Deluxe Rear Bumper on a 72 vert with Decor Package ?

[Marks1]

Good morning everyone ! So my question is about our rear bumper. Our car is a fairly late build 72. It was ordered with very few options, but it does have the Decor Package, Mach grill, lower paint treatment, Urethane bumper, etc. No where on the Marti Report is the deluxe rear bumper mentioned, but this bumper looks to be original to the car. I see a lot of folks mention that this was standard on 73 Stangs, but I know for a fact my 73 Sportsroof which I bought a year old with 12k miles on it and was all original, did NOT have the Horizontal strips, just the vertical bumper guards. My question is, does any one here know definitively which 71-73 Mustangs came with rear bumper strips and guards?

 

[Hemikiller]

That's a '73 "Deluxe Bumper Group" rear bumper on your car. By the Marti Report and the invoice, your car did not come with bumper guards from the factory. They were a popular add-on at the dealer.

In the spirit of "K.I.S.S." the most likely explanation is the original rear bumper was damaged and one was sourced from a local auto parts yard.

 

[secluff]

Hello Marks1,
The bumper guard applications have always been a source of confusion for the '71-73s.
In '71, a $34-$45 "Protection Group" option included front lower bumper guards, and vinyl insert body side moldings. (N/A on Mach 1 or Boss 351)
A $31.00 "Bumper Guard" option included front (standard height) and rear bumper guards for all models except Mach1.

For '72, the $52.06 "Protection Group" option continued with front, and rear bumper guards with vinyl insert body side moldings. Ford did not carry over the '71 style lower (from bumper to valance) into '72, so the front bumper guard was standard height. This option was not available on Mach 1 or Decor Group.
There was a $28.19 Bumper Guard only option available on all models except the Mach 1 and Decor Group.

In 1973 with safety as a new selling point and the new federally mandated impact bumper laws in effect, bumper options changed. Since all '73s now have the urethane front "Crash" bumper, there were no front bumper guard options. To meet the new 2.5 MPH rear impact requirement, new bumper mount brackets extended the bumper out from the body. The standard '73 rear bumper was the same as the '71-72 version with no guards or rub strips. There was a $14.00 rear bumper guard option which included two bumper guards with black vinyl inserts. The $25.00 "Deluxe" rear bumper guard option included two bumper guards with vinyl inserts and three horizontal vinyl rub strips. This was a '73-only option and was not available as part of any other option or group. So as Hemikiller posted, sometime in your verts life, it received a donor '73 rear bumper.

When compared to 2022 dollars, these were still a great value.

 

[Marks1]

Hello Marks1,
The bumper guard applications have always been a source of confusion for the '71-73s.
In '71, a $34-$45 "Protection Group" option included front lower bumper guards, and vinyl insert body side moldings. (N/A on Mach 1 or Boss 351)
A $31.00 "Bumper Guard" option included front (standard height) and rear bumper guards for all models except Mach1.

For '72, the $52.06 "Protection Group" option continued with front, and rear bumper guards with vinyl insert body side moldings. Ford did not carry over the '71 style lower (from bumper to valance) into '72, so the front bumper guard was standard height. This option was not available on Mach 1 or Decor Group.
There was a $28.19 Bumper Guard only option available on all models except the Mach 1 and Decor Group.

In 1973 with safety as a new selling point and the new federally mandated impact bumper laws in effect, bumper options changed. Since all '73s now have the urethane front "Crash" bumper, there were no front bumper guard options. To meet the new 2.5 MPH rear impact requirement, new bumper mount brackets extended the bumper out from the body. The standard '73 rear bumper was the same as the '71-72 version with no guards or rub strips. There was a $14.00 rear bumper guard option which included two bumper guards with black vinyl inserts. The $25.00 "Deluxe" rear bumper guard option included two bumper guards with vinyl inserts and three horizontal vinyl rub strips. This was a '73-only option and was not available as part of any other option or group. So as Hemikiller posted, sometime in your verts life, it received a donor '73 rear bumper.

When compared to 2022 dollars, these were still a great value.

That's a '73 "Deluxe Bumper Group" rear bumper on your car. By the Marti Report and the invoice, your car did not come with bumper guards from the factory. They were a popular add-on at the dealer.

In the spirit of "K.I.S.S." the most likely explanation is the original rear bumper was damaged and one was sourced from a local auto parts yard.

Hi secluff and Hemikiller, Thanks guys, I appreciate your explanations of what must have happened to our car. I will say it had to be a light hit, on the bumper only, because all of the rear sheet metal is original and unrepaired thank God.

Thank you Secluff, I really appreciate your excellent description of what was available throughout the 71-73 Mustang model years.

Hemi, I posted the invoice and Marti reports to show that it didn't have any option showing in regards to the rear bumper. Because the bumper, bumper fasteners and all the brackets looked like they were original to the car, I thought maybe it was part of the decor package, in the later half of the 72 build year, kind of like you discovered for me that the sport mirrors were made an option on convertibles, on the back half of 72 even though they were standard in the first half of 72 production. I guess my theory was wrong.

 

[72MustangSprint]

Not knowing the history of your car, any owner in the past could have changed the rear bumper. It’s only a few bolts . If it’s not original to the car i would change to a regular chrome bumper. I’m not a big fan of the 73 with the big guards.

 

[Marks1]

Not knowing the history of your car, any owner in the past could have changed the rear bumper. It’s only a few bolts . If it’s not original to the car i would change to a regular chrome bumper. I’m not a big fan of the 73 with the big guards.

Hi Joe, Yes, as I’ve owned at least 5 of these cars, and stripped a 73 tornado victim Mach 1 back in the late 70’s that I still have parts from LOL, so I have removed the bumpers, both front and rear, (fronts a real heavy bitch on the 73’s). That is how I know the hardware was kept as the factory had it on this one, I still remember, or think I do. An NOS, NO bumper guard/NO rubber stripe bumper was already sourced before I posted this question, purely for cosmetic reasons, so I obviously agree with your opinion. My question was to know whether I should save this bumper that came on the car because it was the original, or to put it up for sale. Now I have my answer, unless of course I find out later my theory is correct, since the car was a late 72 build.
So now I guess my question is, does anybody else think they have a 72 decor package car that originally came with the deluxe bumper like a 73 ?

 

[72MustangSprint]

I’m not saying that it’s not possible Ford threw on what they had available but at this point since it’s not on the invoice there no way to verify what it had originally . Maybe hang on to it and see if someday the history can be verified.

 

[Marks1]

I’m not saying that it’s not possible Ford threw on what they had available but at this point since it’s not on the invoice there no way to verify what it had originally . Maybe hang on to it and see if someday the history can be verified.

Exactly what I was thinking Joe, I’m waiting for Dennis to pull something out of his hat, LOL