Sorry but I may be helping to further this "Mach 1" thing. Its just too difficult to explain why my car is NOT a Mach 1.
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"Mach1" Convertible
- Thread starter trainey
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I think its just that the 71-73s were shunned as the bloated red headed stepchild of the "golden" mustangs.
For years they got the blind eye up until recently I've noticed a renewed interest in them.
Also for the longest time the only ones you saw at car shows were indeed Mach 1's or BOSS (or clones) so in reality its not hard to see why the general census sees the 71-73s as mach 1s. Just head over to the 50th anniversary photo thread and see how many mach1s and boss' compared to a plain coupe/vert/sportsroof.
I have a customer that's a doctor and has some really nice cars but he just has money to shell out on them or have someone else do the work and he whole heartedly believes his 72 vert is a mach1. Ans he's such a snob about it so I just ignore him now even though his cars are really nice.
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For years they got the blind eye up until recently I've noticed a renewed interest in them.
Also for the longest time the only ones you saw at car shows were indeed Mach 1's or BOSS (or clones) so in reality its not hard to see why the general census sees the 71-73s as mach 1s. Just head over to the 50th anniversary photo thread and see how many mach1s and boss' compared to a plain coupe/vert/sportsroof.
I have a customer that's a doctor and has some really nice cars but he just has money to shell out on them or have someone else do the work and he whole heartedly believes his 72 vert is a mach1. Ans he's such a snob about it so I just ignore him now even though his cars are really nice.
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Got to admit that sorta explains why ALL 71-73's are Mach 1's! lol Most of what you see at car shows are Mach's and a few Boss 351's. What makes me mad is when some idiot with 2 or 3 "friends" in his audience starts to tell me what is wrong on my car. I was 20 and stationed at Robins AFB in Warner Robins Ga. when the 71 Stangs hit the Ford dealers lot. I saw these cars when they were new at the dealer. Thanks to weekly visits to reapply my nose print to the window sticker side and to refingerprint the magums, stripes, chrome exhaust tips, etc , I had a pretty good how these cars should look. So as posted earlier, when these "Experts" show up and want to impress his buddies at your expense...just walk away!
K
Kit Sullivan
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Just had a typical example of a full-of-shit story-teller today:
Some emlployees are bench-racing today, one walks up and says his favorite car he ever had was his '79 Monte Carlo SS with a 454 in it.
He says he bought it from the original owner with just 30,000 miles on it.
That is just too much to ignore for me, so...
"Really? Monte Carlo SS production ended in '70, and did not begin again until '84" I said.
He says " My uncle and me special-ordered it that way. I helped him pick out the right equipment since I was such a gearhead."
Me: " you and whoever special-ordered it? I thought you said you bought it from the original owner?"
"I did...my uncle."
( he is 28 years old)
Me: "Ok, so your uncle wants to special order a car that doesn't exist and decides to take you, his 2-year old nephew down to the dealer to help him get it ordered just right?
"No, I was a teenager then."
"In '79?"
"No, I said '89." ( he didn't...he said '79)
I continue: "How did you "special-order" a 454 in '89? GM did not install that motor in passenger vehicles in '89, and they in fact did not even make 454s in '89"?
( in fact, they did make 454s then...I just wanted to bait him and see his response)
"We ordered it with a Mercury-Marine 454. Cost a lot"
"Really? In a front-wheel drive chassis?"
"Yeah, it was pretty squirelly to drive, fer sure!"
So...I had enough: I said " You want to keep going? Maybe you can fit both feet in there eventually."
He abruptly changed the subject.
Morons...
Some emlployees are bench-racing today, one walks up and says his favorite car he ever had was his '79 Monte Carlo SS with a 454 in it.
He says he bought it from the original owner with just 30,000 miles on it.
That is just too much to ignore for me, so...
"Really? Monte Carlo SS production ended in '70, and did not begin again until '84" I said.
He says " My uncle and me special-ordered it that way. I helped him pick out the right equipment since I was such a gearhead."
Me: " you and whoever special-ordered it? I thought you said you bought it from the original owner?"
"I did...my uncle."
( he is 28 years old)
Me: "Ok, so your uncle wants to special order a car that doesn't exist and decides to take you, his 2-year old nephew down to the dealer to help him get it ordered just right?
"No, I was a teenager then."
"In '79?"
"No, I said '89." ( he didn't...he said '79)
I continue: "How did you "special-order" a 454 in '89? GM did not install that motor in passenger vehicles in '89, and they in fact did not even make 454s in '89"?
( in fact, they did make 454s then...I just wanted to bait him and see his response)
"We ordered it with a Mercury-Marine 454. Cost a lot"
"Really? In a front-wheel drive chassis?"
"Yeah, it was pretty squirelly to drive, fer sure!"
So...I had enough: I said " You want to keep going? Maybe you can fit both feet in there eventually."
He abruptly changed the subject.
Morons...
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When I first joined this forum, I 'thought' I knew a lot about these cars. I quickly learned I was mistaken!!!!
I have to admit there are still a few grey areas but I am still listening, reading and learning. I don't think anyone is an expert on these cars... yet!
But trust me, when I find that Marti report on a 1971 Boss 429 Mach 1 convertible - shipped to the MOON - I will share with ALL!
Ray
I have to admit there are still a few grey areas but I am still listening, reading and learning. I don't think anyone is an expert on these cars... yet!
But trust me, when I find that Marti report on a 1971 Boss 429 Mach 1 convertible - shipped to the MOON - I will share with ALL!
