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Unrepeatable: 1973 Mustang with 23,000 Miles

I keep saying “Wow” whenever I look at this listing. This is one of those cars that you swear that can’t be any more of and then it shows up: a one-owner Ford Mustang with 23,000 original miles wearing its original paint and body panels, along with a one-of-a-kind interior installed by the selling dealer! This one is heading for the upper stratosphere, I believe: check it out here on eBay in a no reserve auction where bidding is fast approaching $10K. 

It always makes me wonder if many passers-by knew about this Mustang in the garage of the original owner’s home or if some lucky soul just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And how nice – despite being squirreled away and hardly used for decades, it was safely stored and only wearing a light coating of dust as any indication of neglect. The seller claims it has been sitting in this California garage since 1983.

Here it is cleaned up! It really does look like a new car and the seller claims after flushing out all the fluids, it starts and idles like one, too. The Mustang was optioned from new with the ram air hood and hood pins, along with a 3-speed manual transmission paired to the venerable 302 V8. While it may not be as desirable as a Mach 1 or a genuine Shelby car, the simple fact that you’re not likely to find one this nice again any time soon makes it worth a fair price.

Hmm, that’s certainly different! How do you feel about this unusual interior? The car was ordered with this custom dealer-installed upholstery. It’s not my cup of tea, but it’s certainly different from the typical black vinyl. Plus, it adds another chapter to the story of an owner who was clearly fanatical about his Mustang and enjoyed every step of the original purchasing process. Perhaps it was a retirement gift for the gentleman in the top photo – what do you think the story is?

Comments

  1. Avatar Larry K

    Wow!

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  2. Avatar Stang1968

    Fantastic story and great condition, but the custom dealer installed interior kills it for me. Yes, its period correct, but it should have stayed in 1973…

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  3. HoA Howard A Member

    Finally! A believable story. Sure is nice. I only hope some flipper doesn’t buy this, roll back the speedo to say, oh, IDK, 1372 miles ( with #’s all askew) and call it brand new, because it isn’t. There will be issues on a 40 year old car, regardless of the mileage. Still, an incredible find. They’ll be haggling on this for a while.

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    • Avatar JW454

      A flipper already bought it. That’s who’s selling it.

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    • Avatar Lee Hartman

      The flipper that has it has sold 66 cars in the last year and at least 6 of the buyers aren’t very pleased.

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  4. Avatar Rocko

    Nice car, i really groove the seat skins , clean car no dents, California you say ? Nice retirement car ! I find bidders on ebay are always right on the price. Too bad the flipper has negative feedback !

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  5. Avatar Jay E.

    I drove one of these for years when they were new. Nice comfortable car with the top down. Not performance oriented, just a nice ride. I’m really interested in where this one’s biding lands. Factory seats appeal more than these custom ones do.

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  6. Avatar jaygryph

    “There are no more cool old cars in barns!” is the car culture version of “The end is near!”

    Yes there are, and no it’s not.

    There were still old cars in barns with amazing stories and sometimes outrageous prices, good and bad, in the 70s…and the 80s…90s and 00s as well.

    When we’re all being whisked along by self driving “cars” with built a built in mini bar but no steering wheel there will *still* be cars in barns to be discovered.

    I mean, it probably won’t be legal to drive them, but they’ll be there.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Glen

      mini bar? I may have to change my opinion on self-driving cars!

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  7. Avatar Dolphin Member

    The upside:
    – It looks like a 23K mile car.
    – Looks clean, with some original books & papers and a good looking underside.
    – Lots of good photos so you know what you would be getting.
    – Low starting bid and no reserve.
    – Standard transmission with floor shifter.

    The downside:
    – The first 2 numbers on the ODO don’t quite line up.
    – Only a 3-speed transmission.
    – Might be original paint but maybe looks a bit too perfect around the door jambs, gaps, and some of the seals for 23K miles, making me wonder whether it has had a repaint. I would want a pro vintage car painter to look it over before paying top dollar.
    – Some neg feedback and hard sell and mistakes in the description make me wonder whether it’s exactly what the reseller says it is.
    – Those upholstery inserts.

