This 1969 Mustang Mach 1 appears to be a fairly solid example that would make a great project car. While it isn’t 100% rust free, what rust that is present is not the type that would kill a potential project. You will find it listed for sale here on eBay. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, it comes with a clear title. Bidding has so far reached $7,100. However, the seller has stated that if the auction achieves more than $15,000 he has a rather tasty sounding crate 302ci Ford Racing engine that he will throw in for free!
Anyone who has had any involvement with Mustangs will know that they can be prone to some pretty horrendous rust issues. Thankfully this particular car seems to have been spared the worst of these problems and is actually solid. The battery tray is rusted and there is some rust in the ends of the frame rails, but areas such as the torque boxes seem to be clean. There is some minor rust in the passenger side floor, but this could be repaired. The rear spring supports seem solid as well, although the seller does recommend fitting short frame rails for peace of mind. The rest of the body looks solid, and there is no rust in the original quarter panels. The car has undergone a number of repaints during its life, and apart from a small amount of Bondo in the doors, it appears to be okay.
There is little to be gleaned from the interior shots. The seller does state that the interior is in good condition, but the headliner is shot. This shouldn’t present a great problem, as replacements are fairly easy to source.
There is an engine under the hood which has a 1969 tag on it, but the seller is unsure if this is original. However, if the auction heads over $15,000, the new owner will receive the following engine as part of the sale. Crate 302 roller from Ford Racing, E303 Cam, GT40p Heads Ported and Polished, Edelbrock RMP Intake, MSD Billet Distributor, CVF Racing Billet Pulley set, Aluminum Radiator and Billet Oil Pan. The seller will also throw in an automatic transmission as part of the deal. As I said before, that sounds very tasty.
There is some work involved in whipping this Mach 1 into shape, but the base car is quite solid. The possibility of securing the engine as part of the deal makes it all the more attractive. Do we have a Barn Finder willing to step up to the plate and take this one on?
“……..but the base car is quite solid.”
whaaaat? i know I just read this sentence earlier in the same article……
“The car has undergone a number of repaints during its life, and apart from a small amount of Bondo in the doors, it appears to be okay.”
These two statements contradict each other. Okay and quite solid are not similar conditions – at least not to me.
I think what Adam is saying here is that the “base” or core structure of the car is solid, but the exterior/cosmetics of the car are in okay condition. Various parts of the car can be in different conditions at the same time. The Bondo would make me curious as to whether other parts of the body are hiding rust, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the structure of the car has issues.
Don’t forget that bondo is not just used for rust cover-up. As the car has been repainted, there is the very real possibility of minor exterior body ding & dent repair using bondo, because if those repairs were done 20+ years ago when the car wasn’t worth as much as today, bondo would have been the choice of body repairs rather than hammer & dolly work to smooth a panel back into shape.
It really depends on the location of the bondo. If the body work was done 20+ years ago and there is no evidence of bondo “bubbling up” from advancing rust underneath, then its likely the bondo is there as a finishing material, not a cover-up for poor work. And of course the easiest way to check where the bondo might be is to use a good quality magnet.
Nice photo presentation, very thorough – kudos to the seller. And are those Keystones?
Keystone Klassics!
I don’t get this comment:
“The leaf springs are supported well, but best practice would be to put in short frame rails in the short run.”
So are they rusted out? A few more interior pics would also be nice.
I like the pennies in the steering wheel, must be a Mustang thing. I think you are right about the wheels RicK.
It will cost 10 times to restore that what the car is worth. remove roof for coupe conversion. I like the hemi orange color though…..
Absolutely Keystones on this one. Good eye. Until I looked closer thought they were magnum 500 sticks. And to 71FXsuperglide, as mustang’s and even F body GM’s are unibody, they all benefit in overall structural integrity from frame rail connectors. I believe what the seller is doing is suggesting preventive measures for the future. Someone that’s going to build this could do nothing but benefit from connectors.
Thanks Joe, wasn’t sure
Also, assuming looking at the door jambs this car was once green? Or is that the primer color Ford used back then?
