K
Kit Sullivan
Guest
You know, I have been living, breathing and generally been well-acquainted with Mustangs...and especially 71-73 Mustangs since 1970. That's 45 years I've been very familiar with them.
I have lived through all the "eras" of our cars;
1) When they were brand-new in late '70 and when only a few magazine road tests had anything overall positive to say about them.
2) Around mid-71 when they started to lose thier appeal...most complaining they were too big, looked to much like a small Torino.
3) NEVER being accepted as a"classic" Mustang. back then, it was very clear what a 1st-gen Mustang was: 65-70. The 71-73s were NOT included in "classic" status for many, many years.
4) Then...the 65/66 convertibles peaked first in value, around the mid-to-late 70s.
5) Shortly thereafter, I would say around 78-80 any old "musclecar" began to spur some interest. The GT's and Mach 1s became insanely popular with high-school kids as awesome and cheap used cars. (sorry...only the 69/70 mach1s got any respect at that time)
Then a wierd thing happened:
As the muscle-car craze picked up steam during the early to mid 80s, the big block Mustangs climbed out of sight. A 69 mach 1 with a 428 SCJ (drag pack) and shaker, with a 4speed was the "Holy Grail" at the time. An average condition one could easily fetch 25K, and a low mileage original was an easy $50,000. BOSS 429s went to $100,000 right away, especially when it became known that Reggie Jackson was an avid collector and owned 2 or 3 of them.
Instead of all this collectibilty trickling down onto the unpopular 71-73s...the opposite happened. They actually went DOWN in value as the earlier Mustangs continued to climb ever higher in value.
In the mid eighties, it was very easy to find several 351 Q code mach 1s with a 4-speed in excellent used condition with a decent level of options (around 50-70,000 miles) for $1500 or less.
Other $800-$1000 mach 1s with 351 2-Vs and auto trans' were also quite common, as were Grande's and coupes.
Convertibles always held up a little better in value, but the 71-73s were always far behind thier younger bretheren.
The 71-73s were considered cool cars by the average guy, but the supposed "Mustang" guys looked down on them.
Beacuse I am an original owner of my 71, I have always loved these the best (natch!). Over the years, I have owned many 71-73 Mustangs...all bought for mere pennies compared to what other Mustangs were worth at the time. Several 351 4-speeds, which really wasn't all that rare. I had fun with them all, and made what I considered a decent profit on all of them when I sold them.
And I will confess right now: Many of them kindly donated some of thier parts to my 71 429...the "jewel" of my stable over the years, to keep it "minty fresh".
Dash boards, door panels, seat parts, console parts, etc...if it was better than what was in "Old Boots", the switch was made.
Unfortunately, this made "Old Boots" kind of a "Frankenstiened" car, but I don't care. It still looks and drives great, as good as it ever did.
The 429s and BOSS 351s were quick to rise in value, and NOBODY knew about the 72 HOs. I once had a supposed knowledgable mechanic tell me that "HO" was a designation for a new "metric" style of engine! Sheesh!
And one thing I remember QUITE CLEARLY: Most of the 71-73 Mach 1s crawling around the streets back then did NOT have Ram-Air. That actually was a pretty rare sighting to see one. Not like today, where EVERY 71-73 MUSTANG seems to have "factory Ram Air". There were plenty of guys out there who sprayed a basterdized version of the tutone on thier NASA hoods with rattle-can paint, but it almost NEVER looked correct. And of course no one went to the trouble of installing factory twist locks in the hood.
Magnum 500s are the same: Not every Mach 1 came with the Magnums and F-60s. Many of them, maybe even MOST of them had the 2-piece "action styled" hub cap/ trim ring combo (Ford's description, not mine!) with skinny white-walled tires. That was a very common sight back in the day.
Actually, the DAF James Bond Mach 1 is a great example of what the "average" 71-73 mach 1 looked like back in the day.
Today, every car you see is dolled up with every available factory option it could have had...regardless if it actually came that way or not.
