look like they have any function at all. I'm just wondering if we are truly talking about the same thing or not.

Hey--what about that cowl vent plug situation? No one commented about that.

As I say, my 73 Hardtop was a 302 and had the decal on the driver's side valve cover. In fact, I have seen a heck of a lot of 71-73 cars over the years, and it has only been very recently that I have seen a few with the decal up on top of the passenger side fire wall. It was a new one on me! I wonder the reason, and what the percentages were of how many cars got them in which place? We may never know, I guess.

BUT-- I have seen 71 base Sportsroof cars with pin letters on the trunk and the black tailight panel. MANY of them. That WAS the standard treatment. The last one I saw was Maroon with black standard bucket interior. I have never happened to see one in the real world with that tape stripe. Only in books and that seems to be the same pictures of a pre-production car.

Maybe the tape stripe was very early production for a while? Maybe Ford couldn't decide immediately what they wanted to do? I have seen a few with the pin letters, but body color paint on the tailight panel. But I think the majority of 71 base Sportsroofs came with the pin letters and the black tailight panel.

Have you seen the July, 2001 issue of Mustang Monthly? It has a great 71 Hardtop that was one of only 25 1971 hardtops with the 351CJ and C6. It also has a unique looking dealer installed half vinyl top. And I also noticed that there are no pin letters on the trunk lid. No name on the back end at all. Wonder if it might have come from the factory that way?

Were original trunk lids and front fenders pre-drilled for emblems, or were the holes made right at the time the emblems were installed? My 73 Hardtop had no emblems on the front fenders when I got it from the original owner, and I couldn't find any evidence that the fenders were not original or that holes had been filled in.

quote:

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Originally posted by fordnmerc:

Does anyone on the planet know why so many 72-79 Ford and Mercury cars came from the factory with one or both cowl vent plugs missing? And if only one was missing, it was almost always the driver's side. That was the case with my Mustang and with Torinos, Rancheros, LTD IIs, etc. It is weird!!

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Those are the two small black rubber plugs that go on top of the fire wall to either side of the cowl vent screens. A lot of people don't even notice them. If one or both are missing, they don't even know that something was supposed to go in the hole. Some unscrupulous people these days who DO know, are actually stealing them! Because they are rather hard to come by quite often.

Some people who know about them don't pay any attention either way, but I figure that if they were intended to be there, I want them. To keep water and debris from getting down in there, etc. And it looks better with the plugs in place, rather than empty holes.

It's one of the first things I look for, whenever I look at engine compartment pics of 72-79 Fords. Because there are so many that are missing one or both. As I say, it is weird and I just wonder what the deal was with that. It was not isolated to just one assembly plant, either.

David

My understanding of the rear applique was that it was optional in 71, I think part of an exterior decor package, possibly along with the rocker moldings.

The mirror issue is another thing. If they were any further forward, the front hole would be outside the door skin, which would not be a good situation concerning rust and water entry. I have NEVER seen a 71-3 car with sport mirrors that were factory installed, in any place but the "rearward" location we have been discussing. Any other location is just a retrofit. That is odd too, because the sport mirror, I believe, will bolt on in place of the std mirror.

One thing that we MUST take into account here is the VAST amount of these cars that were involved in accidents, as well as being modified by the owner. Tape stripes, emblems, clips, trim, rear panels, etc may very well have been discarded, removed or just plain disregarded after a repair and paint job. Therefore, unless you can undeniably verify the complete originality of the example car in question, you must question the "correctness" of the current trim scheme. The tape stripe was probably hard to get, and the pin letters were easier to find, or maybe preferred by the owner.

The truth is buried beneath the sands of time, so who knows what might have taken place.

[This message has been edited by Hemikiller (edited 12-24-2002).]

Kit, I remember our discussion about the 2 red Montegos that the two dealers added the white stripe onto, to make them look like the Starsky and Hutch Torinos. I guess the point I was trying to make there, and in regard to the 71 Mustang Hardtop with the dealer installed vinyl roof (it was actually a light green car, not white), is that if those types of things can be documented as having been done before the first owner took delivery of the car, then they should be more desireable than cars that have been altered years later by owners who are trying to achieve a unique look. Yes, it wasn't factory, but if it was something that was done by a very few dealers on a very few cars, and can be documented as such, then those vehicles should have at least a little bit of added value. That's just my own opinion, of course. I'm in no way saying that everyone has to agree.

I wish I could take a look, in person, at some of the cars with the mirrors farther forward, to see just exactly what was done. Hemi--good point about them being outside the door skin that way. Both sport mirrors would have to be manually adjusted from outside the car with them mounted in that forward location on 71-73, I would think.