I saw that too!
I kick myself every time I see a 69 Mach-1 here. I almost bought one in 90-91, maroon, slats, all the spoilers and in very good condition. It was an auto with a 351-W. I was looking for a 4-gear at the time. The guy wanted $5500, I offered $5000 and he wouldn’t budge
Everytime I see one it takes me back to that day and kick myself !
A long time ago, in the magazine Autoweek, one of the writers told a story about a guy offering him a 427 Cobra for his VW bug but he wanted money in addition to the bug. At the time, the Cobra was just a used up race car and he was WAY TOO SMART to take that deal. Most of us have a story, mine is a 65 Shelby Mustang for 3000.00 in 1974 and I was WAY TOO SMART to pay that much.
One of my stories is a 1968 Shelby Mustang for 5k. I guy in high school drove it (around 1976) and his dad bought it new. It was burgundy with black interior. I saw it in the ’80’s at a car show and the the “kid” in high school still owned it and was showing it. Obviously no one thought it was worth 5k back when it was for sale…….cray, huh?
Here’s my similar story that I think about every time I see one of these:
In 1979, I had just bought my first car, a ’73 Barracuda. A nice car, but just a few weeks later, my best friend’s cousin had one of these he was selling for $1200 because he was “getting too many speeding tickets”.
I always wanted a Barracuda, but mine was an automatic on the column aith a 318. I would have forgotten all about that car if I could have put my hands onto that Mach 1.
I, like you, always wanted a ‘cuda/Barracuda too. Didn’t get mine till 7 years ago from a co-worker ……who bought it new after a couple years in Viet Nam. 41k one owner miles, 383cid Super Commando 4-speed bone stock, but………sat in his back yard for 20 years. Sad, but I own my dream car. No regrets…..and my retirement project.
Awesome story Mark! My Barracuda love affair started on the High School bus. Every day, we would drive by a house with a beautiful white 73 or 74 Cuda in the driveway. I looked forward to seeing that car every day and decided that would be my first car.
My father agreed that I could have one, but when we started looking around, he wouldn’t let me get anything but a low power one. Him and I had looked at a really nice ’70 Cuda 340 that had just been painted root beer brown metallic – he said no to that one, and I couldn’t argue because he was helping me buy it.
That car went to my brother 4 years later who was going to use his auto shop knowledge to “soup it up”. And there it sat in the garage, engine half apart, in all its rusted glory. My father ended up getting rid of it, probably for nothing. Sad.
If I had the money and get the car over 15k I would scrap that worthless 302 and automatic transmission find a 429 scj from 69 with a 4 speed manual transmission or the 351w with a 4 speed manual transmission
Don’t scrap nothing, I would gladly give you $7 hundred for all that good stuff, that the nice seller is throwing in for the $ 15,000. These scrap yards now days rip people off big time, just because you happen to throw a small bag full of tin cans in with what you are scraping. They give you the mesley Tin price per. # instead of the much larger cast iron/steel prices per.#. Then they called the cops on me for arguing over a guessed on $ 350oo difference. The Cops made me leave without my 2 cast iron engine blocks, & box of scrap steel. Had i taken pictures of my 750# load i would of taken the scrap yard to small claims court. They ripped of my old friend too last month.
IT’s actually Yellow according to the decode page:
To the person who said that they could kick themselves for not buying a mustang. You more than likely saved yourself a ton of money if you just must have. One!!!!!
Buy one completed. Very well documented so that you don’t get burnt. Get ready to pay
It will be worth it in long run
I do have a 06 Mustang GT convertible, I just really love the 69 Mach 1. I ended up buying a 70 Camaro SS 427 with a 4 gear that I sold in 08. But if I would have bought that 69, I’d have never sold it, it was that nice !
The problem with 99percent of the muscle cars that are out there is they think that the car is worth what a (super nice car of same m @ m) is worth they’re not by the time you put the Money and time in (you get the point) just keep you’re receipts and record of your time. in time if I am wrong keep my info and let me know.
