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Worth Restoring? 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Ignore the seller’s forthright undercarriage photos and this College Park, Maryland Mustang shows high potential. Sadly the structural metal shows cake layers of rust and heavy disintegration. Hardware store sheet metal stands in for floor panels, and restoration may elude anyone but a Mustang lover who once owned a similar specimen. That said, anything is possible, so let’s have a look! Offered here on eBay, the 1970 Mustang Mach 1 came smartly outfitted with a 351 Cleveland four-barrel, shaker hood (now gone), automatic transmission, Mach 1 package, Ivy green paint and Ivy knit interior. At least four bidders summoned the optimism to bring this classic back, with one pledging over $9000 as we go to press. Check out Hagerty for more on Ford’s Windsor and Cleveland 351 cubic inch V8s.

Clearly the new owner will have the only twin-engine Mach 1 on their block. The 1970 351 Cleveland 4V should be a perfect match for the original motor once fitted with a correct carburetor and exhaust manifolds, according to the seller. Pinto fans will appreciate the FMX automatic transmission’s dainty floor shifter. I’ve driven a ’72 Mustang with a 351-4V and an FMX and there’s plenty of torque to burn the tires even without this car’s wild 4.56 ring and pinion gears.

A 1969 Ford 9 inch differential with Traction-Lok, 31 spline axles, and the 4.56 gears suggest this pony car accumulated some of its odometer clicks a quarter-mile at a time. Slicks would have been mounted as no stock tires could take that beating unless the goal was writing your name on a parking lot in black streaks. The lower valance and rear bumper evidently endured some abuse as well.

The ubiquitous 351 powered countless Fords of the day and can be built to crazy horsepower if your budget allows. I’d love to see this one back in action whether restored to double-green perfection or fully customized. Anything that keeps it from losing more decades to wishful thinking and inaction gets my vote. As gambles go, it’s hard to beat a fastback Mustang. What would you do with this rusty Mach 1?

Comments

  1. HoA Howard A Member

    Again, BF’s always seems to hit a nerve with me on certain cars they post. For example, a guy I knew in the late ’70’s, his name was Jim Bachman, and he loved to get wasted. He had a green 1970 Mustang just like this. One day, at the local watering hole, we decided to go to Florida for spring break, as Backman got more and more polluted, “Yeah, he said, we can take my car”,,,that was at 7 pm. Next day, he never showed up, so we called him and he said he had a “little” accident last night on the way home, but it’s not that bad, all it needs is a battery. When we went to the towing company to look at it, it’s a miracle that guy survived. He hit a tree and stuffed the right front wheel into the passenger seat. Anyone riding there would have been surely killed. Needless to say, the Mustang was toast. Ah,, the 80’s,,,

    Like 7
  2. Avatar Bob_in_TN Member

    It’s not to the amazing numbers that we see rusty Mopars fetching, but the price this rough Mach 1 will bring is a testament to the popularity and value of the 69-70 Mach 1 when restored. Good write-up Todd, and good info and pics from the seller.

    Like 2
  3. Avatar Sam Shive
  4. Avatar Eric Johnson

    No console?? Wrong steering wheel.

    Like 5
  5. Avatar Howie Mueler

    What a great place to store a spare engine.

    Like 5
  6. Avatar david R

    How in the world did they get that engine in there?

    Like 0
  7. Avatar CHRIS M DEHNE

    Just looking at the valve covers on the engine, doesn’t appear to be a 351 Cleveland. Looks like a Windsor design.

    Like 0
    • Avatar CATHOUSE

      There is a 351W under the hood and a 351C inside the car.

      Like 0
  8. Avatar bobdog

    It’s a mid engine Mustang !

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Stevieg

    I had an uncle, now deceased, who had a plain Jane 1970 Mustang fastback in these same colors. It was a 302 & automatic car. He painted it in my grandparents garage, and it turned out pretty good for an amateur job done in an old carriage house/garage.
    A guy in a 1975 clipped him a couple months later, totaling the Mustang. The guy in the Trans Am took off & hid the car in a “friend’s” garage. The friend, my aunt, didn’t realize until a day or two later, that the car in her garage was the same car that had totaled her brothers Mustang. Once she realized that, my grandfather was called.
    My grandfather, my uncle, & myself all went over to my aunts house & the adults (I was about 10 or 11 years old at the time) poured sugar down the gas tank of the Trans Am.
    The cops weren’t called.
    Some things were then said to the guy & he paid for a replacement car for my Uncle. This is how things are done “Italian style” lol.

    Like 0

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