Thanks also for posting that trunk photo. From the description you guys gave, I was pretty sure what that would look like. My car did not have that feature at all. The dent in mine and in the others I have seen is entirely different. It starts about at the top of where the one in the photo is and goes horizontally to the right, across the face of the wheelwell. It is irregularly shaped and I am convinced that it was a case of Ford having some pieces that were damaged somehow, but to keep from slowing production, they installed them anyway. I am kicking myself in the a$$ for not taking a picture of the one in my car before I swapped it, and also for not saving the photos of the other cars that I have seen it in on eBay over the past few months. You can bet that I will be keeping a close eye on eBay from now on, to see if I spot any others.

About the 'Starsky' Montegos. My contention is that a dealer-modified car has absolutely nothing to do with anything that Ford consisdered availible or not on a car. It is no different than any subsequent owner modifying the car.
The dealers, of course are not a 'part' of Ford-they are just customers like you and me. They buy a lot more at once, and for resale.
I would say that the special-ordered red paint from the factory might add some extra value to the cars, but the dealer added stripe would add nothing. In fact, it would probably detract from the value, as it changes the 'originality' of a rare factory-produced car.
A case in point is the 'Starsky' cars. Before Ford actually made the 1,000 'S&H LE's', they sent diagrams to all thier dealers with info on how to paint the 'Starsky' stripe on a Torino. These diagrams included paint color codes and detailed measurements for the stripe. Unfortunately, the Ford-supplied diagram is very inaccurate, if you consider the TV car as the benchmark.
A car that was painted by the dealer, even if using Fords reference material, is still not a factory-produced car.
The 1,000 Factory-made 'S&H LE's' are worth far more to a collector than a Torino that has been painted with the stripe by the dealer, even if it is the original paint.
As a further example, suppose a 71 351-4V Mach 1 came from Ford with the 'NASA' hood(which was standard), but not the optional ram-air. If the selling dealer added the hood pins, the correct tu-tone paint and decals, and every single piece of ram-air equipment to the car, would that be considered a factory ram-air car? Personally I don't consider that to be 'factory original', even though it is EXACTLY as Ford would have built it, if only ordered that way. It is no different than someone doing the same mods 20 years later.
Now I feel I must also say that we are beating a very dead horse with this factory vs. dealer thing. Funny thing is, I don't have a prefernce for factory or not, I just prefer mine to be as the way that the factory would have made them if they were ordered that way.
What bugs me is when someone with a 69 Mach 1 says this car is 'Factory Original', but it has 1970 upholstery in it. When someone is unaware or naive, that don't bother me. Only when you know that they are full of beans, and persist with the 'All Original'. story.
Here is a perfect example: I won't use his name, but there is a gentleman in Tampa with a Yellow 72 Mach 1, 351-HO. This car has been immaculately restored. I mean this car is absolutely beautiful! It was featured in 'Mustang Monthly', so you may be familiar with it.
At a car show in August of this year, I met him there and we chatted about our cars, and he and his wife seem like perfectly ordinary, nice folk.(for Mustangers, anyway).
As he was looking over my car, he made comments about the repro parts that were on it. "See, this isn't just like the original", or "Your battery hold down bolts don't have the correct phosphate coating on them." ( these are his actual quotes).
He is totally correct, those and many, many things on my car are not 'correct', and I have used plenty of repro parts when I felt the price of an NOS was too high. He stated that he used nothing but 100% FORD parts on his car, and it looked it! Belts, hoses,lug nuts, glass,weatherstripping...you name it! Kudo's to him, it looks fantastic! His wife also told me he spent 6 years and $30,000+ restoring it. Since it has been restored, it has been driven only a couple-few thousand miles, and it gets trailered to EVERY EVENT. No street driving if at all possible!
My 71 Mach was $5,500 new(dads car), I got it for $1,500 in 76 with 18,000 miles on it, and from then 'till now, I have put over 300,000 miles on it.
I 'restored' it myself(on a self-imposed budget),having never done a restoration before. I took my time, read a LOT of books and articles, went to a LOT of shows and took notes on 'factory' cars, and asked everybody I could find for info and help.
Took me about three years and around $8,000. I ended up with a car that is faster and more fun to drive than original, runs on pump gas, looks better than ever, and is able to pass for 'original' to all but the real expert. I have no problem taking this car 2-300 miles for a show in any weather. I just try not to drive in inclement weather if at all possible. If not..Oh well, I'll just wash it!
Anyway, during the day at that show, as 'yellow Mach' was telling all the admirers about why he did not consider using anything but NOS parts on his car, he would bring them over to mine and show them why he wouldn't use repros. About half the time, he confused an original part on mine as a repro.
After about the umpteenth time he wandered over to my 'area' someone, I went to his car and asked about the outside door handles, which were obviously repro. The repros handle does not sit as flush in the 'cup' as an original. Of course he claims NOS. His weatherstripping is totally repro. Original has a 'trapezoidal' cross section, and the repro has a 'square' cross section. His is square. Thats only after looking at his car for a minute or two. What really PO'd the guy off was that I won first place AND judges choice that day, and he won nothing! As I was packing up, I could hear him grumbling to his wife about 'Judges that don't know anything, etc..." Fact of the matter is, a shiny bright red car with black stripes and gleaming chrome is very popular with observers, and very hard to beat. I'm sure all of you with a red car out there know what I'm talking about.
My point is this: I know my cars are not perfect or factory, but I don't represent them that way. And I don't denigrate other owner's choices on thier own vehicles. Every one has thier own taste. But I do get pissed when someone tells me MY car has a 'flaw' because it doesn't meet up with his standards, and in the same breath represents his car as near-perfect.(or in this guys case-perfect!). If someones car IS perfect, I am always impressed. If someones car is far from perfect, I am still impressed. At least they are going to the trouble to have a 'classic car' and put up with everything that entails. That gives them exclusive membership in 'the club'.
The observers that drive to the show in thier only car, a 97 Malibu, and tell me whats 'wrong' with my car, based on their recollections of the 71 Mach 1 thier sister owned 20+ years ago are the types that really get under my skin.
Steve, I most definately do not have anything derogatory to say about your hardtop. It's a 'Sprint', fer Chrisakes! How many of those were made? 500? That's not many! I think your car is cool! I just don't happen to like the look of a standard, plain-jane stripper 71-73 coupe.
I know a lot of you guys (and gals) here don't much care for GM or MOPAR products, what with the 'Craparo' and 'Fireturd' remarks that are pretty common here. That's OK. I do like some. I have a Z-28, a Trans-Am, an AMX, and a Cutlass Supreme. And I like all of them too. But FORDS are my first and favorite choice. But I like any car that is well cared for by thier owner.
I'm sorry I've been venting here, but once I started thinkin' about 'Yellow Mach', I got really PO'd.

