1973 Special paint Convertible on Ebay

7173Mustangs.com

Help Support 7173Mustangs.com:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
1973 Special Paint Convertible on Ebay. I never have seen this signal green color. Front seats look to be reupholstered in correct fabric. Wonder if they know of a fabric connection. Also wondering if front bumper should be painted argent like other special paint cars. The ad says they made 277 in this color, but it is actually 277 all colors special paint cars. Maybe less than 10 made? https://www.ebay.com/itm/394383336595View attachment 70872
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the strips wrong for a 73. I see the hockey stick strips on some 73s . Was that strip an option in 73 or is it a mistake by the restorers.
 
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the strips wrong for a 73. I see the hockey stick strips on some 73s . Was that strip an option in 73 or is it a mistake by the restorers.
stripes were an option with the exterior decor group option. Mine is all original from the factory. Most you see now adays weren't factory. They would be wrong on Mach 1 in which plenty are out there. This car is too over the top for me with its argent add ons. I would prefer this car as factory, but I can see why they would paint a special paint argent front bumper body color. An argent bumper looks wrong to me and will always look like a replaced body part. Mine is for sale
 

Attachments

  • P1010003 (6).JPG
    P1010003 (6).JPG
    389.5 KB · Views: 0
Wonder who ordered this car originally and as such a low optioned model...base interior, basic gages and all the mistakes in its restoration...hope it’s not listed for sale over $20,000 IMO.

72-73 convertibles had the upgraded "deluxe" interior as standard equipment. Knitted vinyl seats, molded door panels. camera case dash trim panels, etc.
Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the strips wrong for a 73. I see the hockey stick strips on some 73s . Was that strip an option in 73 or is it a mistake by the restorers.

Like Greg mentioned, the hockey stick stripes were available in 72 & 73 on base coupes and convertibles in conjunction with the Decor Group option. The 73 Mach 1's specific side stripes were standard and available only on that model.
 
That's funny you mentioned St Patrick's day. In the sixties My dad was the general manager of Jack Stewart Ford in Chicago. Every year he would order twenty special paint mustang convertibles. He ordered them in a Kelly green color that was a 50's ford truck color with white tops and interiors. He would place a couple of them in the Southside Irish parade on Western Ave and he said he would sell all twenty cars within a week of the parade. People would see them in the parade and come to the dealership the next couple days wanting to buy one. They all probably thought they were getting one of the two parade cars, not knowing there were twenty of them. View attachment 70987He also had two yellow diamond shape street signs made that said "SLOW Mustangs crossing". He placed them right before the dealership on the street going in both directions. They were there for a few years until the county was going down the street cleaning signs and noticed it wasn't one of theirs and made him take them down. I found a picture of the showroom of the dealership but I couldn't find the picture of the street signs. I had one but can't find it, they looked like legitimate SLOW pedestrian crossing signs.
Good looking showroom mate. Love the "SLOW Mustangs Crossing" signs.
 
I see some mustangs with body painted mirrors but their Marty Reports say nothing about it. Mine shows "decor group" but also "Color Keyed Racing Mirrors". Did different DSO's have different codes or decor group bundles?
 
I'm diggin' the red station wagon in the back. It might seem silly, but station wagons are collectable to a niche of owners, and get fair money these days. They were the "go-to" tow vehicle that you'd see at the car drags and boat drags. Lots of people used them for camping trips, and of course, they were the original SUV hauler. My Dad, bought a brand new Ford LTD wagon in '68, complete with optional 428 4v, heavy duty cooling, limited slip rear end, and chrome dress up kit, for towing the family's hot hydroplane inboard. I took my driver's license test in it. It was a tire burner. Dad drove it 100K miles, and then sold it to my older brother, who had the heads re-done and had a timing chain job done, and proceeded to drive that wagon another 100K before he sold it.
In photo below, note Station wagon behind dragster. Racers liked 'em.
 

Attachments

  • 1967Lions1HutchPhoto.jpg
    1967Lions1HutchPhoto.jpg
    61.7 KB · Views: 1
Last edited:
I see some mustangs with body painted mirrors but their Marty Reports say nothing about it. Mine shows "decor group" but also "Color Keyed Racing Mirrors". Did different DSO's have different codes or decor group bundles?

Content of cars and option packages could change at any time. IIRC, we talked about this in one of your posts about your green 72 convertible. The first printing of the 72 salesman's guide shows the color keyed mirrors as standard on the convertible, but in the 1/72 printing they were removed and replaced with the chrome manual driver's mirror only.
 
