how did you get your 7173 mustang

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I made my story into the video above, but there's a bit more to it than that. I did spot the car in the original owner's driveway (as I said to myself that day, "there's only one car in the world that looks like THAT under a car cover."), but what isn't covered in the video is that I spent about 40 hours running internet searches and public record searches to find out where he had moved to...

...and came up empty. It took the assistance of a friend with access to the police database that gave me the owner's correct, current address in Kentucky. It took another week and a half to gain correspondence with the owner. At the same time, a neighbor had given him the number of a mid-Florida collector car business who had made a high offer (blindly), which put me out of the bidding - but I received a call three weeks later from the owner to let me know that said organization had given him the runaround and never bothered to see the car in the first place.

We agreed on the original offer, and I picked up the car a week later.

Soon as the cooling system is re-connected and I have it running again, I'll be mailing him a set of pictures of the progress.

-Kurt

 
I looked online for about 4 months last year trying to find a "perfect" 73 convertible. Perfect would have been one with all the Mach 1 type stuff on it stripe package etc, black interior, with guages tilt wheel, manual, black top, 351, ram air, power windows.

There's a lot out there, but they were mostly missing something I really considered a must have, guages for one, or they were just not good enough quality as I did not want a builder.

Then I found one that grew on me in Florida. It didn't have a black interior or power windows, but it had almost everything else. Plus it had a lot of costly add on goodies such as: MSD ignition and Distributor, Upgraded power wiring, Cal Tracs, 5 speed manual, rear disk brakes, IAS shocks, subrame connectors, electric fuel pump, power antenna, tubular strut tower brace, chrome hinges, shock tower chrome, 17" AR wheels, plus it had a matching numbers engine, rear, etc.

So, I negotiated with the seller, arranged import and had the thing shipped to Australia!:)

Greg

 
When my wife and lived in Reno, and we took the back way to get to the Peppermill, we saw a fastback sitting at the curb with a 4 sale sign. We called the number and met with the owner. It has a C6 and the kick down and vacuum modulator weren't connected, the shifter bushings were shot and he thought he was pulling it down from 3rd into 2nd, but couldn't tell , got it into 1st, over-revved it and dropped a valve.

A little negotiating, and $1,200 later we owned a '71. Took it home and pulled the heads. When the piston smacked the valve it bent the valve stem slightly and the valve wedged up in the seat so it wasn't banging up and down in the cylinder. No other damage, still had the factory hone lines on the cylinder walls.

 
Very interesting reading the varied reasons we all ended up owning these renegade Mustangs. We got ours after the wife commented at a classic car show she really liked the 71 Mach1 the best and if we were to get a classic that's what she wanted. Always being a 71-73 Mustang fan my search started that day. Wanted a 71 with a 4 speed but those I looked at either were out of the price range I wanted to pay or rust buckets, ended up buying the 71 M code with a C6. Bought the car from a guy who ran out of garaged space, he had several other Mustangs and his wife was on him to make room for her new BMW. He had bought it several years ago along with others but just never got around to doing his ground up restoration he had planned for it. I've been chipping away on it since and at the moment it's a nice driver quality car.

 
for my most recent Mustang, it was quite coincidental. (it's been 14 years since i had my 69). We were in a flea market and my wife was a few feet behind me and somehow twisted her ankle, right in front of a booth that had a little hand written cardboard sign saying '1971 Mustang coupe for sale, 351 cleveland engine, $1500.' She pointed it out to me as I walked back to her, and she remarked on the coincidence. The vendor was 86 years old and he had the car sitting in the woods at his house for five years. $1400 later it was mine. good topic.

 
I was smitten with the Mustang bug at the young age of 14. I had a friend who's Grandfather thought they needed a project to work on together, so he bought a 71 sportsfoof with a built 302. My friend and I snuck it out durring the day to go cruise the neighborhood a few times. Then he went out by himself and ended up putting it hard in to a ditch. It was sold before either of us got our drivers licenses. Then in High School I had another friend with a 72 coupe. I was with him one day while he was showing off durring a burn out and it got away from him, and into a vacant lot with a bunch of alder trees it went. He ended up fixing that one back up. Fast forward fifteen years later and my wife being pregnant with our first daughter, meant I had to get a more practicle car than a Porsche 914 (2 seats). After looking at a vintage 911 with no rear seatbelts, I purchased the Mach 1. I am thankful that all has worked out the way it has.

 
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Simple: Classified ad in a local paper. Called the guy, went to see the car the next day, and bought it. That's when the problems started. ;-)

 
I have always owned american cars since I was 18. My father drove Buicks and Cadillacs when I was a child and had them till he passed. He had a lot of negative experiences with german cars and did not like them any more after he had a Mercedes that you could watch rusting apart and that guzzled gas like there would be no tomorrow. He got rid of it and was happy with his 76 Buick Century he bought used two days later from a GM dealer. A sturdy reliable car which served without problems for 21 years and then was sold for about the same price he paid for it.