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  8. Avatar Jack in NW PA Member

    I kind of dig the Yellow Grinch face upholstery. A California Christmas car for sure.

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  9. Avatar JoeyB

    A flame thrower would fix the interior in short order.

    JoeyB…

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  10. Avatar JoeT

    Opened the eBay link and the eBay listing downloaded a text file (YQ4t1AYyhX8) to my Mac. Never had this happen from an eBay link before. Anyone else had this happen?

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  11. Avatar JW

    Nice car but not a vert fan, have owned 2, seat upholstery sucks look like a old woman design from Hollywood, not my favorite Mustang body style still a nice rust free car just not for me. Nice to see the classics are still out there to be had.

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    • Avatar rich voss

      JW – the only thing I like about this ‘Stang are the wheels….those are what I had on my Boss 351. (Only not those skinny tires). Do you think that the body colored front bumper and a chrome rear one with bumperettes was some strange part of the option packages on this car ? Have to say it…interior is hideous.

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      • Avatar JW

        I agree on the wheels love them, never been a fan of painted bumpers, our 2016 F-150 4×4 has painted bumpers but they came that way so WTH. I also agree looks as if one of the old Hollywood actresses from the 50’s / 60’s ordered it. Tiger skin would have even been worse.

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      • Avatar rich voss

        JW – some vehicles look pretty good with body colored bumpers…my Aztec Gold RX7 would have looked “odd” with chrome bumpers as big…or my current Metallic Black BMW too. I’m actually thinking that some type of “repro” big cat print WOULD have looked better on this car. Perhaps cheetah or jaguar. Heck, even the right pattern/color palette paisley would have been better….

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  12. Avatar RickG

    You can see the flatbed in the old guy’s driveway. Flipper got a few pictures of the old man next to the car to put in his ebay ad. Makes me feel bad. Almost like vultures circling overhead. I don’t want this to happen to me and my cars and other stuff. Moral of the story is drive it and use it while you got it!

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    • HoA Howard A Member

      Hi Rick, good eye. I agree, nothing like a kindly old man to bolster the story. Kind of a shame. With so many shysters, it’s so hard to tell if the story is true. Can’t have a conscience if you are going to make money on cars. Talk about vultures circling, you should see farmers at auction bidding on their dead comrades possessions. It isn’t pretty.

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      • Avatar Nova Scotian

        That kindly old man IS the tow truck driver.

        Like 0
    • Avatar PRA4SNW

      If it weren’t for flippers, you wouldn’t even be looking at this car, and have a chance to own it.

      Reselling cars has been going on since the dawn of automobiles. This idea of “flipping” has only become a negative thing since the dawn of on-line selling. You can claim that it is the “creativity” of some of the ads that makes you upset, but that is hardly any different from going to a used car lot and hearing the salesperson’s hype. Caveat Emptor either way.

      If I sell *anything* to someone and got what I wanted and the buyer sells it, good on them. I didn’t make him/her sign a contract saying they wouldn’t sell it to anyone else.

      Hit this post with thumbs down if you must, but just think about it first.

      Like 0
  13. Avatar charlie

    Seller’s ebay member id would make me definitely want a ppi.

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    • Avatar Jeffro

      Tough question!

      Like 0
  14. Avatar Marty

    My buddy and I worked at ford in lorain Ohio. He just got his new 4 speed Mustang and told me to take it for a spin. Spin I did. As I letf the parking lot like young guys do….fish tailing it got away from me and did a 180 and scraped the wheels a bit. Very sad night. Rick got over it and had new tire rings in a matter of days. Those were the days…Young and dumb…

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  15. Avatar KeithK

    A friend and me are debating wether or not to go into the classic car flip business. On one hand I have a bit of disdain for these guys ,seemingly prying these survivors from unknowing seniors but,this is a legit business. Look at Wayne Carini. How many episodes does he charmingly separate some old lady from her husbands pride and joy only to say five minutes later that he has a buyer overseas for this car ? At least these guys have connections to unbury some of these Lost boys. On the fence. I figure at least I could travel the USA ,briefly own some dream cars and make a little money at doing it.