Content of cars and option packages could change at any time. IIRC, we talked about this in one of your posts about your green 72 convertible. The first printing of the 72 salesman's guide shows the color keyed mirrors as standard on the convertible, but in the 1/72 printing they were removed and replaced with the chrome manual driver's mirror only.
Thanks for the reminder. It is fascinating to me to see all the different options and changes throughout the production years.
 
Hi everyone, I have finally completed my re do of a "73 vert, a puzzle to me was what does "special paint" code translate to? This car had been so beat up, painted, otherwise trashed until I bought it, it wasn't entirely clear what the original color was, probably red? That's the color I went with, Any ideas?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5878.jpeg
    IMG_5878.jpeg
    3.5 MB · Views: 1
Special paint means that the customer ordered a non-stock color for their Mustang. The paint section on the door data tag will be blank, and the DSO will have the six digits shown on your invoice "Special Order 55 0576". 55 was the DSO, 0576 was the 576th special order received from that DSO.

I believe it was you could order a car painted in any color that Ford used for that model year on passenger cars, not sure if the truck colors were available. A Marti report *sometimes* shows the original paint code on these cars, but most often it does not. You would then have to find evidence of the original color in the car and compare it to 1973 paint chips.
 
Hi everyone, I have finally completed my re do of a "73 vert, a puzzle to me was what does "special paint" code translate to? This car had been so beat up, painted, otherwise trashed until I bought it, it wasn't entirely clear what the original color was, probably red? That's the color I went with, Any ideas?
If your car was originally red, it wouldn't be a shade of red on the mustang color chart. You should find out the original color ordered as your car might be the only one in its color and especially when you add the trim code. Also, many of us want to know. It seems most color changes on cars is to red so maybe yours wasn't originally red. I presume you have a Marti report as your order sheet looks too good for a previously beat up car. Look under carpet, behind interior panels, in the trunk etc.. might have to sand or scrape somewhere that doesn't matter. Does the person who painted it have an idea? Does anyone know of a list of how many paint shades were made/ordered or found? What about Marti having a list of the ones they have. I think he did a book about Mustangs by the numbers. 277 special paint convertibles is too vague. If there isn't a list, there should be a list/registry started. I know on ASC McLarens there is a list of paint, trim and top colors etc. of each year as they were all special orders.
 
I drove the 4 hours to look at this car. Wasn't overly impressed. The asking price is $42,900 at this dealership. It was listed for $35K a few weeks prior to this dealership acquiring it from a Ford dealership in Texas. 10' paint looked pretty good. Up close inspection showed a lot of fisheyes, runs in the paint, bad over spray in areas. It was "presented" on the phone as a rust free car. Not so much if you look in all the nooks and crannies. Driver's side frame for the front bumper "shock" was split from rust, but was coated in black undercoating. It was obvious the rust was sprayed over on this car to hide it. I probably believe the mileage is correct and when you google the VIN, it clocked a couple hundred miles in the last 2 years. The pics of the interior having clear protective plastic on the internet makes me believe the interior is still original. However, they did not have those protective covers, my guess is they were throw away at some point between transactions. Sold at Mecum in 2020, wound up at a Ford dealership in Texas, now listed for sale at an independent dealership in Missouri. My thoughts were buyer's remorse and it keeps changing hands. Transmission shifted way to harsh in 2nd, engine very ticky (hydraulic lifters?), idled very high, A/C did not work and neither did heat, but did blow slightly warm, windows did not meet up properly when rolled up/closed, and the list goes on. Really disappointed as it looks great online. Attepted to negotiate price, but they are still too high IMO. They offered to "wholesale" it to me for $37,500. My search continiues....


3F03H240976
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have discovered over the many years of wrenching in the muscle car industry that most of these vehicles (all manufacturers) are misrepresented.. The newer generation of buyers are not familiar with what the condition of classic cars should be and end up getting ripped off.. We of the older generation have the knowledge but are fading away.. As always, have ANY vehicle inspected prior to buying it and lastly...... Buyer Beware!!!
 
I've had vehicles inspected, but they don't always get it right. I always expect the car to be worse than the description unless it is a known seller. Always expect seats to be reupholstered when they are missing the seatback accent pieces. I thought this might be a flash car more than substance. With the recent description it sounds like a $25,000 tops car if you just want a driver, but it seems there are enough inexperienced buyers to pay more. It is highly unlikely to find another like it, so sometimes money doesn't matter as much as a common car. Sounds like it still needs a restoration to get it right. Such a shame to redo a car like this wrong. Would have been better left untouched at a lower price.
 
Back
Top