I am more fond of Fords. Always liked them. I bought my first blue oval product (after owning GM cars like 2 Corvettes, 1 Camaro, 1 Firebird and a Cadillac) in 2005 in form of a Lincoln Mark IV, which I still own. I use it here on German roads as my summer car.

When I was a boy of 12 years, I saw a 72 Mustang convertible with engine damage standing for several weeks at the local gas station. I liked the red car so much thad I rode to the station on my bike every day after school to watch it. Some day it was repaired or sold and was gone.

Later I found out that there is a fastback version of the car that is called "Mach 1" that looked even more sharp. The car impressed me for my life.

In later years I saw one or another on a car meet, but mostly in tasteless custom trim. Good cars for sale were seldom and expensive and scrap cars were not easy to fix. Besides they also were expensive.

In fall 2009 i browsed german ebay, because I looked for a Mustang model as a gift. In the list of finds was a yellow 1971 Mach 1.

I called the owner and asked some questions about the car. He said that it was imported to Germany in 1998 and was a Texas car from the Houston area. The car had a lot of issues, including a defect FMX trans, some accident damage, totally dark electrics and he said it "has a strange way of driving". Because of all of that he was not able to bring it on the street and he did not have the experience to fix it. But the engine is running fine.

I made some calculations a made a bid on the last day of the auction. I never expected to win the car for 6,500 Euros (at that time about 7,500 Dollars) because Mach 1s usually run at twice that here in mediocre condition. The car was in Cologne and was transported for another 200 Euros to my place near Hamburg.

The car was very impressive with its racecar look when it rolled into my garage. It was almost complete and did not have much rust for its age, although a lot of bodywork had to be done due to the bent metal. The very next day I started to take it apart. The engine was the only working part on the car. It "was running strange" because ist had a not very streetable 4.11 rear and a Detroit Locker which goes "dang, dang, dang" in curves.

Since very good Mach 1s are rare to find in Germany, I decided to go for a complete restoration. This has been running now for almost three years. Interior ist completely redone and stands here ready to go in again, electrics are like new, body sheetmetal work was completed last month. Car is booked for the paint booth next week.

Reassembly will begin after painting. Car will be like new when finished.

It will be a bright blue, argent accent, deluxe interior blue, 1971 Mach 1 with Magnum 500s, argent stripes and a 351C 2V.

As you see, some miles to go...

Michael

 
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I've always owned a 71 / 73 Mustang since 1975. 1975 - 95 were either (1) 72 coupe and (2) 71 Mach 1's. In the early 1990's the 71 Mach was getting a little tired - it had over 190K miles, I had rebuilt the body (poorly) three times, suspension was worn, but the M-code 351c only had 35K on it since a full rebuild. I was yearning for a convertible. Nothing in the Northeast or northern states interested me too much since I was tired of repairing rust. When you live in WNY, you learn to repair rust or go looking out of state for a decent body. Fall of 1994 an ad appeared it the local paper - 1973 Mustang Convertible, 42K, auto, PB, PS Asking $6,000.00

Called the owner and drove over to check it out. The car had been given a cheap paint job to cover up minor supermarket / parking lot dings, but was rust free and was original except for the distributor cap. It had been driven from Dallas to WNY by the original owner back in the early 80's where he drove it for a few summers and then parked it in a dirt floor garage for approx 6 years. Aside from some 'rust fuzz' on the bottom of the floor pan, it was 100%. The AC still worked and it still had the Texas plates on it.

I said "I'm interested, what will you take for it?" He replied: "I have a problem. I have an offer, but I don't want to sell it to the guy." "Why not and what is the offer?" The owner replied: "He offered my $5,000 but he wants to give it to his 15 and 16 year old sons. I'm afraid they'll destroy the car." I said: "I'll offer you $5,500 cash" Sold.

I drove it home and decided it needed to be taken down to bare metal and rebuilt since it was a 'Keeper' as far as I was concerned. It took 5 years to accomplish the rebuild. 25K miles and 16 years later and a handful of National MCA 1st place trophies it still resides in my garage and gets driven from April thru Oct in WNY.

 
hmmm short story... I dont know how ....

We were planning to move to Houston. I sold my 65 SS to get my 67 MoosTANG convertible. She's all original...so she is a cruiser. I told the wife, when we get to Texas I am going to buy a Hot Rod for fun.

After months of CL search and watching people waste money on ebay.... I click on one morning CL. The black lonely needing love Mach I was sitting in a barn garage. Call the guy up...go look at it.. we made a deal. I knew she needed work. He cut every wire ...messed up so many things but the body was near as straight as you could ask for...Texas car 2 rust spots.....

now she's drivable.

 
My wife's 66 Restomod Coupe (Sparky) was almost done with restoration and I had a 71 Sportsroof (Grabber Lime) 351c H code ready to go into resto as soon as hers was done. I was going to turn it into a quarter miler. The story below is the story my wife wrote and had published in our club's newsletter last year on how we found my 73 Mach 1 (Ginger). You will notice in the story that it took 6 weeks of negotiation to buy my Mach. The original owner was of course very attached to the car and had a very high price on it. She was also an a retired banker and was one tough negotiator. I finally had to go to my top not a penny more dollar which she finally agreed to.