What he said 🐎
Oh man, i want this car bad, but $15 K would kill my savings account. Then my Mustang loving (he has a clean ruff running 1972 mustang in his garage) younger brother would kill me for wasting my money on a “antique that needs a lot more money than you have”. I would love to see this cool car back to it’s original color of yellow, drive train, & hub caps. Other wise if not possible, a 428 Cobra Jet or a Boss 429 or this free 302, but only on a 4 or 5 speed stick would work for my resto mod liking.
You would never get a Boss 429 to fit in that engine bay. Kar Kraft had their hands full trying to do it; it took extensive modifications. What makes you think you could do it?
If someone were doing a resto-mod it would not be that hard to fit a Boss 429 into this car. Just buy one of the aftermarket kits that remove the shock towers and adds R & P steering. That would gain all the space you would need.
So Ken, your saying the 1969 Boss 429 labeled Mustang that i worked on (pulled engine up to change spark plugs) back in 1980. Either didn’t have a actual 429 LTD size engine = size to a 460 block. Or Kar Kraft or Ford had modified the engine bay so not obvious that i didn’t notice the difference the next day? Yeah when i did the same thing to a 1970 or 1968 428 Cobra Jet Mustang? My neighbor called his 428 a 1970, but i was told it was a 1968 428 engine when i brought in a spark plug, & distributor cap to the auto parts store. The info tag was missing. Gees i have worked on a lot of Mustangs, & V-8 Capri’s over the years in my driveway or garage. Thanks CATHOUSE for the info. Yeah I am no stranger to making things fit that weren’t meant too. I resto-moded cars before it was called that. My 1972 Triumph GT 6 now has more GMC/Chevy, & Ford parts than original parts i think. I once stuffed a stock 350 Chevy Engine into a bright orange MGB that was at a sharp 5 degree angle at the front U-joint ( forced to be hood less). Also stuffed a built 350 Chevy engine into a mid 70’s Mercury Capri with a beautiful black paint job. A built 350 Chevy engine into a old looking badly faded Mercedes two door sports couple as a fast sleeper. Plus 4 other cars. Switched a early Mustangs transmission from a 4 speed to a automatic, 3 other cars, the other way. Now i am in the process of putting a built 402 big block GMC truck engine into my before mentioned GT 6. Oh i almost four got about the 460 into a 1973 Ford Ranchairo but that was pretty easy. Plus i helped putting a built 454 into a sweet 1973 Camaro.
Bruce Baker,
I cannot tell you what you did or did not work on but I can tell you that a Boss 429 engine is not the same as the 429 that Ford used in an LTD. The Boss 429 is more like the size of a Chrysler hemi engine. Original 1969-1970 Boss 429 Mustangs required the shock towers to be modified in order for the engine to fit in the engine bay. Anyone who has worked on a lot of Mustangs would see the difference in the shock towers fairly easily.
This car would need a very close inspection before anyone should buy it. The rear side marker lights are 1970 style, not the correct 1969 lights. In the one photo of the door jamb you can see the black plastic vent piece, those were not installed on 1969 models, they are a 1970 part. So either a lot of 1969 parts were installed on a 1970 shell or the car is two halves welded together. The front fenders should be pulled back to see what VIN is stamped into the fender aprons. Will it be the 1969 VIN? Or a 1970 VIN?
So your saying a Boss 429 is bigger looking than a Ford 429? So that’s why they fit, & so i guess i haven’t worked on a actual real Boss engine then? So that’s why my neighbors brand new early 70’s 429 LTD didn’t blow the doors off my dads 1968 390 Galaxy 500 by that much. Thank you.
P.S. So did you ever have trouble with twisting off the hexagonal oil pump shafts on both a Ford 289, & 302 engines from over building the engines for drag racing?
I could have bought a ’63 split window Vette for $1500 in 1969. Turned it down because it had 100k on the clock.
6cyl, 4spd, disc brakes, handles great twisty roads. I luv it. I got 1 do U? 2nd owner, got from someones Gpa/Gma in northern Cal