Love for the 71-73

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1hotboss

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 12, 2015
Messages
55
Reaction score
1
Location
Canada
My Car
1970 Boss 302
Well, I have to be honest here, I never really liked the 71-73 body styles. The 7173 body style just looked to big for me...and I know not really any bigger than the 6970. I was always a 6970 and 6768 lover...I really didn't even like the 6566 cars for some unknown reason. I then went out and purchased a 71, since joining this forum and paying more attention to the 7173 at car shows and from everyones posts...I can now say I am loving the 7173s...Everyone on this site has such different tastes, I see such a variety of cars. I have driven my 71 more this past season than any of my other cars, and have received so many compliments when I go to shows...Yeah they may not be as liked as some of the earlier cars but those individuals have never owned one...

7173 lover

 
Well said. Between my dad and I we have owned most years of Mustangs. None drove as nice as the 71-3's. The 64.5-68's drove terrible - I always compared them to driving an old farm truck. Sure you could change things and make them better but for the most part - they had sloppy handling. The 69 & 70 models were a little better but not much. And usually every one we would get was pretty worn out. People drove them hard! My 72 convertible was by far the best. Fun to drive - plus had some decent power. (as compared to the new cars back then -1975) And it looked great! So 71 & 72's are my top favorites, then next the 73's.

Ray

 
I always thought Mustangs were cool - I think my favorites were the '69s, because they look so mean. But then I had a friend when I was a teenager with a '71 Mach 1 who actually let me drive it one day. That was all I needed to know. Took me 30 years to finally get one of my own... and I'll never be without it again. :cool:

Good stuff! Congrats and thanks for sharing! ::thumb::

 
I am another of the old guys on here, lol. I bought a 73 Mach 1 new that I still own. I ran it in the local auto cross races in the parking lots here. Never got beat by any of the others in my class, comaro, firebird, challenger, cuda etc. All I did to the suspension was put helper springs around the rear shocks to shift some weight. Had to change the ball joints a couple times when I slid into the concrete curbs, almost rolled it once wasted two of the wheels.

We also street raced of course. Had a guy at work with a 71 Torino 429 CJ he could take me in 1/4 mile but on top end I would pass him due to his lower rear gear. Also worked with a guy that had 426 hemi superbird that was a dog everyone out ran him.

My favorite race was to go to the I-26 clover leaf exchange and do laps around all four without getting off. I think we invented drifting there in the 60's. A set of tires was usually gone in about 2,000 miles. I had a friend that had tire store and he said I was his best customer. I tried lots of brands, Dunlap, B F Goodrich, Goodyear but the Gillette tires handled the best of all. G-60 14" on rear and F-70 14" on front.

The only issue I ever had was I broke the 9" rear yoke several times and then Ford had a factory guy come look and they put the wrong rear in the car from the factory. Small u-joint so they were breaking even with the low HP from the Q code. They changed and did not break another they even put in a 3.50 gear with my air conditioning. I never had the belt on it anyway, lol.

I did put a Ford kit in the distributor to change from vacuum advance to centrifugal advance dual point. It was my date car and had several dates that wanted me to stop and just let them walk home, lol.

Never got a ticket in the car but had to out run several to keep from getting one. Well I got two tickets but beat them in court I represented myself and got the deputy so confused when I questioned him the judge threw it out. It got parked in barn in the 80's but coming out soon.

I have owned several 65 models but like Ray says the 71-72-73 are much better cars. I do have to say that the Fox body 84 GT-350 I bought new is a great car and also the 85 SVO is the best for auto cross. I think they pulled .9 g's on skid pad when new.

 
These are my favorite years too. I drove my first one which was a 71 coupe with a 4 speed and knew I wanted one. I have always wanted a Boss but probably won't happen but it's still the dream.

 
I'm a kid of the 70s and grew up watching Lotus win Grand Prixs and the Dukes on Hazzard on TV. Many hours were spent pushing Chargers, Challengers, Javelin's and Mach 1's around the floor (just like my Son does now). They had to have long hoods and big wheels at the back!

So it was only right that someday I would fullfill my dream and buy one. And I did :).

