Mach 1 mustangs 1969 to 1973

[Cobramach1]

I have been a fanatic about 69-73 Machs since I first owned one back in 1971. I just recently sold my 1970 Mach 1, which was the last Mustang built at Metchuen. The car was Calypso Coral with White interior, with a 351C M Code and a 4 speed tranny. It had 3.25's in it, but boy would that thing just FLY! I've always loved the way these cars just looked. They looked like they were going 100 MPH when they were standing still.

 

Speaking of Mach's, what's your opinion on the '03-'04 Machs?

 

The '03/04 Mach's are great cars. I was pretty excited when they came out, but had to wait a few years to purchase one because I needed a truck to pull a trailer worse than I needed another car at the time. I bought the car for three reasons. The first reason was that it came with an automatic transmission. The second reason was it had the Cobra 32v engine in it, and lastly the third reason was because it was a Mach 1 with a shaker hood scoop! My first car was a '70 Mach 1 351-2v and I still have that car, though it now has a 530hp 427MR FE big block in it! We've got a couple other 69/70 Mach 1's as well but they need restoration. I've been kind of collecting them over the years when I found a good deal on them. Thankfully I did, because I couldn't even afford to buy any of them today even in the resto condition that they are in need of with the inflation of the old cars, especially the '69 428CJ R code 4sp car that I paid only $2500 for! I sold my '00 GT and purchased my '04 Mach 1 exactly one year ago and it had 18k miles on it. It just turned over 30k not too long ago. I love driving that car.

[LuckySnake]

Beautiful car! How long have you had it.

Thanks, Iv'e had her going on 30 years.

[nsmustang]

Thanks, Iv'e had her going on 30 years.

The Goodyear tires look great, what size are they and how wide is the tread. The wheels look original have you had them widened to match the tires?

[LuckySnake]

The Goodyear tires look great, what size are they and how wide is the tread. The wheels look original have you had them widened to match the tires?

 

Front tires are Goodyear Eagle II P235/60R15 on 15x7.0

 

Rears are Goodyear Eagle II P295/50R15 installed on 15x8

 

I was surprised to see the rear rims are only eight inches wide, seems to work work good and looks good. I don't know where the rims were purchased, but they are not original wheels. Approximately 10.5" of rubber to the ground.

[old school]

Still have & drive the crap out of my70'428CJ Mach, Bought it in 78' for $1800 from my brother with a rod knock. Dumped can after can of STP into it & kept hammering on it till it broke aconnecting rod racing a camaro on the way to work in 79'.Three rebuilds & 30 years later I'm still driving it to work a lot & drag racing it. Best time so far was 12.7 @109mph at cecil Co drageay.Also loved the 03' Mach I had to sell to get the GT-500..that was a nice car also !! Chris

[nsmustang]

Front tires are Goodyear Eagle II P235/60R15 on 15x7.0

 

Rears are Goodyear Eagle II P295/50R15 installed on 15x8

 

I was surprised to see the rear rims are only eight inches wide, seems to work work good and looks good. I don't know where the rims were purchased, but they are not original wheels. Approximately 10.5" of rubber to the ground.

My car has the original wheels and they look very much like yours, they look great and all that rubber on the road must give you really good traction for that powerful engine.

[nsmustang]

Still have & drive the crap out of my70'428CJ Mach, Bought it in 78' for $1800 from my brother with a rod knock. Dumped can after can of STP into it & kept hammering on it till it broke aconnecting rod racing a camaro on the way to work in 79'.Three rebuilds & 30 years later I'm still driving it to work a lot & drag racing it. Best time so far was 12.7 @109mph at cecil Co drageay.Also loved the 03' Mach I had to sell to get the GT-500..that was a nice car also !! Chris

Car sounds great can you post a picture?

[old school]

Car sounds great can you post a picture?

I'm not very good at that but I'll try !!

[LuckySnake]

My car has the original wheels and they look very much like yours, they look great and all that rubber on the road must give you really good traction for that powerful engine.

I have two originals in the basement, looks like the only visible difference is the originals wheels center spokes are a satin finish. I'm real happy with the way the tires perform. The tire size looks correct for the car.

[LuckySnake]

I'm not very good at that but I'll try !!

Sweet car!

[old school]

Sweet car!

Thanks! It's still a blast to drive after all these years !! Sometimes I feel like last of the mohicans out on the road with it...don't see many others driving around unfortunatly ...

