My very first car was a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Not this one, but it was similar. When Ford came out with this new body style in 1971, I thought it was a really cool look. I went and bought a brand new one at the local Ford dealer.
It was a light pewter color with black accents, a 351 Windsor motor and 4-speed. I had a lot of fun with the car. I ended up putting headers and side-pipes on it. I also did some tune-up work and it was a quick car. My one regret was that I hadn’t gotten a Boss 351 with a Cleveland motor. Still, it was a great car for me. Unfortunately, I ended up selling the car. Like most collectors, I wish I had kept my original one.
It’s not easy to find nice 71 Mach 1’s. It’s never been that desirable a car in the collector circles and it’s hard to do a nice restoration on one and have the value hold up. I looked for a few years and didn’t have much luck. Boss 351’s are more valuable and you see those that have been restored occasionally. Since my original wasn’t a Boss 351, that wasn’t what I was looking for. I found this one at a car auction in Scottsdale, AZ and finally got one. The motor was built more than mine had been, but I really couldn’t complain about that.
