Super Rare: 1970 Mustang Mach 1 Twister Special

You probably already know what a Mustang Mach 1 was for 1970: a hotted-up offering with a 351-CID engine at minimum, a 428 at the max end, and various other exterior and interior refinements.  The Twister Special, totaling 96 production units and sold only in DSO 53 (Kansas City), was a run of Mach 1s that had either of the aforementioned displacement engines and the Drag Pack option, plus a graphics package showing a tornado-like twister decal on the rear flanks. This 1970 Mustang Mach 1 Twister Special is available here on Craigslist for an asking price of $175,000. You’ll have to retrieve it from Kearney, MO to make it yours. Thanks to Barn Finder Pat L. for this tip.

Twister Specials were available only in Grabber Orange. This car has a correct Super Cobra Jet 428 installed, but it’s not the original engine. The current owner admits that when he got this car, it was sans power plant. Disappointing, but then again, the fellow has put everything back so precisely that his car might be worth considering, even for the ultra-purist. Only 48 Twister Specials had this engine. Adding to the exclusivity, the seller suggests that a “special feature,” which will be revealed only upon inspection, makes the car one-of-one. (I’m not sure this is necessarily of significance, given the rarity of the car to begin with, but I would love to know the details.)

There aren’t a ton of pictures in this ad. It seems that the attitude is, “We did the car right, so we don’t have to prove it with photos of every square inch.”  Maybe more accurately, this ad is just a starting point for someone brave enough to plunk down the price of three new Mustang GTs (maybe four) to buy a hobby car. Natch, you’re going to spend money for a Marti report and a professional inspection if you’re playing with this kind of coin. Looking at what we do see of the under-hood area and underside, the car seems perfectly detailed. Little things like the correct hose clamps and stickers have been taken care of, though the tires seem of a more modern size than would be period authentic.

This Twister Special is so clean you’d have to take a toothbrush to the underside if you ever actually drove it, and note that the owner makes no claims whatsoever as to its roadworthiness. That could be because he doesn’t know—he may never have started it, even. But that’s the game as played amongst high-roller collectors in search of MCA’s highest awards. For now at least, this car is meant more for pushing on and off of trailers than running down the road. At the least, if the next owner is actually going to use this Twister Special as a car, rather than a giant paperweight, it would need fettling. That could be an annoying and tedious process, but in the meantime, the owner would have something pretty to look at in the garage. In sum, the Twister Special represents a rare take on the Mustang, and this one in particular is spotless on top and underneath, and thus, if you have the budget, worth a look.