why did u get your mustang?

[homelessmexican]

hope this hasent been dont before but... i was just wondering what made everyone here get there 71-73 instead of something else?

heres mine

i was 17 in 2001 needed a car, have allways wanted a muscel car, ever sence i saw vanishing point, that challenger was bad ass. then began to look up prices on classic cars, couldnt afford a lot, and i didnt like the 64.5-68 mustangs looked in to getting a 69 or70 mustang, wow still cant afford it, and looked at 67-69 camaro and T/A to much money as well and mopar...ya you have to be rich to afford them. Then one day i was in auto traider and saw this 72 mustang (now mine) for 5k looked great mechanicaly sound but was 400 miles away in houston.. did some research on our 71-73, liked the body lines style ect so made a road trip to houston like 3 weeks after i saw it, got it for5500 and drove it home and thats where i am today

 

[sm3570]

My dad couldn't keep it and I didn't want it leaving the family after he put so much time and money in it. It really is as simple as that. So, here we are!

 

[TheJ]

My dad and I wanted a mustang as a project and we were looking around and the only thing in our budget was a 73 Mach 1 in Mississippi. Glad it was because now they are my favorite mustangs.

 

[don29163]

I saw my 72 Q code on Charleston Craigslist, the price was right (I thought) Then I realized I needed a parts car and I haven't stopped spending since. It is 1 day away from a finished paint job, then I put it back together. I plan on driving it to the Woodward dream cruise on 20 August.

 

[sm3570]

I saw my 72 Q code on Charleston Craigslist, the price was right (I thought) Then I realized I needed a parts car and I haven't stopped spending since. It is 1 day away from a finished paint job, then I put it back together. I plan on driving it to the Woodward dream cruise on 20 August.

That's awesome Don! It's nice seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So when does the next project start?

 

[mach71351c]

My brother had a 70 Mach 1 and 70 Boss 302 and his friend Bobby had a Black 71 Mach 1 that rattled the windows in my parents house. That Mach 1 was just BAD ASS. That car did it for me. My brother still has his 70 boss 302 after 32 years.

 

[Mr Mac]

Of all the Mustangs I have owned in the past purchased to rebuild/restore/whatever the 71-73s were always the ones I hated most to part with. This '71 became available from Houston so I bought it and don't have any plans to be rid of it.

 

[Flatback72]

I think I've mentioned it before, but playing with Hot Wheels cars in the early 1970's as a kid set me on the path to future Mustang ownership. The coolest toy cars I had were always the American pony/muscle cars, and the name "Mustang" had a sharpness to it that resonated with me into adulthood and saw me buy my 1970 Mach 1 in 1987 at age 21. That car is long since sold, but a couple of years ago a bloke at work bought a 1964 Mustang and talking to this guy about his car awoke my desire again to own another hot looking vehicle of US origins. In the years since I had sold my '70 model I had always remarked to friends that if I bought another Mustang it would be a 71 - 73 model for something different.

I hadn't actually seen a 71 - 73 model for over fifteen years when i started to tentatively look for one and didn't really have firm picture in my minds eye what they looked like in detail close up, and I've got to say that with the very first car I looked at I was literally gobsmacked when the importer dude pulled the car cover off it. And that's the same car I own now! I actually like this one a lot more than I did my '70 because it's bigger, lower, and so ridiculously cool because of it's groovy self-indulgent early 1970's impracticality!

 

[OLE PONY]

I bought my 73 convertible way back in 1974 from my GF who had bought it new. I liked the looks of it and thought it would be collectible one day since it was supposed to be the last of the Mustang convertibles. I sold a 69 Firebird to buy my 73 convertible. My first Mustang was a 70 Sportsroof which I sold to buy the Firebird. Over the years I had a 66 Mustang hardtop with the pony interior and a 98 Mustang GT Convertible, but hung onto the 73 convertible all this time. Currently we have four Mustangs!

 

[will e]

I have two stories. I will start with the first Mustang.