Ray
K
Kit Sullivan
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I must politely disagree. There are several very knowledgable experts on 71-73 Mustangs right here on this very forum.
luxstang
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That car is so rare that a Marti doesn´t even exist which in return will prove that it is original!But trust me, when I find that Marti report on a 1971 Boss 429 Mach 1 convertible - shipped to the MOON - I will share with ALL!
Ray
mach1000
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I'm with all of you on this one. I heard it before. All 7173 are Mach 1's. I remember back in early high school one of my buddies neighbors had a 71 6 cylinder sportsroof. Oh course it was a Mach 1 and I asked if he was selling it, his response.. "you can't afford it!" That was actually the first 7173 I saw in person. I was blown away by the body lines and shape of the car. I was probably in 9th grade.
Back to the c list ad.. It does look like a decent car but needs some tweeking. Black out hood paint isn't right. The trunk lid stripe looks out of place. I think someone posted about a guy on ebay who will make a "correct" looking Mach 1 stipe for the vert.
Seating surfaces look odd too. Looks like they replaced comfortweave with leather or pleather.
Not to mention the chrome hood trim. Must have ran out of paint...
Back to the c list ad.. It does look like a decent car but needs some tweeking. Black out hood paint isn't right. The trunk lid stripe looks out of place. I think someone posted about a guy on ebay who will make a "correct" looking Mach 1 stipe for the vert.
Seating surfaces look odd too. Looks like they replaced comfortweave with leather or pleather.
Not to mention the chrome hood trim. Must have ran out of paint...
When I first got the car, I emailed the first photo to a bunch of guys at work who were into v8's.
One of them, my IT colleague, asked in an email "Is that a Colby? Or a Mach 11?
I replied "back to all" and explained that "Colby" is a cheese and the "Mach 11" is a shaver! And did he have any other questions....hehe
One of them, my IT colleague, asked in an email "Is that a Colby? Or a Mach 11?
I replied "back to all" and explained that "Colby" is a cheese and the "Mach 11" is a shaver! And did he have any other questions....hehe
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She is named Victoria and sports a 302 with a C4.
Kit, it is just to go along with the awkward chrome hood trim with the painted front fender extensions! Nice car, but with all the apparent effort that went into it, it could have been nicer...
K
Kit Sullivan
Guest
My hypothesis on why so many believe that all 71-73s were Mach 1s:
The original 65 Mustang and the then-new 67 and 69 models to follow were each designed as a coupe first and the fastback was later added to that styling, or at the very least the coupe version was a priority for the stylists. The coupe versions recived a lot of styling attention because they were the bread-and-butter versions...the versions that would sell the most.
The fastbacks developed for those 65,67 and 69 versions were also very well designed, and thier popularity grew tremendously with each suceediong update.
By the time the 69s had debuted, the fastbacks were equally as important to the mix as the coupes were.
When the 71s were being planned, the fastback took priority, since the mach 1 had been such an overiding success and muscle-car mania was in full-swing.
Everything about the 71 had a "muscle" flavor to it, and the fastback was a part of that style. The trouble is that they tried to remove the fastback and graft a coupe roof onto it when nothing else on the car fit the theme.
It seems that any good looking coupe looks better when a fastback is grafted to it, but a car designed as a fastback that has a coupe roof grafted on never seems to work visually.
The sportiness of the 71 style, even with the coupe roof, made the Grande an almost impoosible model to me. There is nothing about the appearance of a Grande either inside or out that denotes "luxury" or exclusivity. It just looks like a Mustang with a lot of options.
On the "Ghia" version of the Mustang II, they somewhat pulled it off: Wide bodyside moldings, wire hub caps, padded half-vinyl roof, hood ornament, bright chrome grille...all things that should have been on a 71-73 "Grande" if they wanted to sell "luxury".
The original 65 Mustang and the then-new 67 and 69 models to follow were each designed as a coupe first and the fastback was later added to that styling, or at the very least the coupe version was a priority for the stylists. The coupe versions recived a lot of styling attention because they were the bread-and-butter versions...the versions that would sell the most.
The fastbacks developed for those 65,67 and 69 versions were also very well designed, and thier popularity grew tremendously with each suceediong update.
By the time the 69s had debuted, the fastbacks were equally as important to the mix as the coupes were.
When the 71s were being planned, the fastback took priority, since the mach 1 had been such an overiding success and muscle-car mania was in full-swing.
Everything about the 71 had a "muscle" flavor to it, and the fastback was a part of that style. The trouble is that they tried to remove the fastback and graft a coupe roof onto it when nothing else on the car fit the theme.
It seems that any good looking coupe looks better when a fastback is grafted to it, but a car designed as a fastback that has a coupe roof grafted on never seems to work visually.
The sportiness of the 71 style, even with the coupe roof, made the Grande an almost impoosible model to me. There is nothing about the appearance of a Grande either inside or out that denotes "luxury" or exclusivity. It just looks like a Mustang with a lot of options.
On the "Ghia" version of the Mustang II, they somewhat pulled it off: Wide bodyside moldings, wire hub caps, padded half-vinyl roof, hood ornament, bright chrome grille...all things that should have been on a 71-73 "Grande" if they wanted to sell "luxury".
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Kit - you misunderstood me. I was trying to say no one knows it all, YET.
And my point was that we are still learning. The word, expert; is thown around too much as the one who knows and understand all there is about a subject. To me "Very Knowledgeable" is different from an Expert.
Tomatoes/Tomatos ---- all good.
See I can only put in one foot at a time! Your story was funny!
Ray
