We all want a bargain way into the muscle car of our dreams. This may be the opportunity you have been looking for. This 1970 Mach 1 has some rust issues, but appears mostly complete at a bargain price. Granted buying a project may not be the cheapest way to get into your dream muscle, but it may be the most affordable, working on it piece by piece. This Mach 1 is offered for $7,000. Find it here on craigslist out of Willow Glen, California.
The engine bay looks nice with no major corrosion or damage. There is obviously a 351 present in the engine bay, but its condition looks uncertain and it is not a number matching unit. The car is currently packing an automatic transmission, but this car originally let you row your own gears via a 4 speed manual gear box. So a matching numbers restoration is out the window, but this car could easily be restored with proper components without being too costly.
The interior is going to require a full restoration, but the dash board does not look hopeless. Upon inspecting the photos you can see some holes in the floors. We can see that nice factory opening for the factory 4 speed. Although this car has been listed as mostly complete we suspect there are some missing parts to the interior of this one. The exterior of the car looks great and upon looking at it you wouldn’t think there was any rust in this car. The floors need to be done as well as rear quarters, but that is pretty standard on any vintage Mustang.
Overall this isn’t a bad Mach 1 project, and for those of us who are budget minded, this would be a great long term project to invest in, versus coming up with a large sum for a finished car. Either way you cut it, this is a great Mach 1 Pony project that isn’t ready to go to the glue factory just yet. Would you take on this Mach 1 project? What would you do if you did? A correct restoration? Or perhaps a resto-mod? Maybe even a period correct race car? What do you think would be best!
I would pray Chip Foose drew my name if I owned this car. I love Mustangs but this isn’t much of a starting point.
How can you tell if it is a Mach 1? I do not see any of the Mach 1 features, fog light grill side moldings etc.
He has a Marti report, just go look at it or have him send a picture of the Vin# on the dash then if they match it’s a Mach1. Myself I would restomod It with a 5-speed and suspension /brake upgrades to make it a corner carver. The interior looks to be the basic Mustang interior not the deluxe.
The interior is one reason why I question Mach 1.
Needs a lot of work, but would be worth it.. Good find..
Been a long time since I’ve seen the extended shackles that “jacked up” the rear. Seems like EVERY car had ’em in the early 70’s.
One of my Javelin parts cars had them. It looked worse because they used the second-to-last hole so there was overhang on the leaf. Also came with the fire hazard triangle air cleaner.
One of the other ones had air shocks to raise the rear. Too bad it was a 232 car and at least it had the 3 speed manual. It had yellow shag rug on the rear package tray under two over-sized speakers. Gotta love the 70’s
Yup
Very “Kentucky” thing done by the clueless
Why do you state that shackles and air shocks was a KY thing? It was done everywhere.
And yes they were clueless about how the car drove and how unsafe they were in rain. Just thought it was cool. :)
My best offer would be around $5500. No rocker trim, no fog lights in the grill, no fake hood scoop. Too many high dollar parts that are not shown and if you have to replace them you will be out more than it is worth. Unless you plan on making a Boss 9 clone then it would be a fun project. Anyone need a 4spd Toploader, large spline close ratio tranny?
The interior seems wrong for a Mach 1. Was cloth seats an option? Still not sure it was a Mach 1.
It never was a Mach 1, this is “just” a Sportsroof Mustang
Some like them better
Judging by the taillight panel that has holes drilled for the honeycomb trim (mach 1 only option) I would say it was a true mach one. Just missing all the other mach parts. If it has an H, M, Q, R in vin its a true mach. Here is mine for reference.
Yup, it appears that the good Mach 1 trim was sold off in the past.
The H, M, Q, R in the VIN hs nothing to do with it being a Mach 1. They are the engine codes and those engines were available in any standard Mustang in 1970.
H = 351-2V
M = 351-4V
Q = 428 Cobra Jet non- ram air
R = 428 Cobra Jet with ram air
Still think it’s a regular sports roof mustang. To many missing parts. Ibelieve the mach grill had the fog light incorporated into the grill.
As far as the fake good scoops. Some were functional ram air scoops, but most of those came on the big blocks, 390 and 428 versions. What ever it is it’s a lot of work
I was informed a couple weeks ago that ford never kept track of production dates like gm has, so there is no such thing as a numbers matching ford.
Again, why waste money and time on this rust bucket/rode-hard-put-up-wet too many times Mustang? Go to eBay, Hemmings, etc. and buy one ready to go!
Does it have California license plate included?