It was due to Mustangs Northwest that this car found us. The original owner's daughter was trying to sell the car, as her mother could no longer drive. She had been told to get a hold of someone in the club, and went to MNW's website. At the time, I had my email up on the front page as a contact for the Cruise for the Fallen, and she inadvertently thought that it was the main contact for the club. Leaving work one day, I received a mysterious email asking if I knew of anyone who would be interested in a '73 Mach 1 Mustang. At first, I thought it was a joke; my husband Ernie loves the '71-'73s, and a Mach would be one of his "dream" cars to own. I even called a few friends to say "nice try"...but it wasn't a prank.

After the daughter sent us some dark photos of a dirty, gold-colored Sportsroof, I asked for the VIN to verify the Mach's heritage. Ernie just about died when the VIN revealed it wasn't just a Mach; it was a 351 Cleveland Cobra Jet. I made arrangements to see the car, and in early December 2010, we took a road trip to Burien.

Parked nose-in in a carport for about 9 years, the Mach was a cat-hair-and-cat-puke, dirt and pollen-covered time machine. The daughter explained that her mom had ordered the Mach direct from Ford, deleting the front & rear spoilers. We were amazed at how well the car had survived, even if you take into account the repaint due to an accident. Her mom's daily driver, the car had only 107,000 well-cared-for miles.

After 6 weeks of negotiations, we made a return trip to pick her up. Amazingly, she started right up, and drove onto the trailer under her own power! Since then, we've given her new rims and tires, Pertronix ignition, full tune-up and new brakes, fuel lines and tank. Everything except the a/c works, including the original Philco radio that ALWAYS plays '70's tunes!

Ernie loves his Mach (monikered "Ginger"), and gets stares and comments whenever he takes her for an outing. She's a wonderful cruiser - not like her brother Sparky - so we hope to take her on some road trips next year.

Ginger and Sparky.jpg

 
I ordered mine from the factory in September of 1972. I had a 71 Grande with p/w, tilt wheel, traction-loc, 351c w/fmx. Great car, but wanted a Mach 1. I price shopped between 2 dealers, one in my hometown, the other about 25 miles away. The "far away" dealer bested the hometown dealer by $50. I remember sitting with the salesman and filling out the order sheet. It didn't come in until December 1. What a long wait. It's been with me ever since.

 
Mister 4x4,

I saw your "rustangs" photomap on FB , OMG you realy had a ton of work on this one. When would it be ready for the road .?

JB

 
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I bought my first 1973 Grande Coupe when I was 14 for $2500. 2 years later I had my permit and drove that car everywhere, til I wrecked it that summer when my drum brakes failed and I plowed the back of a silverado. I kept the car 3 years after trying to fix it. Over the next 7 years I owned a 2002 Gt, 2005 V6 and a 2007 Gt. It just wasnt the same. Last april I picked up a 1972 coupe with factory disc brakes all around for $1900. Not making the mistake of drums again lol.

IMG_2592.JPG

 
My uncle bought my car on ebay ten years ago with the idea of restoring it himself as he always liked this body style. When I saw it for the first time I knew I had to have it for myself so I made him an offer. It's a car that I just love to drive and don't really plan on ever selling.

IMG_00000002.jpg

 
100_1628.JPG100_1629.JPGMy wife found our mustang when she was selling a clients house, it was sitting next door in the yard. She came home and told me about it and we went back out and put a note on the windshields.Two or so weeks went by with no responce, so I had her contact the man with the house for sale to see if he knew anything about it. As luck had it he also owned the house next door and his son owned the "rights" to the car but not the title which the "home owner" did. He said he would talk to his son to see what his plans were for the car because his son drove it to and from college and had graduated a year prior and the car had been sitting there since (about a year). The front tires were sinking into the soft ground, someone had stolen the gas cap, had been hit and run down the driver side quartertpanel and door (when it was his daily driver). The son was done with the car so the father and I struck up a deal and now I am in the process of part gathering. The car was complete with the exception of the gas cap. Since then I have purchased a near NOS set of doors and some chrome pcs. This is my 3rd mustang. When I was 16 I bought my first vehicle which I still own 76 Jeep CJ5 (36000 actual miles) 2nd car 67 Shelby GT500 (sold to get married):huh: Car gone marriage over. 2nd mustang I still have 65 fastback 3rd is a 96 mustang convertible. And at present working on trying to buy 70 Mach 1 with 351 and Shaker. :)
 
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Many years ago a friend of mine bought a brand new 1971 Mach One. Grabber Yellow with black stripes. It had a 351 4speed, I remember driving through town late on a Friday night/Saturday morning at 140 mph! Later he raced the local police, would have won but he ran outta gas! His parents took the car away. The moral of this story is " Fill up before you run the cops". I always remembered this car and when it came time for me to buy a muscle car it had to be a 71!

 
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