Lynda got a call from a friend a few summers ago, advising of a barn sale nearby (Albion, NY). And, she said they have an older Mustang she thought we might be interested in. So, not having anything else planned we hopped into our 1973 Mach 1 for a fun pony car romp out to see what the older Mustang was all about. We already had a 1969 Shelby GT500, a 1973 Mach 1, and planning to purchase a new Shelby GT500 once they became available to purchase. So, our little corral was already fairly full. We had no intention to purchase any more pony cars, but they are always fun to look at.
We were not at all prepared to see what we found. It was a gorgeous 1973 Mustang Convertible. It has been literally barn stored over 40 years, and at the time has under 20,000 original miles on it. The seller was the 3rd owner, and he is the one who rescued it from it barn storage location about two years earlier. He only had new tires put on (originals had cracked sidewalls), a set of 14" Magnum 500 wheels, installed a dual exhaust system, and changed the oil and filter. Everything else was nearly perfectly preserved in its original form. He fired up the engine, it started from being stone cold immediately, and was very smooth running (302 2v, C4 auto tranny). I declined to drive it as it was clear to me it was in great condition. Even if it needed any work it would have been worth the effort.
As we were looking at it, Lynda and I were both taking photos. And, we were both trying to think of a way to telling the other that we ought to purchase that magnificent Mustang, despite the fact we did not "need" it. Finally we both blurted out how nice it would be to have that Mustang in our corral also. The seller said he and his wife would be happy to drive it to our place the following day. I said we would have cash for his asking price, no argument as it was a truly fair price. On the way home I called out bank (they were open half days on Saturdays) and advised we were on our way over, and needed to pull out $21,000 in cash, all 100s. When we rolled in they were all set to provide the cash.
The next morning the seller and his wife came over, as promised. We swapped the cash for the title. It turns out the seller was retiring. His area of specialty was buying and selling Mustang parts for vintage Mustangs! No wonder it was in such great shape. It was a fairly basic 1973 Convertible with a 302 2v engine, C4 transmission, Power Steering, Power Front Disc Brakes, AM radio, bumper protection group, appearance package, and Deluxe Inner Door Panels. Everything else was vary basic. The hood was a basic flat (non-NACA/NASA) panel. As demure looking as it was, it was obvious this was a very special Mustang Convertible that was in terrific condition.
Once we got the Mustang all registered and insured in our name we began to modify it, tastefully. The first thing we did was add a Classic Air air conditioning system, as it was originally a non-A/C car. Being a convertible we could have done fine with no A/C in it, but we really like having A/C in our cars, so... The rear taillights are now VintageLEDs.com LED panels with sequential flashing. We installed an ACP full length center console, and removed the ashy tray to replace it with a fabricated Power Panel with two 12 volt outlets, a dual-USB Outlet, and a digital display voltmeter. We installed a DashCam, and a Garmin Drive 52 GPS with the optional wireless Backup Camera. We also installed a set of Halogen headlights, and a headlight relay to handle the additional amperage demand of the new headlights. The headlight relay was set up so the headlights come on any time the car is running. The original idiot light laden instrument panel was replaced with a Dakota VHX analog gauge equipped instrument panel. The original cooling system was replaced by a Champion 3 row aluminum radiator and dual electric fans (just "because" - we had no cooling issues). We also added a rear trunk lid stripe, and a front spoiler, both to give the car a little more visual "edge" in its appearance. To handle all the added electronic equipment I had the alternator rebuilt using higher amperage output parts, taking it from 43 to 65+ amps - more than enough to handle everything we added.
Here are a few YouTube video links showing some of the upgrades we did:
These videos are for a 73 Mach 1, showing some of the upgrades we did for both the Mach 1 and the Convertible:
https://youtu.be/mZGMztZvLeI
https://youtu.be/npY1fxaNonY
The 73 Convertible is not our fastest pony car (302 2v with a steep 2.79:1 ratio axle ratio gear set), but it is the one we have the most fun in when driving with the top down. It is a classy pony car for sure. If we want speed we have a 73 Mach 1 (not stock), a 69 Shelby GT500, and a 2020 Shelby GT500 that all do a fine job when it comes to fire breathing, ground shaking performance.