These 2 images some up what was in my head at the time:

Matchbox Superfast Mustang Boss:

Matchbox%20Superfast%20Art_zpsmlmtrcaa.jpg


Mustang%20kit%20model_zpsjovkfevb.jpg


 
I'll start by saying I grew up in a Ford family. Our yard looked like a Ford production plant parking lot when everyone was at our house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. Then my Dad bought a new 66 289 Mustang coupe when he returned from Viet Nam. That was the first of MANY Mustangs and started my love of these cars that that is still strong to this day. (Yes..there was even a couple of Mustang II's in the mix)!

Now, the reason I feel the 71-3 Mustang is the best of the first generation. The 64 1/2-70 Mustang platform sits on a chassis that was first seen on the 1960 Falcon. Which means it was designed around 1958-1959. It was a pretty good chassis design that was used for decades on many unibody Ford's. As time went on these cars, especially the Mustang and Torino/Fairlane's, became heavier with bigger engines, transmissions, AC, PS, etc until these vehicles exceeded what the original engineers had ever intended. Got to remember that performance cars in the early sixty's were full size cars with frames. (Ford and GM anyway) The absolute WORST handling performance car I have ever driven belonged to a close friend of mine. A 1969 Mercury Cyclone with a 4sp, 428 SCJ with a Drag-Pak 4:30 gear. It had an insane amount of power, and had twice as much as that chassis should of ever seen. It's also the one I was drag racing, err..I mean "driving" the night the motor mount broke and locked the accelerator linkage wide open (no throttle cable on that one). It also handled like a wheelbarrow with a flat tire. It got so bad that when he went on a date, he would promise to fill my car up twice, for every time I let him use my Mach 1 to take a date out. My girl friend had a 4sp 71 "M" Mach 1, so I was still able to ride in style. Once we were able to chain his engine down that was trying to tear the car in half (5 motor mounts later), it was safer to race, but still not a fun street car to drive. He finally "Fixed" it by parking it and pulling the powertrain to use on a 69 Drag strip only Mustang we toyed with. He replaced the 69 car with a 70 Cyclone SCJ 429 with Drag Pak (with 4:30 geared Detroit Locker). That one was a 100% better than the previous model. But...only got 8-10 MPG, so he was still borrowing my Mach1 for his date nights. (LOL) The P/S steering system was also another antique design. There was a tangled mess underneath of hoses, fittings, a power steering control valve, a power steering cylinder, etc that all contributed to the vague steering that the Ford unibody cars were known for. A system that was also good for constant never ending leaks.

Enter the new 1970 Torino. Still unibody, but new steering, brake, and suspension pieces, and many improvements that the engineers already knew were going to be used on the new 71 Mustang. So when our cars debuted, they benefitted from the Torino's brakes, suspension, and a host of other chassis and under body parts. Even the radiator support was shared, so we now benefited from a larger more efficient cross flow radiator like the Lincoln's and full size Ford's used.

Along with the new Torino suspension pieces, the game changer on our cars is the steering system. An integrated system with no rats nest of leaking hoses, tubes and fittings. A steering box just like the ones used on full size Fords and a variable ratio box available on the performance Mustangs. While not a perfect system, you now at least had something that would handle and ride way better that any production Mustang before and had power steering that you could actually enjoy using. You also had the never offered before option of power windows, and the ability to borrow some Cougar parts so you could have a power seat. You also had the option of a production installed 429 without being outsourced to Kar-Kraft for heavy front end mods.

I'm not a hater like the 65-70 folks can be, so I'm not trashing the pre 71s. They were built just as good, and handled about the same as anything else from that time era. As far as the complaints on the Sportsroof/Fastback rear window visibility, I feel it's a non-issue. If anyone's behind me, that's their problem!!

With all the improvements and engineering advancements throughout the first generation Mustang's lifespan, I feel that our cars really were the best of the first generation Mustangs and were capable of taking on any challenge from ANY other performance car on the road then.

Wow, my throats dry! I'm off to the VIP Lounge for a couple of cool drinks. Remember, 71-73's get front door parking, all others..street side parking! :whistling:

 
Well I tried the 70 original Mach 1!.... But I didn't Like the small space of the back seat! But yes it looks awesome! But then I body of mine said that he had a friend who had to sell his original 73 Mach 1[emoji12][emoji12][emoji12][HEAVY BLACK HEART]️[HEAVY BLACK HEART]️[emoji106] Who has everything!.... well I owned it ever since [emoji41][emoji8][emoji106] Regards Lars [emoji1087]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Regards DK73

 
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