New Member "bucketlist fastback"

[bucketlist fastback]

hello largebody mustang fans    my name is Randy from newark, delaware.        i am a "boomer"    59 yrs old and i am looking for a good 71 to 73fastback...     has anyone seen this car before or familiar with it?  i have been interested in traveling to see this thing up close.   anyway..   i am looking forward to being part of your mustang community..    thanks for any input.

 

[Kilgon]

Hello and welcome from Ohio.  Can you provide a little more info on the car?  A vin or at least where the car is located and if listed somewhere the ad of the listing.  Too many out there to tell from one picture.  Not to be smart but it's like taking a picture of a toe and then ask who's is it.  :whistling:

 

[Muskrat1]

I see a gateway classics emblem in the picture, must be at one of the dealerships.

 

[72MustangSprint]

I believe there is a thread about this car , it’s supposed to be a low mileage original car. It was for sale at Gateway Classics.

 

[droptop73]

Welcome to the group from west Michigan! 

Best wishes on your search! Are you looking for a complete car? What do you plan on doing with the car? Restored or modified? 

There's a ton of great knowledge on the site! 

 

[mjseakan]

Welcome from Central New York. Good luck with your search.

Mike

 

[jpaz]

Hello and Welcome from Michigan. If that car is at a Gateway dealership, then make sure you go look at it in person and ask lots of questions. Then ask the guys on here more questions and it. They are known for slapping lipstick on a pig. In other words they don’t really know much about the 71-73 Mustangs. 
Good luck with your search.!

 

[JD79]

Hello from the Netherlands. I have seen this car on ebay for a while now, but it never reached the minimum price, so it got relisted several times now. It is on there at the moment...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Ford-Mustang-/164594210709?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

[mudbilly]

not gonna sell @ 29k

 

[c9zx]

Meth, greed, and stupidity make a bad mixture. $29K USD is ridiculous for that car. Chuck

 

[7173Vert]

I started a thread on this car... These comments here are hilarious... I often wonder why some people bother to own this year of Mustang... From what I can tell on the listing, this is a nice original car. As I recall, the only thing I could see on the exterior that was changed is the Mach 1 rear appliqué insert. If it’s the same car, I believe it’s a 302 3-spd car. This is a car for the purist amongst the people who like these car’s. If I had the room, I would consider it. I think $25k is a fair price if it is in excellent shape. I’ve seen it listed at $32k+. I would love to see it in person just to learn from it... Of course, you need to see it in person to satisfy yourself if you want to buy. As usual, my 1 cent’s worth here

 

[JD79]

hello largebody mustang fans    my name is Randy from newark, delaware.        i am a "boomer"    59 yrs old and i am looking for a good 71 to 73fastback...     has anyone seen this car before or familiar with it?  i have been interested in traveling to see this thing up close.   anyway..   i am looking forward to being part of your mustang community..    thanks for any input.

View attachment 47021

I think it is worth it to have a look. If you are looking for an original car , this could be a very good choice. Personally I think the price is good, but I am from Europe, so prices are generally higher here anyway. Everything seems to be original under the hood, which is quite rare. It also has the instrumentation package, which is a nice option. There is a similar car on ebay and the current bid is already over 28k... so comparing it to this car, I would definitely go for the green one... I wouldnt care if it was 'only' a 302 instead of a 351. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1973-Ford-Mustang-Mach-1-only-18k-Miles-1-Owner-Must-See-/333826254240?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

 

[bucketlist fastback]

Thank you for all the feedback..      this one just happened to catch my eye about a year ago.    When I was a kid my parents were in the market for a grocery getter and somehow we wound up with a brand new grabber yellow “sports roof” it was plain stripped of options except for sport mirrors, am radio, power steering..    I put many miles on that car when I got my license for about four years till I got jammed up in a chain reaction crash that turned that car into a memory...    that one at gateway is equipped very similarly to my family car.  I just need to make the trip to look at it closely.       Thanks everyone for being so friendly..   I am looking forward to owning another 7173 mustang 

 

[Stanglover]

Hello and a warm welcome from SW Ontario, Canada.

Nothing wrong with a 302 if that's what it is. That's a good strong motor and quite capable of cruising at 75-80 mph all day long.

 My very first Mustang was a 1971 Sport Roof with a 320 and C4 that I bought in the summer of 74.. I loved that car and only sold it because family came along a couple of years later.  If you want it, definitely go see it in person and don't be blinded by a slick sales guy who just wants to make his commission.

Good luck with your search for your dream car.

 

[goodnigh]

Welcome from northern California.

mike

 

[jscott]

some problem with Gateway is, of course, they are a third party seller so they need to make a cut.  Quite often if the car is selling at 29K the owner of the car is really looking for 20k or 22K and the rest goes to Gateway.  I have some experience with Streetside which is the same kind of outfit as Gateway.  Streetside, IMO, has some of the most talented fiction writers on staff, have to wonder if Gateway does also.  You MUST see the cars they are selling in person, even it there is a lot of travel involved, could save you thousands of dollars!!

