By 1969, the Ford Mustang was still the “go-to” player in the “pony car” scene. But its market share had eroded in 1967 and 1968 with the influx of competitors. So, in 1969, they expanded on their role in the muscle car market by adding the new Mach 1. Strictly a fastback with a V8, it zoomed to 25% of Mustang sales in 1969, including this Indian Fire (red?) example with a 390 8-cylinder motor. With some superficial rust, we’re told it runs great but has zero stopping power. Located in Avilla, Indiana, this pony project is available reserve-free here on eBay, where the current bid is $17,701.
To give the 1969 Mach 1 some clout, Ford started with a 351 cubic inch V8 and posi-traction out back. A black hood with pins came next (absent on the seller’s car), along with fancier trim inside, like woodgrain accents. The seller’s car was upgraded with a 390 FE V8 and an automatic transmission instead of a 3-speed manual. We’re told this Ford was in storage for only about a year, yet the brakes failed due to bad fuel lines (doesn’t he/she mean bad brake lines?). So, the photos are about a year old but nothing appreciable has changed per the seller.
We’re told the 390 is original, along with whatever you didn’t need to replace at 84,000 miles. But we suspect it had a repaint earlier, as where would the black matte hood have gone? Plus, some of the body stripes are missing. While the seller says the Ford is rust-free, you can see traces of it starting to appear around the glass chrome trim. The interior is solid, so once you fix the brakes, you may have a daily driver of sorts.
The seller bought the car in 2022, and it may have begun life in Arizona (nice and dry). Recent downtime apparently has had no impact on the big-block V8 and tranny. This car was one of 72,000 Mach 1’s produced in 1969, which would be the model’s best showing. Mustang sales continued to drop (by one-third in 1970), and Mach 1 demand barely touched 40,000 units in its second year.
The ’69 Mach 1 was as good as it got. I did a little research on the VIN #, and according to “classicponycars”, is decoded as follows. 9, this car a ’69(duh), F was for Dearborn, 02 fastback, S was for the 390 and the 168,314th one. 63C was Mach 1 with buckets, Y5 as mentioned, Indian Fire color, trim, build date, 9 was the 3:25 axle and U was the C6, ( I think I got that right) so nothing was changed that I see. Plenty of interest, the automatic maybe? :) This is one of those cars for the ages, the GTO, the 396 Chevelle( this cars nemesis), any Mopar, this is what 1969 was all about and I don’t blame future generations for wanting one. They were just that cool.
Cool fits. One of my favorite Mustangs.
The big block Mustangs 👍 😎 🏁
Big block Fords were awesome. This particular car would do 0-60 in 6.8 sec. and the 1/4 mile in 14.7sec@93 mph, which was just going into 3rd at the traps, top speed of almost 130, some say. I’d venture to say it was one of Fords most popular motors. But in true 390 form, it loved gas, 7 to maybe 13 if you babied it, but really, who babied a Mach 1? They were destroyed on a daily basis which leads me to believe it was a gals car, as guys killed them, over and over sometimes.
A side note here, the air cleaner indicates a “2V”, and the Mach 1 didn’t come with a 390 2 barrel, so it may have been swapped after all.
Agreed Howard 👍 one of my absolute favorites is a 67 Galaxie 2 door 390.
The 2V is what caught my eye, too, Howard. My brothers 68 Torino GT also had the 2 barrel, so he just slapped that bulletproof C6 into second gear when he needed a punch of power at speed. Nice write up Russ.
Sold as eBay put 2000 and ended
$20,000????
The seller ended the auction and cancelled the bids, at which time the highest was $18,201. You can see the bid history by clicking on the link, that says “0 bids”, just under the $2,000, which was the opening bid. This is a sign the seller accepted an offer and sold it off eBay.
Steve R
They sold it off of FeeBay.
Another car from Avilla, Indiana? Same seller as the Chevelle?