Mach 1

[kulfurs]

Has anyone else noticed how many of these bogus 71-73 Mach 1 convertibles have been popping up for sale lately? I’ve even seen a few that are dealer represented. Don’t get me wrong. If someone wants to build a car the way they want it then by all means do so. But don’t represent it as something it isn’t or something that never existed. What are your thoughts about this.

 

[Sheriff41]

Build your car as you like and just call it a Mustang. Buyers need to be knowledgeable about what they are buying, though, because many sellers may not know or are eager to fleece potential buyers.

 

[bigdonward]

Has anyone else noticed how many of these bogus 71-73 Mach 1 convertibles have been popping up for sale lately? I’ve even seen a few that are dealer represented. Don’t get me wrong. If someone wants to build a car the way they want it then by all means do so. But don’t represent it as something it isn’t or something that never existed. What are your thoughts about this.

Do they have the Mach 1 decal on the side? Then that would be wrong since there were no Mach 1 convertibles but the stripes and hood paint was available for convertibles weren't they?

 

[72MustangSprint]

Do they have the Mach 1 decal on the side? Then that would be wrong since there were no Mach 1 convertibles but the stripes and hood paint was available for convertibles weren't they?

Hood blackout and hockey stick stripes were optional on verts. Decor option with sport lamps could be ordered as well. Essentially Mach 1 looks without being M1.

 

[Hemikiller]

Do they have the Mach 1 decal on the side? Then that would be wrong since there were no Mach 1 convertibles but the stripes and hood paint was available for convertibles weren't they?

The Exterior Decor Group became an option in 1972 on base coupes and convertibles, and continued through 1973. This gave you the "mach 1 styling" without the Mach 1 body. The EDG was required to order the side stripes.

Hood paint in 72 was only available with the Ram Air option. The TuTone Hood option became available in 1973, which was the NASA hood, hood paint and twist locks, but no Ram Air hardware.

 

[Greg]

Mine for sale on this site was ordered as close as you can get to a Mach I convertible from the factory. The original owner wanted a Mach I convertible. Marti report verified ones like this are rare. After market ones are a dime a dozen and many times done wrong with chrome parts etc.. I read you could get the factory functional ram air with 2BBL cars , but not Q codes. I also believe the two tone hood was only available with twist locks. Most I see nowadays don't have the locks. I even have seen a Marti verified Rear spoiler on a convertible, but if you see one it is most likely added. I buy a car based on the Marti report. Any one can modify a car and add parts/stripes. Untouched cars get rarer each year.

 

[fmjcraig]

Mine for sale on this site was ordered as close as you can get to a Mach I convertible from the factory. The original owner wanted a Mach I convertible. Marti report verified ones like this are rare. After market ones are a dime a dozen and many times done wrong with chrome parts etc.. I read you could get the factory functional ram air with 2BBL cars , but not Q codes. I also believe the two tone hood was only available with twist locks. Most I see nowadays don't have the locks. I even have seen a Marti verified Rear spoiler on a convertible, but if you see one it is most likely added. I buy a car based on the Marti report. Any one can modify a car and add parts/stripes. Untouched cars get rarer each year.

I added the NPD version of the spoiler to my 73 Convertible several years ago only because it seemed to add even more personality to the look, and my H car does have factory Ram Air..

 

[rvrtrash]

"Mach 1" convertibles are nothing new. I saw a few back in the late '70's, and even recall one guy swearing it was original. If we were to be honest, Mach 1 was an appearance package and except for the "05" in the VIN, you could get everything on a coupe or convertible. I love the Mach 1. I've owned two with 18 years of total ownership time, but am ok with people personalizing their car.

 

[fmjcraig]

I added the NPD version of the spoiler to my 73 Convertible several years ago only because it seemed to add even more personality to the look, and my H car does have factory Ram Air..

 

[Mac]

"Mach 1" convertibles are nothing new. I saw a few back in the late '70's, and even recall one guy swearing it was original. If we were to be honest, Mach 1 was an appearance package and except for the "05" in the VIN, you could get everything on a coupe or convertible. I love the Mach 1. I've owned two with 18 years of total ownership time, but am ok with people personalizing their car.

One other metric other than the "05" in the VIN is the BODY field on the Safety Standards Label located on the drivers door. This field will have "63R" listed for Mach1 where as a convertible will have "76D". This applies from 71 - 73.

 

[Greg]

I added the NPD version of the spoiler to my 73 Convertible several years ago only because it seemed to add even more personality to the look, and my H car does have factory Ram Air..

Nice Convertible. Matches my 73 Copper and white loaded Mach. You also added the grill which is a better style than 73. Is it a factory Black Stripes, Hood exterior Decor car?

 

[fmjcraig]

Nice Convertible. Matches my 73 Copper and white loaded Mach. You also added the grill which is a better style than 73. Is it a factory Black Stripes, Hood exterior Decor car?

I have yet to run a Marti Report for specifics, sometime in the past it was repainted, but otherwise completely stock and corrosion free. Original paint still exists on bottom of car. The copper metallic seems to be a rare color choice. I believe the striping was redone when repainted to maintain original configuration. Other than a new 3 row radiator replacement and full compliment of dash and body LEDs, shocks, sway bar upgrade, car is unbelievably stock and original. I wanted to add a few more pictures for this post, but having difficulty attaching them, sorry.

 

[Greg]

I Could never have such a nice car with out knowing the specifics. How do you know the ram air is factory over a well done add on? Your car could be a one of one. Might be a factory "Mach I" Convertible.( More Mach I like than some base 302 Mach 1's. Not implying authentically a Mach 1)

 

[mrgmhale]

I tend to cut folks a lot of slack re: how they set their cars up. As for "Convertible Mach 1s," tribute "Boss 302," tribute "Mach 1" vehicles, as long as they are shown to be tribute vehicles when being sold I am fine. If someone posts info about their car and classify it as something that it obviously isn;t I tend to lat it lay. They are proud of the vehicle they have, and perhaps they are so enamored that they opt t do a tribute in the event of not having the money to get a "real" model that they are so intrigued by. No harm, no foul as long as nobody is buying something the vehicle isn't.