 

[7173Vert]

some problem with Gateway is, of course, they are a third party seller so they need to make a cut.  Quite often if the car is selling at 29K the owner of the car is really looking for 20k or 22K and the rest goes to Gateway.  I have some experience with Streetside which is the same kind of outfit as Gateway.  Streetside, IMO, has some of the most talented fiction writers on staff, have to wonder if Gateway does also.  You MUST see the cars they are selling in person, even it there is a lot of travel involved, could save you thousands of dollars!!

True. When I bought my 73 4-spd Coupe last year, I purchased it sight (in person) unseen. I paid good money for it too. It was everything I expected, except for one area of previous repair around the rear window in the “swoosh” drop off that connects the hood to the trunk. Otherwise, I relied on my knowledge, a 30 min video of the car that I watched many times and some specific questions to the salesman. I bought it from Hanksters Hot Rod’s out of Daytona Beach, Fl. Had never heard of them before I bought this car. They are quite big there and I think they have another store in Pennsylvania as well. Of course their 30 min video failed to and conveniently... show the repair... Chance you take if you don’t personally inspect. I’m still happy with the car overall.
 

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

Welcome to the forum from N.C.. When I traveled a lot I looked at many car that Gateway had. They do a lot of rattle can restore. Just make it shiny spray ArmorAll on everything and put a high price on it. There are lots of different opinions on price and always will be. I own these cars for one reason they are cheap, I have 8. Way less cost than other models. I did order one new in 1973 A Mach 1 that has 12,000 miles and every option. I have never been offered more than $25,000 for it. Was displayed in Mustang Owner's Museum for 6 months and will be part of the PITS, Ponies In The Smokies display in 2021 and is being considered for display at the 50 ann. at Carlisle Penn Ford show in 2021. The only time you see the crazy prices are on the Big Box stores that are always way out of line.
I know a local here bought from one from a Big Box Store and went by their video, pictures and description and bought an expensive Camaro.  He just happened to bring it by my friends shop for him to inspect while I was there. We jacked it up and put on stands. They had skim coated the holes in the floor and frame rails and had sprayed undercoat on that. It was folding up sitting on the jack stands rails were both broke. The body had holes probably tapped over and just bondo. The trunk floor had been skim coated with bondo and was full of pin holes. The car was just a shiny parts car and not even worth restoring. The buyer had no recourse was sold AS IS WHERE IS. He never paid for an inspection and did not go view. All they want is your money.
Keep on the lookout for estate sales they come up often. Person to person sales are usually much more fair. I know mine will be sold cheap, nobody in family interested in old cars. I would never buy from a Big Box store they are just there to make money. This is my car that I was taking home from the museum. The wheels on back are just rollers I have the originals. As my generation pass on the prices will continue to drop always have always will. You cannot change how history goes. Younger generations relate to cars of their era not grandads car. They ask a question on Jeopardy the other day about the Bullitt Mustang and they did not have a clue of what it was. Go to show and most are fox bodies and newer mustangs that the younger generations desire. Can you blame them? New ones go twice as fast get twice the gas mileage and run forever, well maybe if you do not break clutch like my son did on his new GT..

 

[Lazarus]

Had an acquaintance from work buy a 1969 Mustang from one of those classic car resellers with a big web presence in the Atlanta-area location. Almost the same exact story as David’s above. Car looked pretty decent superficially. Nothing lined up very well but appeared to be a cool looking driver. When he got it shipped to him he discovered that it was literally unsafe to drive. The floors were just skim coated and there was severe rust in the structure.  Corners cut on lots of critical items. Oddly enough it did have a pretty nice drivetrain.  
 

He honestly should have just scrapped it and moved the best components to another car, but he made a sunk-cost decision to go ahead and repair it. He ended up spending almost as much again as his purchase price (which was high), just to get what he thought he was getting the first time... which was still not a great condition car.  
 

If it’s a dream car for you, I think it’s worth a drive, flight, or an outsourced inspection.  No offense to guys who buy unseen, particularly those who just enjoy the hunt and buy multiples; they are cool with “win some, lose some” and I can respect that. But if you’re trying to make it count, definitely go look at the thing (as was your instinct in the original post).

As for the long term price trends on our models... I don’t know, I suspect they have some upside potential.  I myself think Chevy Tri-fives look like grandpa cars (I am probably 10 or so years younger than the average age on the board) but guys still keep paying more and more for them. Camaros don’t seem to be getting any cheaper, or Broncos, or Challengers.  Just depends on the car. I do think our cars are inexplicably undervalued (that was part of the appeal for me as a bit of a contrarian) but I don’t see the price eroding much, at least not in nominal value - but that assumes you don’t massively overpay out of the gate.

Good luck!  Hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a great New Years’.