After spending its early life in Texas, this 1970 Mustang Mach 1 made its way to Wisconsin in 1990. It was immediately parked in a shed, and there it remained for the following 28-years. The current owner released it from captivity in October of 2018, returned it to the road, and has now decided to part with it. If you would like to become the next proud owner of an incredibly solid and clean Mach 1, you will find this one located in Colfax, Wisconsin, and listed for sale here on eBay. Bidding has reached $21,600, and with the reserve having been met, it is a classic that is set to go to a new home.
The first thing to note is the photos that the owner provides of the Mustang’s underside. This one is pretty indicative of what you will find, and they really don’t come a lot cleaner than this. There are no obvious issues with significant rust anywhere on the vehicle. Not only do the floors look this good, but the trunk pan is in a similar state. There is no external rust visible anywhere, although areas such as the rockers are a bit difficult to view clearly. This Mustang is also a very clear demonstration of how tastes vary from one person to another, especially in the classic car scene. The Red paint that the Mustang wears looks very attractive, but to my mind, it probably doesn’t have the sort of impact that the car would have had finished in its original Grabber Blue. It isn’t clear why the color change took place, but it did so in the 1980s. The fact that it has held up as well as it has over the intervening decades would seem to suggest that the repaint was completed to a reasonable standard. The owner rates the paint as a 6/10, so the car could be driven and enjoyed as it currently stands, or the next owner could choose to have the Mustang repainted once again. Their big choice would probably be whether to apply a fresh coat of red, or whether they would return the car to its original color.
Powering the Mustang is a 351ci Cleveland V8 engine. It isn’t clear whether the engine that resides under the hood today is the original unit, but if it is, then it’s an M-Code that would have produced 290hp. The original owner also chose to equip the Mach 1 with a 4-speed manual transmission, power steering, and power front disc brakes. After its extended hibernation, the current owner treated the Mustang to all of the work that you would normally expect would be required to return the car to a roadworthy state. It looks like it has received a new fuel tank, along with a new exhaust with aftermarket headers. The entire front end has been replaced, as were the tires, and the carburetor. The brakes received a full overhaul, and while the owner doesn’t specifically detail how well the Mach 1 now runs and drives, that list of work does show plenty of promise in that regard.
Continuing the Ford’s theme of being tidy and presentable, the interior of the Mustang doesn’t look to be too bad. The upholstered surfaces all look to be quite good, as does the carpet. There is a slightly odd look to the color on the dash pad, but it is free of cracks. I suspect that some work with a quality cleaner and preservative would have this looking quite nice once again. The cover is missing off the steering column, but if the owner doesn’t have this, then replacements are available at a very affordable price. The Mustang is fitted with factory air conditioning, and while the system appears to be complete, it doesn’t currently blow cold. It’s also worth noting that the Mustang was originally equipped with a factory AM radio, but it has been replaced at some point with an AM/FM radio/8-track player. Overall though, the interior of the Mustang would appear to be just as presentable and serviceable as the rest of the vehicle.
Finding a 1970 Mustang Mach 1 as clean as this hidden away in a shed must rate as a pretty nice sort of score for the owner. It would appear that he has done all that is needed to return the car to active duty while leaving the big choices to be made by the next owner. I can see no reason why it couldn’t be driven and enjoyed exactly as it currently stands, but I have to admit that I would be very tempted to have the paint stripped, and a fresh coat of Grabber Blue applied to the vehicle. We’ve seen some pretty rusty Mustang project cars appear across the desks here at Barn Finds in the past, and the owners of those vehicles have sometimes been asking some pretty outrageous prices for their cars. This one is a solid one that has been offered with a very realistic reserve, which has to make it a very tempting proposition.
Any guess’s on what those other two cars are that are parked in front of this one?
Red one is a 67 Camero based on tail lights. The black one looks like a firebird based on the hood.
I agree on the whats the other car game.
The black vert looks with hood to be a 1968 firebird .
Nice Stang and hope he kept the original carb.
The Camaro is a 68, the tail lights on a 67 are not the “divided” bezel design, and it is not an RS optioned car based on the tail lights either. The Firebird could be anywhere from a 67-69 based on the hood. I put a Trans Am hood on my 69 Firebird convertible back in the mid 80’s. It does appear that the Firebird has the rounded wheel openings unlike the 69 that are more flat, so I’m going with a 67/69 Firebird with a Camaro Spoiler!
Not you apparently. Others do though
Who cares?
Seller stated in listing “brand new carb”. If he’s referring to replacing the factory carb with a new one as opposed to rebuilding the original one, I think that was a mistake. Regarding the other two cars we are teased with in the listing, I’m guessing a first gen Camaro on the right and a second gen Mustang convertible (possibly Shelby) on the left.
Definitely a firebird with its beak hood open lol
The last of the true ‘70’s Mustangs. In typical corporate thinking it got bigger and bigger, but this year is the last that clung to the original idea of what the Mustang was intended to represent; the years following it went from a reskinned Thunderbird (itself an anachronism of its former design) to a reskinned Pinto.
Though Folmer and Jones drove these to success, the original car concept was (and in historical racing today) went on to celebrate its winning via private owners as well as Shelby American.
To make a short story very very long, this is another great looking car that needs to be sheltered and cared for in my garage.
For some reason, the 70 Mach l doesn’t appeal to me as much as the 69. I had a 69 Boss 302, but I like the looks of the 70 Boss, but not the Mach l. Go figure!
Someday someone is gonna put ’70 stang tailites with the black honeycomb center section on a wrecked-in-the back(hopefully) ’69 & then you have the best LOOKING stang ever that can’t possibly be improved on. The ’69 shelby was already perfect.
I can’t imagine there were many 351-C w/ 4barrell with factory A/C.
Really nice car and I agree with Adam, bring it back to the original grabber green!
Grabber Blue is a great color on these cars, shame someone chose to change it to resale red.
One of the best looking Grabber Blue cars, especially with the flat black slats and wing and hood treatment. I’d repaint it!
Trunk pan ?
I am not a huge Mustang fan, but this one catches my eye. Nice find!
The color and magnums remind me of a Boss 429 I once saw, maybe the best looking Mustang I’d ever seen. This is nice, real nice. Only thing I don’t like on the ’70’s are the black scoop, I don’t know why that bugs me.
A friend of mine had one identical to this one he was going to sell to me back in 2001 for 13k. I drove it home on a Friday. Two days later on Sunday, my wife tells me we are expecting our third child! Later that night, I drove it back to my friends house…It’s the one that got away but I have a beautiful, funny, very sarcastic 18 year old daughter and a great story to tell. She and I were at a car show and came up on one of these. She knew the story and I got a great picture of the two of them together. If I knew how to post a pic, I would!