71 Convertible with an 18 option Marti Report

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SoCal71

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Joined
May 26, 2012
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Location
Pasadena, CA
My Car
I've owned this 18 option 1971 convertible since Feb 1987. Now running a 393 stroker, Holley Sniper E.F.I. System, Tremec 5 speed & 3.70 Trac-Lok rear

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  • 71 Mustang - Marti Report.pdf
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Nice car! A bit late to comment but I find it interesting that it is a lease vehicle. Curious how rare that is? Do you have any history on that? I did find this for 1970 vehicles. I imagine yours was something similar.
 
I was a bit surprised to see it has a 3 speed manual tranny and no A/C, considering the other options it came with. Regardless, a nice looking set of options.he had done years ago.

Both of our 73 Mustangs (Convertible andMach 1) were non-A/C. One had 4 wheel drum brakes. The prior owner of the Mach 1 found another 73 Mustang with PDB in a bone yard, and swapped out the Master Cylinder, booster, and related/needed disc brake parts. I recently had occasion replace the rotors and pads (part of a larger repair that had a damaged rotor). The conversion was done so well that I saw not one single flaw in the work previously done. Both Mustangs were originally npn-A/C cars. We installed Classic Air complete A/C kits to both - highly recommended. Neither car had tinted glass from the factory, so I had 15% (very light) tint film put onto the side and rear windows. I would have liked to a deeper tint., but in NY law enforcement officers have tapped into the lucrative market of handing out tickets for "excessive tint, and in the Rochester area they got tired of losing in court, so now many carry tint level measuring tools, write their tint level findings on the citation. The maximum tent allowed is 30%, so by going 15% I anticipate not having any issues. At least nothing I can't defeat in court.

Finally, in the Mach 1 the prior owner replaced the original 2.79:1 rear axle gear set with a much more lively 3.5:1 TractionLok set of gears. The result, with a street/strip built engine, was a very spirited pony car. But, the engine RPM in third gear (C4 auto) was 2,750 at 60 MPH. Not bad, but I wanted a calmer cruising experience, without losing bottom end performance. We ended up transplanting an AOD, with its 0.67:1 OverDrive ratio output in 4th gear. We now have the best of both worlds - a strong launch off the line, a terrific cruising experience at around 2,800 RPM at 60 MPH (very nice), and a nice top end performance experience as the built engine deals with air resistance at high speeds very nicely.
 
Interesting that it had the delete auto setback release selection that is normally included with the convenience group. I had a 71 Cougar that also had that same delete as it was a dealer demonstrator and I think that was chosen to save battery on life in the show room when the doors were opened frequently or left open. The electric auto seat back release is triggered when either door is open. It was a fully optioned car otherwise. Perhaps the executive car was also a show room car which were also often heavily optioned.
 
The automatic seat back release was not a stand-alone option but was part of the $51.00 Convenience Group option. It was usually not possible at the Dealer level to delete/de-content part(s) of a group option. This decision would have to be made at the corporate level because of an engineering or assembly plant issue.
An engineering/supplier problem delayed the availability of the automatic seat back release on the 71 Mustang until 1/71. Vehicles equipped with the Convenience Group and built before 1/71 would reflect a $20.00 credit on the window sticker and the dealer invoice for the missing automatic seat back release components since it was part of a group option.
There was still a lot of nice content in this option, even without the automatic seat back release!
 
I am often mistaken but I recall reading somewhere that the seat back release parts were out of stock for some period of time. This resulted in them being deleted and credited. It makes sense to me and is similar to what happened recently in the auto industry with the chip shortage. Some vehicles were delivered missing a charging pad IIRC.
 
Great info! The 71 Cougar I had was built in 11/70 and I always attributed the auto seat release delete to the fact it was ordered and built as a dealer demonstrator.
 
My 73 convertible was a Ford owned Ford Marketing Sales Vehicle ordered by a Ford employee whose name is on the original invoice "H. Hartman". The invoice says that it was a "Intra-Company Allowance" to the Ford Marketing Division. So Ford essentially sold the car to itself for accounting purposes. The DSO code 16111K...16 is the Philadelphia sales district and the 111K is Fords internal dealership code. It was built in June 73 and shipped to the Ford Preparation center in Newark, NJ and then delivered to the Ford Delaware Valley PDC (Product Development Center) in Pennsauken, NJ. I have tried unsuccessfully locate the employee on the invoice to learn more about the cars early history. Since the car was ordered very in the late in production year at the end of the 1st gen mustangs, so I am sure it was not used as a demo car. It's purpose other than it just being used as a company executive car. Typically it was heavily optioned, including factory installed radial tires, which I have not seen a many other Marti Reports.
 

Attachments

  • Copper 73 Mustang Invoice Pages 1 & 2 vs Marti.jpg
    Copper 73 Mustang Invoice Pages 1 & 2 vs Marti.jpg
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