[regalt87]

Many years ago (35) I had 2 70 Boss 302's and a 70 Mach 1 428 SCJ close ratio 4 spd 430 locker rear. I think this was a really rare combination although I can't find any production stats on it. Wish I had them back.

[txcobra]

I love my 70 Mach 1 almost as much as my 07 Shelby! It is one of the best looking fords ever produced in my opinion.

[old school]

I love my 70 Mach 1 almost as much as my 07 Shelby! It is one of the best looking fords ever produced in my opinion.

 

+1...I drive whichever one has the most gas in it to work in the morning!!

[sharon]

Robert and I own two 69's

[69machl]

I have a '69 Mach 1 that I've had since High School. Color is: Gulfstream Aqua; 390 4 speed car. It's a "survivor", unrestored (so far) car.

 

3 x 2 induction

428 CJ Heads

Hooker headers

Lincoln Versailles Rear end w/ rear disk brakes (= 4 wheel disks w/ factory front)

4:11 Detroit Locker

 

Trying to post pics as an attachment... we'll see if it works

[old school]

I have a '69 Mach 1 that I've had since High School. Color is: Gulfstream Aqua; 390 4 speed car. It's a "survivor", unrestored (so far) car.

 

3 x 2 induction

428 CJ Heads

Hooker headers

Lincoln Versailles Rear end w/ rear disk brakes (= 4 wheel disks w/ factory front)

4:11 Detroit Locker

 

Trying to post pics as an attachment... we'll see if it works

 

Nice Car !!! I've had mine since highschool as well (78') Chris

[69boss429]

I looked at the Mach 1's in 69 and ended up buying this instead!

[strawberrytetra]

My husbands 70 Mach 1. It was modded back in the 70's and we just bought it a year ago. Fun to drive but needs restoration.

[nsmustang]

I looked at the Mach 1's in 69 and ended up buying this instead!

Do you still have it? I hope your answer is YES!

[69boss429]

Do you still have it? I hope your answer is YES!

 

 

 

YES :happy feet: :happy feet: :happy feet: :happy feet: :happy feet:

[svttim]

I just sold mine to get my Shelby. 429CJ 4 Speed

[Cobramach1]

I just sold mine to get my Shelby. 429CJ 4 Speed

 

Beautiful car, but ouch! I would have sold off one of the older Cobra's before getting rid of the old Mach 1. I guess that's just me stuck in the classics though.

[svttim]

Beautiful car, but ouch! I would have sold off one of the older Cobra's before getting rid of the old Mach 1. I guess that's just me stuck in the classics though.

 

The 97 is a race car and I wont give that up. the 99 is one of 8 and I didnt want to get rid of it yet. The 71 needed work and she deserved attention I could not give her right now. And, she sits next to a Black and Argent 71 Boss 351!

[robertlane]

I just sold mine to get my Shelby. 429CJ 4 Speed

Nice ride. You don't see many black ones, especially with the 429.

 

#1)

1969

• Royal maroon red.

• 428 SCJ

• Ram Air

• 4.30 rear axle, detroit locker

• No tach

• C6 automatic

 

#2)

1969

• Pastel gray

• 351 Boss (from a 1971)

• Four speed top loader, close ratio

• Strange carrier, pilot bearing retainer, 31 spline axles, detroit locker, 4.56 gears

[Cobramach1]

The 97 is a race car and I wont give that up. the 99 is one of 8 and I didnt want to get rid of it yet. The 71 needed work and she deserved attention I could not give her right now. And, she sits next to a Black and Argent 71 Boss 351!

 

Ahhh, makes more sense. It sounds like it's in good company!

[LuckySnake]

I have a 1971 Mach 1 351c that I purchased in 1970 new, anyone have information on the Mach 1 or have you ever owned one?

Pix from yesterday at the park

[Michael Morris]

I looked at the Mach 1's in 69 and ended up buying this instead!

I sold my 69 Boss 9 to buy the house and land that we live on.

 

Its one of only 2 cars that I wish I would have never sold. (the other was a 428CJ cougar). I loved the boss 9. KK1313 with barely 5K miles on it. White and AWESOME!!!

 

Maybe one day she will come back up for sell and I will do whatever it takes to get here back!!!

