Like / dislike of 71-73 Mustangs

[Stanglover]

Even though my wife and I presently own a 72 vert, I have owned and loved several 73's, and just cant agree with Stanglover on this one. (we usually agree),
I think the 1973 Mustang front bumper was one of the very best 1973 5 MPH bumpers ever made on any 1973 US spec car from an aesthetic point of view. I think they blended into the front fender beautifully, better even than the 71-72 urethane bumper, and I really like the shape of it. I have removed them though, and they weigh a freaking ton, so I'm sure they hurt the handling some hanging all that weight out that far in front of the front wheels.
I also thought the 73 Mach 1 grill was the best looking of the three years, very clean.

What I do agree with from Stanglover's post in his last line, I really like the shape, design, and overall lines of the bodies on all three body styles.

Mark, I will agree that the styling and application of the front bumper was very well done. Of course, all this was mandated be the government for added safety, and that's fine, so there were limitations as to what could be done and still have it look good.
It comes down to "everyone to their own likes". Many really like the 73's, I'm just not one of them, so nothing personal to all our 73 member/owners. Enjoy what you drive.

 

[73 Mach 1 4 me]

Yeah, I agree on Boy George...

When I had my first Mustang, the 73 Grande, Devo and the Vapors were a major part of my listening...still are.

The major 'like/dislike' of that 73 was the avocado interior. I liked it, but everyone else disliked it!

Back in the 70s they had avocado refrigerators, my Mach 1 has avocado interior I wasn’t wild about it when I bought the car. But it kinda grows on you. There were a lot of other factors involved when I bought the car so I overlooked the avocado interior.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Yeah, avocado and harvest gold were very popular in kitchen appliances. We had harvest gold dishwasher and fridge.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Green is the new black

 

[mrgmhale]

Several years ago while at the Erie, PA airport restaurant, a pilot approached me and stated he used to have a Grabber Blue Mustang way back in High School exactly like mine. He asked to look at mine, and of course I said "Sure you can!" Well, then he called the head of security and got clearance for me to drive into the hanger area for a few pictures with "His" Gulfstream IV jet. The funny part was when the pilot stated: "I still remember you can't see sh-t when backing these Mustang's up!!" And then he added "Does your auto insurance policy cover 35 million dollars in aircraft damage!!!

Sounds like you ran into a pretty cool guy, for sure. Our 73 Mach 1's rear view is "dehanced" a bit more than normal by the louver slats we added to the rear window. The louvers look really bad ass, and may actually do some good by keeping quite a bit of solar energy from passing through the rear glass into the rear cabin area. I personally like the look of rear window louvers. But, it feels like our rear view is even more restricted than before, although it really isn't, not really.

To overcome the limitations found in backing up the 73 Mach 1, which modification I did before adding the louvers, I installed a Garmin Drive 52 GPS unit. That model (and several others as well) have a wireless camera option that allowed me to install a backup camera. The wireless camera system provides for up to 4 wireless cameras to be added. I added not only the rear view camera, which worked out great, but a front facing camera as well as I can look at front clearances when pulling into our various garage stalls. The cameras really made a nice difference in being able to maneuver in fairly tight confines. If I wanted to mount two more cameras, in the front or rear wheel sells, for instance, I have the capacity to do so, but I do not feel it is needed. but it is nice to have that option. I feel a set of side view cameras would be nice to have when driving in multi=lane highways, so I can check for clearances on either side of the Mach 1 before changing lanes. Despite having a pair of semi-hemispherical spot mirrors adhered to the side mirrors, it is always an interestingly harrowing experience when checking for cars on either side in the Mach 1. Now that I put into writing my thoughts about having wheel well mounted side cameras is beginning to make some sense.



The attached photos show how the GPS display was mounted in the vertical center bezel area. We do not have the three gauge display in the center bezel with our two 73 Mustangs, so this mounting approach worked nicely. The 2 x 2 x 1 Acrylic plastic block is secured using 3m heavy duty double sided tape to adhere it to the venter vertical bezel. The double sided tape was first placed on the top of the Acrylic block, and to the passenger side. It made for a very nicely positioned GPS display, where I can easily see the display.

 

[DAverkamp]

Several years ago while at the Erie, PA airport restaurant, a pilot approached me and stated he used to have a Grabber Blue Mustang way back in High School exactly like mine. He asked to look at mine, and of course I said "Sure you can!" Well, then he called the head of security and got clearance for me to drive into the hanger area for a few pictures with "His" Gulfstream IV jet. The funny part was when the pilot stated: "I still remember you can't see sh-t when backing these Mustang's up!!" And then he added "Does your auto insurance policy cover 35 million dollars in aircraft damage!!!

Cool story. What rear spoiler were you rocking?

 

[Cleveland Crush]

That old spoiler was from American Racing Equipment (made from Aluminum in the early 1970's) I just recently sold it to a guy who put it on his 1960's Ford econo-line van. I currently run the factory rear spoiler.