I was 15 years and 11 months old. I had worked at a local resturaunt as a 'ceramic sanitation tech'. (Dish washer). I also was a pot scrubber (mostly fish pans). Dad let me take the job when I was 15 but 'forced' me to save part of my paycheck for a car. He had final say on what was bought. This was around 1980. I liked the mustangs but my first choice was a Datsun 240z. Dad said no way to that. I wasn't seriously looking yet but my friend had a green 73 mach 1 which his parents had given him as a 'easter present' (what a load of crap huh). He messed up with grades or staying out late or something so they were forcing him to sell the car. I had ridden in it a few times including one spirited session in the high school parking lot.

I told my dad about the car, he agreed to take a look. I told my friend that if he was driving during the 'test drive' and my dad told him to get on it, to hold back a little... Dad did and so did my friend. I was short a couple hundred bucks but dad tossed that in and we agreed to purchase the car.

So here is 'the funny part'. The next day at the resturaunt the 'cool kid' in school, who worked as a cook, not as as dishwaser, came in and was all excited. "I get to buy Todd's car." He was stoked! Imagine when I told him I had already bought it. At first he didn't believe me then he said, and I clearly remember this, "You're not cool enough to own that car". LOL Oh well, we had the money and the deal was done. I must have washed it 10 times in that last month until I was 16 and could drive it alone. It sat in the driveway and I would walk around it and admire it. Lights on, flashers on, blinker on, running lights on, LOL.

So started my love affair with 71/73 mustangs. Keep in mind the car was only 8 years old. It was actually in pretty good shape. Man I loved that car.

 

[goodnigh]

It will be 4 years this August since I bought the Mustang. At the time I needed a set of wheels and did not care what just so it ran. A friend of a friend wanted to sell one of his two vehicles and he liked the Dodge truck better, so I got stuck with the Mustang. Probably would have bought the truck, just needed some wheels. This is only the second Ford product I have ever owned, the first being a '61 Mercury Comet cause I needed some wheels 20 years ago. The seller kept telling me about the 9" posi, disc brakes, sway bars, staggered shocks, toploader and 4 barrel Cleveland. None of it meant anything to me; at the time. The car was mechanically sound but needed interior work (done) and a paint job (pending). Then I started to learn about what I had bought. This is probably the best $2200 I have ever spent on a car.

mike

 

[Mister 4x4]

Way back when in the early '80s, my Mom was changing careers and attending a local community college in SLC, UT. One of her classmates that she became friends with had a yellow '71 Mach 1. Being 14 at the time, it was the coolest car in the world to me. Then he let me drive it one time - game over.

Fast forward to last summer, and my pal just bought a 1963 1/2 Galaxie 500 XL as a project car... I was jonesin' for a project car of my own, despite all the work I'd just done on my Jeep. I poked around and found my Mach 1 on Craigslist in San Angelo for $2200, then saw it on ebay for $2000, and went to see it. The guy said he'd take the $2000, but I told him since the engine was seized and with all that rust, I'd give him $1600... he took it.

Still probably paid too much, but I don't care... I have a 1971 Mach 1 of my own now. And this one will very literally be mine since I will have pretty much built it myself from the ground up when it's finally running.

 

[droptop73]

Well, I wanted a convertible and my wife wanted a Mustang. These are BY FAR the best driving early Mustangs. Once we drove the car it was settled. It is the favorite of any hot rod I have owned. I never get tired of driving it, I've put over 1500 miles on since April.

 

[homelessmexican]

Mr Mac

when did u get ur mustag i got mine from a guy in houston he had 2 his other was a 72 or 71 mach it was green

 

[MotoArts]

Why?

Because it was there, honestly.

Stumbled on mine posed for sale in someones front yard by my in-laws 3 hours away in West Virginia back in 1998. Engine ran, but not good. Didn't care, body was just way too nice to pass up. Struck a deal for something like $2K, and gave him a $20 deposit till I could get back with the balance (hey, it's all I had on me). Yes, the 20 caused quite a knee slapper, with the dentally-challenged PO drawling out something about me being a "crazy yankee" or, well, who knows for sure. Limped the car about a mile to the brother in law's place, and trailered it here where it's been halfway apart since.

