Automobiles falling into the Time Capsule category are fascinating. The curious cat in me wants to know the how and why and the full story. Sure, some survivors are luxury Lincolns or Caddys purchased by a “mature” driver 50-60 years ago that spent more time in their garage than on the road. But, you don’t see many 53-year-old “youth-oriented” sporty fastbacks in this category such as this 1973 Mustang Mach 1. You’re looking at a true unmolested survivor with 40,004 original miles. The included Marti Report shows that this car was built in February 1973 at Ford’s Dearborn plant. The original owner bought it new from Key Ford in Evansville, Indiana, and had it until 2023. It’s now looking for a new garage and only its third caretaker. The Mach 1 is located in Rensselaer, Indiana, and is listed for sale here on eBay for $46,500 or best offer. Curvette continues to be a pipeline of outstanding tips for us here at Barn Finds. Thank you, again, Curvette!
The buying public had more than 25 paint colors to choose from on a new ’73 Mustang and this one left the factory in Code 3B Light Blue. It’s not the most aggressive or sporty color choice, but it’s very presentable and shows the car’s styling well. The seller shares that it has some paint touch ups and small marks, but nothing you would not expect to see on an original 53-year-old car. The black lower body side stripe decals appear to be in good shape and I’m not seeing any rust or accident repair. The seller describes the Mach 1 as “garage kept its entire life, leaving all the stickers, water marks, and build codes intact. 100% original steel, a true survivor inside and out that even has the original spare tire never mounted.”
The Mach 1’s original black interior appears to be in great shape. It has the Sports Interior Option which is a nice mix of sporty and comfort. According to the ’73 Mustang sales brochure, this optional interior features high back bucket seats with knitted vinyl inserts and accent stripes, molded door trim panels with pull handles and armrests, an instrument group including a tachometer, trip odometer, and triple pod oil pressure/water temperature/ammeter gauges. – and, of course, faux wood appliqué and a rear seat ash tray. This Mustang also has factory SelectAire air conditioning, power front disc brakes, power steering, tinted glass, AM radio, and a 4-speed manual transmission.
Under that Baby Blue hood is the Mach 1’s desirable, optional 351-cubic-inch 4V Q Code V8. It’s a 4-barrel and generated 246 horsepower when it rolled off the Dearborn factory back in February 1973. The seller says, “A true joy to drive, starts instantly……then sounds great!” It’s the original engine and has only 40,004 documented miles. Other goodies with the car includes paperwork from the original 50-year owner such as the original title, owner ID card, warranty papers, the dealer jacket, and more. This might be one of the best ’73 Mach 1 time capsule survivors around these days. It’s impressive. What do you think of it?
That color should have been only available on the mustang II.
A beautiful example, now correct me if i’m wrong for 72 and 73 the fonctional hood scoops were only with the two barrel carb because of emission restrictions
Looks like a clean, well-kept Mach 1. One doesn’t see many of these in this light blue, nor does it seem like many which are still around have manual transmissions. (The Marti Report is hard to read, but it might say 3239 had these engine/transmission codes). Long-term ownership (until recently) is a plus.
Thanks Ron.