Frankly, I have seen some very nice looking tribute cars, and some very nicely presented Convertible Mach 1s. Who am I to judge what a person does to their own chariot? I know we have done a lot to our 73 Mustangs, well beyond what the factory provided originally. I feel our upgrades have been tasteful, and we did nothing to try displaying something they aren't. And, they are set up for how we want them to be. I offer no apologies for that. The two GT500s, on the other hand, are pretty much bone stock. Although in the 1969 Shelby GT500 I did replace the door glass with 1970 glass with the bolt-in holes vs the 69 glue-in glass that has proven to not be one of Ford's better ideas. And, having acquired the door glass from ECS Automotive Concepts, I did have the proper CarLite logo and date codes etched into the glass, so they look factory original (https://ecs-automotive-concepts.myshopify.com/collections/ford-glass).

 

[fmjcraig]

I Could never have such a nice car with out knowing the specifics. How do you know the ram air is factory over a well done add on? Your car could be a one of one. Might be a factory "Mach I" Convertible.( More Mach I like than some base 302 Mach 1's. Not implying authentically a Mach 1)

I will do a deluxe Marti report later in May and I’ll share results for sure, Greg...

 

[Spike Morelli]

I would hazard a guess that the majority of Mustang owners have modified their car from "sticker original",and that's OK. We all know ( or should know ), that Ford didn't offer a Mach 1 'vert, but so what? Lots of owners dig that look. An entire industry has been born to replicate Cobra roadsters, most people know that if you see one driving down the street, slim chance it's real. Catches your eye, though, huh? If modification satisfies an owner's tastes, that's their perogative. Mis-representing it to sell to an unknowing buyer, not so cool. After everything is said and done, sometimes with cars, just like ****, even the fake ones are bitchin'...
Photo taken of guys crusin' Van Nuys Blvd in '72, with their new Mach 1s. That's how they really looked from the factory. See anything unusual about the hood on the car they're sitting on?

 

[mrgmhale]

I would hazard a guess that the majority of Mustang owners have modified their car from "sticker original",and that's OK. We all know ( or should know ), that Ford didn't offer a Mach 1 'vert, but so what? Lots of owners dig that look. An entire industry has been born to replicate Cobra roadsters, most people know that if you see one driving down the street, slim chance it's real. Catches your eye, though, huh? If modification satisfies an owner's tastes, that's their perogative. Mis-representing it to sell to an unknowing buyer, not so cool. After everything is said and done, sometimes with cars, just like ****, even the fake ones are bitchin'...
Photo taken of guys crusin' Van Nuys Blvd in '72, with their new Mach 1s. That's how they really looked from the factory. See anything unusual about the hood on the car they're sitting on?

I do not see anything unusual about the hood of the Mustang they are sitting on. But, with guidance re: what I ought to be looking for I will take another peek.

I used to frequent Van Nuys Blvd, along with many other your kids, on Wednesday evenings back in the early 70s. Sometimes I went in my 69 Mustang Coupe, sometimes in my 66 Chrysler Newport sleeper with a humungously built 383 (folks would snicker at it, but wound up not laughing so hard once I trounced what should have been a faster car). And sometimes I went in my older sisters 73 AMX, which was a really nice and very quick pony car. Later I picked up a 69 Mach 1, and had a lot of fun romping up and down the boulevard with it also. I was a member of the Road Runners & Associated Mopars car club out there back then. Fun days. Somehow I managed to keep out of trouble, but only barely. A friend oof mine, in his 69 AMX, got popped for street racing (I was only an observer), and tried to outrun the cops in a neighborhood he was not familiar with. That did not work out that well for him.

Anyway, thanks for the photo. That is very much an era-correct photo from back in the early 70s in SoCal. Cool looking Mustangs also.

 

[Hemikiller]

I do not see anything unusual about the hood of the Mustang they are sitting on. But, with guidance re: what I ought to be looking for I will take another peek.

Hood twist locks without blackout paint and RamAir.

 

[lectricegg]

Mine is all factory, it does not have Mach 1 on the side.

 

[Spike Morelli]

HemiKiller, you got it. It's hard to say for sure, but I don"t even see the "Mach 1 Mustang" sticker, on the fender's flanks. I know that guy's leg is right there, but it should show to one side or another. That shot was taken in 1972, the photog was documenting the nightly sceen on Van Nuys Blvd, and crusing. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles, and cruised Van Nuys myself. I got my driver's license in '72, so I just caught the latter part of the crusing era.I was in a car club , Gear Stretchers. I had a Model A , and a hot chopped '34 coupe back then. I usually cruised in the chopped coupe, but, because the clutch was so strong, and you ended sitting in those long lines of cars from light to light, ( it killed your left leg ), I would make one complete round trip up and down the blvd, ( windows down....." see and be seen") , then park with all the Customs / Lowrider clubs down at the south end at June Ellen's Doughnuts.

Here's another photo from that photog's session in '72. Oh yeah,...... the boulevard was jumpin'! What's cool here in this photo, as well, is that flared-out pearl white Pontiac Firebird caught in traffic is my old buddy Jim Cox. The ducktail trunk spoiler had the name lettered "The Proud Bird", which used to be Continental Airlines' slogan, and had a gold and orange stripe over the tail just like the Continental Airlines paint scheme, and that Pontiac had a 350 Chevy transplanted under the hood, as Jim was really a Chevy guy.