    Like 0
    • HoA Howard A Member

      Hi Keith, I couldn’t do it, but there’s less scrupulous ways of making a buck. The trouble is, kind of like drugs, “it’s the lure of easy money, it’s got a very strong appeal” ( RIP Glenn Frey) and they can make a lot of money, the buyers are out there. Cars like this are out of reach for most, and only people with money pass these cars around, without ever enjoying them. That’s the real crime.

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      • Avatar Alan

        I’ve thought about being a flipper too, the problem is that you have to hold inventory and deal with rich people. Some of whom are really nice people and have a lot passion… others are complete a**holes.

        And I’m sure it’s not near as easy as the TV shows lead you to believe.

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  16. Avatar Rick

    I find the no static photos of the interior and instrument panel a little disconcerting. I watched that video (and almost got seasick) trying to see the odometer reading as well (how did you see that, Dolphin?). And I’m certainly no expert, but I’m pretty sure the entire underside of the car shouldn’t be yellow…

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  17. Avatar BradL

    The hideous interior explains the low mileage. I’d be embarrassed to drive it too.

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  18. Avatar Bruce Joslen

    I really like the ‘over the top’ 70’s interior. It gives the car it’s own character, and certainly supports the idea of individual cars as works of art. Always fancied owning one of those ‘lipstick’ Lincolns.

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  19. Avatar Joe M

    Nice car, weird interior, the price is getting into the buyer’s remorse category. Original or not, when you get this one home, you’ll stare at it in your garage thinking. I actually bought an underpowered yellow boat with weird interior? How can I sell this thing.

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  20. Avatar z28th1s

    Looking at the interior and the license plate frame I’m thinking the original buyer might have been a female. I don’t know too many guys that would put a ‘To Know Me Is To Love Me’ with two hearts license plate frame on their car.

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  21. Avatar Pappy2d

    Firestone bias ply tires? They appear to match the spare too.

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  22. Avatar Rustytech Member

    Interior looks like Mr. Bojangles suit. Love the 71 to 73 Mustangs though. I think though there may be a little too much emphasis being put on negative feed back. You only need to look as far as our own thumbs down grinch to see that you can’t please everyone. I would allow more lee way to a flipper who really doesn’t know anything about a car than a long time owner that flat out lies about defects he knows full well exists. Just do your own inspections!

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  23. Avatar Tom Driscoll

    Nice car, the flipper probably paid 12-15k for it…up to 19k already. The ’73 302 sure was a lightweight though.

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  24. Avatar mike d

    call me a perfectionist, but, right off the bat, the misspellings in the ad show that the seller is careless.. what else is he/she careless about? also, too wordy.. . my puter is on the fritz, so I wasn’t able to see too many pics . the bidding is up to 19K as of 6:30 EST the original buyer wanted the extra expense of a convert, and a custom interior , but just a base v/8 and a three speed . but, I have seen weirder combos /.

    Like 0
  25. Avatar Tom Driscoll

    I’ve been finding some nice low mileage cars on craigslist here lately, but I don’t see any link to submit them?

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jamie Staff

      Tom, at the very bottom of the page there’s a contact link :-)

      Like 0
      • Avatar Tom Driscoll

        Thanks!

        Like 0
  26. Avatar Rustytech Member

    Tom I’ve noticed the same thing recently, maybe these sellers know something about the economy that we don’t! I haven’t found the link either. Perhaps someone here can guide us.

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  27. Avatar erikj

    brother had a 71 mach 1 same yellow but flat hood.302 2 barrel it did have the bucket/console w/ gauges. Very nice,but it was weird to sit in,dash was to high and could not see out the back window.

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  28. Avatar Brad

    Dump the interior fabric. It’s totally Takei.

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  29. Avatar kenzo

    Yes interesting that the underside is yellow as well.
    And the 3 in the 23000 odometer does look a bit out of alignment.
    Also wonder how many gallons of Armor-all the seller went through to make all the shine.
    23K probably. Not a color or interior to my liking though.

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  30. Avatar Rolf Poncho 455

    Nice very nice !!!

    Like 0
  31. Avatar leiniedude Member

    Sold for $26,800.00. 40 bids.

    Like 0

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