I've always liked the big, flat, "aircraft carrier" styling since they were new, and have always kicked myself for selling my high school '73 Torino fastback. All of the big money parts$ have been obtained for it, and is just waiting the "clean room" garage for its operation back to life. Drivetrain choice has been confounding me for years, though. There's the original 351C-4V, a freshly built mild 460/C6 that's done, several 351W/5.8 roller, 5.0's, AOD's, a T-5, and several rear gear choices that could go in it, depending on how much I want to (read: can afford to) drive it. Initial plans are to get everything that the casual observer can't see (drivetrain, underhood, chassis and interior) finished, then drive it ugly to shake it down before paint.

 

[Mr Mac]

Mr Mac

when did u get ur mustag i got mine from a guy in houston he had 2 his other was a 72 or 71 mach it was green

Just about six weeks ago.

 

[Utard]

My old man stumbled across my Mach about 15 years ago, and after a lot of prompting from me decided it was a deal he couldn't pass up. He wasn't really into it so much, muscle cars weren't so much his thing and he didn't care so much for Ford either. He was into the 50's cars, mostly shoebox Chevy's. He had 4 Bel-Air's and a couple of Caddies. Anyway, he had a buddy who owned a dealership, and the guy stumbled into this Mach at an auction in Montana and since he knew pops was into classics he called to tell him about it. I helped talk him into it, but didn't have to talk too much. The car is beautiful and spoke for itself mostly.

So it sits in the garage coming out 2 or 3 times a year, mostly when I take it to a car show following him in one of his Chevy's. For the last 10 years I keep trying to get him to sell it to me, and he says over and over that I'll get it one day when he dies. It's in the will, you'll get it for free one day.......

2 months ago I try again and I get the same answer. I said, "Dad, if you live another 20 years and I certainly hope that you do, that will make me almost 60 by the time I get that car and ready to retire. Why don't you just sell it to me so I can enjoy it while I'm still young".

That did it. He went and signed the title right then. He sold it to me for half of what it's worth, and a fair amount less than what he paid. I actually had to talk the price up so I didn't feel like I was stealing it from him.

It's still really just sinking in that it's my car, and I'm not just borrowing it. I hoped like hell since the day he bought it that one day it would be mine.

Thanks dad!

 

[jtassin]

In 1972, I saw the James Bond movie with that red mustang, I was in love with the car & Jill St. John. I couldn't have her, so I settled for the mustang. When I was discharged from the Marine Corp in '73, I took my leave money & my '68 Fairlane 500 & bought the left over '72 mach 1 in late summer from a local dealership. Unfortunately 4 years later I wrecked it & traded for a used 72 Gran torino. Always regretted that. Over the years I always talked about if I could ever afford it I would get me another one. About 5 years ago, I designed & subcontracted my daughter's house. She & her husband stayed with us about a year while the house was being built. The next Christmas, She gave me a small box with a set of mustang keys in it. I thought it was a joke gift. She asked later that morning if I had picked up the morning paper. So I went out to get it. Imagine the shock of seeing that 1972 Mach 1 , 351 CJ, fastback, numbers matching mustang sitting in my driveway and the keys in my pocket. It was their thank you gift. Best present I ever got. Ever since I have been in process of restoring it to near show room condition. It's taking longer than I expected, but I enjoying the challenge.

 

[OLE PONY]

In 1972, I saw the James Bond movie with that red mustang, I was in love with the car & Jill St. John. I couldn't have her, so I settled for the mustang. When I was discharged from the Marine Corp in '73, I took my leave money & my '68 Fairlane 500 & bought the left over '72 mach 1 in late summer from a local dealership. Unfortunately 4 years later I wrecked it & traded for a used 72 Gran torino. Always regretted that. Over the years I always talked about if I could ever afford it I would get me another one. About 5 years ago, I designed & subcontracted my daughter's house. She & her husband stayed with us about a year while the house was being built. The next Christmas, She gave me a small box with a set of mustang keys in it. I thought it was a joke gift. She asked later that morning if I had picked up the morning paper. So I went out to get it. Imagine the shock of seeing that 1972 Mach 1 , 351 CJ, fastback, numbers matching mustang sitting in my driveway and the keys in my pocket. It was their thank you gift. Best present I ever got. Ever since I have been in process of restoring it to near show room condition. It's taking longer than I expected, but I enjoying the challenge.

Great story and a wonderful payback for your design and general contractor gift to them! At least you know they listened to your old car stories!