Say “Mustang Mach 1,” and you conjure up images of a rip-snorting late-1960s muscle machine, with a hood scoop and other body enhancements that either make the car go faster, or look like they could do so. This is not to mention mechanical improvements that undeniably made the Mustang Mach 1 a street predator. Say “Mustang Mach 1 Barn Find,” and you’ll for sure conjure up that impression, with a little dust and grime, and maybe some rust, mixed in. But what if the car is not a 1960s icon, but a modern runner? That’s what makes the 2003 Ford Mustang up for auction here on ebay something of a surprise. If it’s your kind of find, however, you have the chance to be the first bidder at a price of $5,000. If you do it, and nobody else weighs in, you’ll trek to Laurens, SC to pick up your winnings.

When you get there, you’ll find a car both newer than you imagined it would be and more of a mess than a car this new should be. This includes mechanical needs as drastic as a new head gasket, not to mention what damage might have been caused due to the old one blowing four years ago. On the positive side, there have been just two prior owners, and the vehicle history report reveals no prior record of accidents.

Did you realize that Ford has offered Mach 1 models in a few different generations, originating in the 1969 model year up through 1978, then in 2003-04, and most recently in 2021-23? In 2003-04, the Mach 1 slotted between the Mustang GT and the rare-air Mustang Cobra in both price and performance. Will this model be fun to drive? Well, get that engine fixed and prepare for the power to come on fairly high in the torque curve, and you’ll be all set—it’ll just be you and that Shaker hood rumbling away. Too bad in a way that the car features an automatic transmission, though if you live in a traffic-choked area, you’ll be glad soon enough that you don’t have that third pedal to deal with. Because it’s a modern car, in addition, it has everything from power seats to a killer stereo system to enhance your commute.

Part of the fun of doing the Barn Finds thing is actually studying the ads to see what truths they reveal, but this guy’s got me at: “Turning signals are skills.” Is that some obvious typo? Code for something? I’d want to know before I committed myself to rebuilding this engine, even though it has only 69K miles recorded. Oh, and I’d need to figure out, if for no other reason than curiosity, who put skull motif emblems on the car, and why.