I get appreciative when I see an unmolested original car sporting its base-level equipment. Reminds me of how it really was...
I have lived through all the "eras" of our cars;
1) When they were brand-new in late '70 and when only a few magazine road tests had anything overall positive to say about them.
2) Around mid-71 when they started to lose thier appeal...most complaining they were too big, looked to much like a small Torino.
3) NEVER being accepted as a"classic" Mustang. back then, it was very clear what a 1st-gen Mustang was: 65-70. The 71-73s were NOT included in "classic" status for many, many years.
4) Then...the 65/66 convertibles peaked first in value, around the mid-to-late 70s.
5) Shortly thereafter, I would say around 78-80 any old "musclecar" began to spur some interest. The GT's and Mach 1s became insanely popular with high-school kids as awesome and cheap used cars. (sorry...only the 69/70 mach1s got any respect at that time)
Then a wierd thing happened:
As the muscle-car craze picked up steam during the early to mid 80s, the big block Mustangs climbed out of sight. A 69 mach 1 with a 428 SCJ (drag pack) and shaker, with a 4speed was the "Holy Grail" at the time. An average condition one could easily fetch 25K, and a low mileage original was an easy $50,000. BOSS 429s went to $100,000 right away, especially when it became known that Reggie Jackson was an avid collector and owned 2 or 3 of them.
Instead of all this collectibilty trickling down onto the unpopular 71-73s...the opposite happened. They actually went DOWN in value as the earlier Mustangs continued to climb ever higher in value.
In the mid eighties, it was very easy to find several 351 Q code mach 1s with a 4-speed in excellent used condition with a decent level of options (around 50-70,000 miles) for $1500 or less.
Other $800-$1000 mach 1s with 351 2-Vs and auto trans' were also quite common, as were Grande's and coupes.
Convertibles always held up a little better in value, but the 71-73s were always far behind thier younger bretheren.
The 71-73s were considered cool cars by the average guy, but the supposed "Mustang" guys looked down on them.
Beacuse I am an original owner of my 71, I have always loved these the best (natch!). Over the years, I have owned many 71-73 Mustangs...all bought for mere pennies compared to what other Mustangs were worth at the time. Several 351 4-speeds, which really wasn't all that rare. I had fun with them all, and made what I considered a decent profit on all of them when I sold them.
And I will confess right now: Many of them kindly donated some of thier parts to my 71 429...the "jewel" of my stable over the years, to keep it "minty fresh".
Dash boards, door panels, seat parts, console parts, etc...if it was better than what was in "Old Boots", the switch was made.
Unfortunately, this made "Old Boots" kind of a "Frankenstiened" car, but I don't care. It still looks and drives great, as good as it ever did.
The 429s and BOSS 351s were quick to rise in value, and NOBODY knew about the 72 HOs. I once had a supposed knowledgable mechanic tell me that "HO" was a designation for a new "metric" style of engine! Sheesh!
And one thing I remember QUITE CLEARLY: Most of the 71-73 Mach 1s crawling around the streets back then did NOT have Ram-Air. That actually was a pretty rare sighting to see one. Not like today, where EVERY 71-73 MUSTANG seems to have "factory Ram Air". There were plenty of guys out there who sprayed a basterdized version of the tutone on thier NASA hoods with rattle-can paint, but it almost NEVER looked correct. And of course no one went to the trouble of installing factory twist locks in the hood.
Magnum 500s are the same: Not every Mach 1 came with the Magnums and F-60s. Many of them, maybe even MOST of them had the 2-piece "action styled" hub cap/ trim ring combo (Ford's description, not mine!) with skinny white-walled tires. That was a very common sight back in the day.
Actually, the DAF James Bond Mach 1 is a great example of what the "average" 71-73 mach 1 looked like back in the day.
Today, every car you see is dolled up with every available factory option it could have had...regardless if it actually came that way or not.
I get appreciative when I see an unmolested original car sporting its base-level equipment. Reminds me of how it really was...
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