 

 

michael morris

[dragpack70]

I have a 1970 Mach I 428 Super Cobra Jet that I bought in Febuary of 1970, the day after they rolled it off the transporter. It's black, black and black with the shaker, slats, drag pack, 4-sp trans, and 8-track stereo. After driving it for a couple of weeks, I decided the 14-inch steel wheels with the mag hubcaps weren't going to cut it, as the wheels kept spinning the heavy hubcap up against the valve stem on the rear, so I replaced them with some 15-inch ET II's and wide oval tires. They've been on it ever since.

 

As the summer heated up, crossing the plains on our first trip to the Rocky Mountains convinced us that an air conditioner was required; so a Mark IV custom A/C was added when we got back. Ford didn't offer factory A/C on the 428 with the 4-sp in 1970.

 

We put a little over 25,000 miles on it the first year before the warranty expired, and it currently has about 108,000 original miles on it now. If you've never driven and kept a Ford dual-point distributor tuned and maintained, you won't appreciate that feat. The clutch was replaced at about 50,000 miles with a Ford remanufactured unit, and it, too, finally also went out about 4 years ago. I haven't yet had any luck locating an original Long style to get it out of the barn and put it back on the road.

 

It is unrestored and basically original with the exceptions of things done to keep it going over the years. During the 1974 fuel crisis, the 3.91 gears were changed out to 3.00's, and some carburetor and distributor advance work was done, and the smog pump plumbing was removed and stored, to help me commute to work from one two-week gas allocation to the next in our little rural town. That made the top end on it scary fast after getting used to driving it for several years bumping the rev-limiter cut-off at 118 mph.

 

1974 was my only feeble attempt at thinking about getting rid of the Mach I. When a Mustang II +2 (would burn any kind of gas instead of leaded premium only) we ordered finally came in, the dealer balked on his earlier trade-in value offer, saying the bottom had dropped out of the muscle car values. That let me out of the deal and let me keep the Mach. Since then, when people offer to buy it, I name a ridiculous price and hang onto it.

 

When the oil companies first started dropping the lead out of the gas, I put an alcohol injection system on it for several years to control preignition until they figured out how to get the fuel quality back up.

 

Here are some pictures taken before digital cameras were invented:

 

 

The pictures at the old Amarillo Dragway were taken during it's only day on a track in the spring of 1984:

 

 

Edited to turn the front and rear view around the right way.

[nsmustang]

I have a 1970 Mach I 428 Super Cobra Jet that I bought in Febuary of 1970, the day after they rolled it off the transporter. It's black, black and black with the shaker, slats, drag pack, 4-sp trans, and 8-track stereo. After driving it for a couple of weeks, I decided the 14-inch steel wheels with the mag hubcaps weren't going to cut it, as the wheels kept spinning the heavy hubcap up against the valve stem on the rear, so I replaced them with some 15-inch ET II's and wide oval tires. They've been on it ever since.

 

As the summer heated up, crossing the plains on our first trip to the Rocky Mountains convinced us that an air conditioner was required; so a Mark IV custom A/C was added when we got back. Ford didn't offer factory A/C on the 428 with the 4-sp in 1970.

 

We put a little over 25,000 miles on it the first year before the warranty expired, and it currently has about 108,000 original miles on it now. If you've never driven and kept a Ford dual-point distributor tuned and maintained, you won't appreciate that feat. The clutch was replaced at about 50,000 miles with a Ford remanufactured unit, and it, too, finally also went out about 4 years ago. I haven't yet had any luck locating an original Long style to get it out of the barn and put it back on the road.

 

It is unrestored and basically original with the exceptions of things done to keep it going over the years. During the 1974 fuel crisis, the 3.91 gears were changed out to 3.00's, and some carburetor and distributor advance work was done, and the smog pump plumbing was removed and stored, to help me commute to work from one two-week gas allocation to the next in our little rural town. That made the top end on it scary fast after getting used to driving it for several years bumping the rev-limiter cut-off at 118 mph.

 

1974 was my only feeble attempt at thinking about getting rid of the Mach I. When a Mustang II +2 (would burn any kind of gas instead of leaded premium only) we ordered finally came in, the dealer balked on his earlier trade-in value offer, saying the bottom had dropped out of the muscle car values. That let me out of the deal and let me keep the Mach. Since then, when people offer to buy it, I name a ridiculous price and hang onto it.

 

When the oil companies first started dropping the lead out of the gas, I put an alcohol injection system on it for several years to control preignition until they figured out how to get the fuel quality back up.

 

Here are some pictures taken before digital cameras were invented:

 

 

 

The pictures at the old Amarillo Dragway were taken during it's only day on a track in the spring of 1984: