Paint cans in the trunk? With large drips having dried on them in a color very closely resembling the exterior finish of the car? I thought I’d seen everything. Maybe that’s what the seller means when he says someone painted the car but “didn’t do a real great job.” Still, this 1969 Mustang Mach 1 SportsRoof can be yours if you jump into the bidding here on eBay. The car, which waits for you in Langhorne, PA, is currently short of reserve at an approximate $15K bid.
Paint’s not all this car needs, but having said that, the car is labeled a great starting point, and that seems to be so. It actually runs and drives, for starters. The interior is said to need re-doing, but starting with a good cleaning and adding a couple of interior door panels might put this in the range of a driver with patina (though see more about the interior color below). The dash looks good. The steering wheel is fine, and the console appears quite serviceable, especially for a 100,000-mile car. That junk in the trunk is a bit peculiar—how many sets of jumper cables does it take to keep a Mustang on the road? Let’s start with a simple clean-up and assess from there.
For a Mach 1, this is mechanically relatively plain-Jane, with the 2-barrel carb on the 351 from the factory and an FMX Select-Shift Automatic Transmission, backed up by a 3.00:1 rear gear. About the only options appear to be whitewalls, power steering, and an AM radio. But on the bright side, the car is factory Candy Apple Red, and the interior, if you decided to redo it, can be put back to the standard black. Same for the hood, which had factory blackout treatment, details confirmed by the Marti Report. The Mach 1 was a slick-looking muscle car, those factory hood pins adding to the menace, and this one is begging to return to form.
The one problem might be the quality mismatch between exterior and interior if you decided to redo the outside and repurpose the interior simply by cleaning it up. Because make no mistake: you are going to need to address that paint. Aside from a white hood (someone’s idea of a cool twist on the blackout that Ford offered?), the red is, as indicated above, apparently brushed-on in spots, notably the right rear quarter, which is also packed with wavy filler and displaying cracking paint over top of that. There’s also rust noted on the trunk lid, but the car is said to be relatively clean underneath.
Photos show a couple of suspicious spots, though, and you’ve always got to be worried about what shiny undercoat is hiding. So address the rust and filler, paint it, then figure out whether your preference is to bake in a factory black interior or slide into what might be a relatively cooler aftermarket white one. That is white, isn’t it? It’s a little grubby to really say for sure. But this one is far down the road to being a useful car, especially compared to some of the basket cases readers send us tips on, so keep your eye on this Mach 1.
I couldn’t access the Marti report through the link to confirm, but I do recall that the white paint treatment on the hood (vs black) was an option, albeit a very unusual one. I will say that it matches the interior fairly nicely. We have a Christmas tree ornament with a similar (‘69 or ‘70) Grabber Blue w/ the same white paint treatment on the hood, I think it is from Hallmark? Looks kinda goofy, but I think it COULD have come from Ford that way (?). That rear spoiler is pretty bad, not sure what it is off of, but I’d return it to wherever it came.
Hopefully whoever buys this will turn it back into a stock-
appearing Mach 1.The white paint design just doesn’t look
right on this.I think they did a great job on the factory Mach 1’s –
the black paint design & the side stripes work well.
One of the best looking Mustangs ever.
Laying heater hose on exhaust manifold helps speed up defrost time.
Are the “bubbles” around the rear fender well, more like rust coming through?
Yea RW you would think the seller would take 15 mins and straighten up the mess under the hood. Good luck and happy motoring. Hope somebody brings it back stock. Nothing like a 69 Mach–looks fast sitting still!
Cheers
GPC
Does brushed on paint classify as patina ? Not even acceptable on a beater. At least the seller seems upfront about it.
At least he put it up on a lift and took decent shots of the underside of the car. Looks like some shady bodywork was done to the car at some point, but it looks far better than the most of the Rustang’s shown here. Seems like a good project for restoration if you get it at a reasonable price. Hope this one makes it back on the road.
In addition to all the above mentioned, anyone else noticed that the rear window louvers and spoiler are not OEM, or even close?
Yes, you are so right!! Must be Mustang day.
Louvres look like they could be off a similar era Torino / Cobra.
351 2bbl, 3.00:1 rear end.
A poser.
I thought only straight 6’s had fan blades VERY close to the radiator, while those on a V8 are far away from it – sometimes very far away – like on a 2nd gen firebird v8.
How could a strait 6 fit in a ’69 stang when the V8 fan here is so close to the radiator?! I’m stumped …
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/t0YAAOSw9fBi5ASr/s-l1600.jpg
There is only 2-3 inches difference in the length of the I-6 versus the 351 V8. Plenty of images online to show that they both fit.
In the country which tends to be hot, why so many cars with black interiors. Were they owned by funeral directors?