quote:

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Originally posted by cobravenom71:
Steve, I most definately do not have anything derogatory to say about your hardtop. It's a 'Sprint', fer Chrisakes! How many of those were made? 500? That's not many! I think your car is cool! I just don't happen to like the look of a standard, plain-jane stripper 71-73 coupe.

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There were 6247 hardtop, 3086 sportsroof, and 50 convertible Sprints built.

My Sprint also has that depression on the right rear wheelhouse area and the engine spec decal on the cowl, if that helps anyone.

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

quote:

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Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
This month makes 25 years I've owned mine. I've only have seen two others on the road, and I've never seen one at a show.

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Steve, check this one out. For sale right now, in Aurora, CO. Has 39,200 original miles!:

http://www.collectorcartraderonline.com/caddetail.htm?/ad-cache/10/1/6/39402316.htm

David

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

Personally, I would just rather have one that was done by a dealer, back when the cars were new, than something done by an owner fairly recently. Individual taste, I guess. Not saying everyone should feel that way.

'Yellow Mach' sounds like kind of a messed up guy. Sorta lost it somewhere along the way, didn't he?

I had my 73 at a show in August of 97. Guy comes along with a rather beat 73 white Grande. Starts looking over my white hardtop, to gain info on originality, because my car had 26k original miles on it.

He gets to the door handles and he says that my car is missing the 'rectangular inserts'. I wondered what in the world he was talking about. So I go over and check out his car. Some previous owner had put some rectangular 'Playboy' decals on the door handles, and this guy thought they were original! I could NOT convince him otherwise!!

He had been doing a few things to the car---not helping it any. Repainted the blue in the engine compartment, but it was MUCH too light. It was a lot lighter even than Ford 3B! The brace for the shock towers was missing on his car. But, I didn't bother pointing those things out....what's the use?

Some people....

By the way, congratulations on racking up over 300,000 miles! I would say that not too many people enjoy that much time and mileage in any classic Mustang. Not that the cars are not durable, but just the fact that most owners sell them long before they put on that much mileage.

You've got true dedication there.

They probably spent lots of time locked in a closet as a kid...

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

quote:

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Originally posted by SteveLaRiviere:
I found it. Looks interesting, thanks Dave!

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Steve, I just checked eBay, and there are 2 Sprints on auction right now:

Hardtop: 1875723921

Fastback: 1875416830

I have a book called Convertibles: America's Dazzling Drop-Tops. It covers all different makes and models of cars. Lots of color photos. On page 72 is a photo of one of the 50 1972 Sprint Convertibles!

Also worth mentioning: The May, 1972 issue of Hot Rod magazine has a double-page ad in the center for the 1972 Ford Sprint cars. Pinto, Maverick, and a Mustang fastback. It is my favorite Ford ad of all time. It is interesting to notice the differences in the seats of the 3 cars, too, and how the tri-color scheme was done for each.

Have you seen the movie Total Recall? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to change colors on a car as easily as that girl changed her fingernail colors?

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150

quote:

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Originally posted by Hemikiller:
We had a '72 sprint coupe here in town when I was in high school. Was the "A" package with the 14x7 steelies with trim rings and hub caps,

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I meant to mention my 'A' package Sprint had 14x6 wheels and trim rings when I got it. I had to get 14x7 rims and trim rings from a wrecked Mach.

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'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150