Hooniverse Weekend V.I.S.I.T Edition: A 1972 Mustang Mach I


Is a Mustang Mach I worthy of a V.I.S.I.T. Posting? I’m not sure, so I put the question to the readers, while I go on to describe what is under the hood of this beast.


The car seems to be set up to tackle the drag strip, based on the information from the placard left on the dash. The engine has been built with some of the best in performance enhancing parts available, and started as a 351 CID Cleveland, only now displacing 357 Cubic Inches. New forged ultra light pistons were installed, as were reconditioned connecting rods, a roller timing chain, a high volume Melling Oil Pump, a Moroso front sump oil pan, an Iskendarian hydraulic camshaft, a Roller Rocker Arm conversion, new double valve springs and custom length pushrods, new 351 cylinder heads with over sized stainless-steel valves, Offenhauser high rise polished aluminum intake manifold, Holley Avenger Series 4 BBL Carburetor, Carter high volume fuel pump, Mallory distributor with Promaster coil, and a set of Hedman Hustler Series headers. If that sounds like a shopping list you would find on-line at Jeg’s, I have to agree.

The transmission is a Ford FMX built to street/strip specifications by H & H Transmission with a 2500 stall torque converter. The rear is a 9″ Ford with 3.73 gears, and positraction. It seems that the previous owner had to give up this car to a pawn broker, as its for sale by the Eagles Nest Pawn Shop. How much is it? I didn’t even bother to ask, since it is probably overpriced. If you want to contact the shop, by all means do so.

So the question remains, is this Mach I worthy of a V.I.S.I.T. Posting? Comment away.

Image source: UDMan

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  1. tonyola Avatar

    Sure it belongs. The admittedly-porky 1971-1973 generation is arguably the last true "classic" Mustang, and '71 was also the last year for big blocks and unfettered performance. Though this is a good-looking car, I'd rather have one that's set up for regular driving, and I'd be very leery of buying from a pawnshop. The glass sunroof is both interesting and problematic – I like moonroofs but they don't belong here and aftermarket installations are always chancy..

  2. lilwillie Avatar

    I approve. These may not be the most loved Mustangs but they still hold that late '60's Muscle car mystique and power.

  3. Mechanically Inept Avatar

    It's old, rare, and interesting. Yes, it belongs; even if it's not the prettiest Mustang, it's still pretty cool.

  4. CptSevere Avatar

    Yeah, I'm glad you put it up. These are getting pretty rare these days, I can't remember the last time I saw one, and this one seems to have been built to go like stink. It would make a good weekend bracket racer. Yeah, the pawnshop probably wants too much for it.

  5. ChuckyShamrok Avatar

    For some reason, I've always liked this generation Mustang the most, even though I really don't like mustangs. But as a previous commenter said, I'd rather have it set up to be streetable, maybe even some "Pro Touring" mods to make it fun in the twisties

  6. dukeisduke Avatar

    I like those Mustangs, but I'm not sure about that particular one. The rear bumper doesn't fit right, the driver's door looks like it needs new hinges (or needs to be aligned properly), and the hood and front fenders aren't set up correctly (look at the fit and the gaps).

  7. Maymar Avatar

    Being a Mustang (albeit a less common one), I'd probably hold out to see it street parked in a large city, but I'm not about to argue.
    I have to ask though, is that back window useful at all? It looks like if it were any more horizontal, it'd be a second sunroof. I prefer my Mustangs with a fastback (and that's certainly a very fast back), but if it's useless, that might be the one thing to push me towards the notchback.

    1. tonyola Avatar

      Not really, unless you like your rear view to be a mail slot. Add some dust or a few dozen raindrops and you can pretty much forget it. Also, the blind spots are enormous – you really need to have twin outside mirrors. But I would still prefer the fastback over the notchback and damn the practicality.

  8. dustin_driver Avatar

    I love the stripe down the side.
    And with that back window angle, it's almost a shooting brake (break?).

  9. Eggwich Avatar

    I love it. This is just the color scheme for this car, too. I have a model of a 71 Macho One I was going to pain just like this, but I never bought paint (fail.)
    I know it's kinda bloaty, and like Dustin said, it almost looks like a wagon from the side-rear since that fastback sits so flat, but damn, are these bad things? It's a big Mustang, it knows what it is, and it will do burnouts all over your face blaring Led Zeppelin all the while. Big car, big power, big win.

  10. marque911 Avatar

    Not my favourite Mustang, I get moist over the 69/70 Boss 302. But this is certainly a worthy inclusion. Keep ’em coming!

  11. sam Avatar
    sam

    worthy. I had a 71 coupe so I notice these cars on the street. I only see about 2 or 3 a year. 1 mach if I’m lucky. No bosses yet

  12. dmilligan Avatar

    Sure it's worthy. It's an old pony car, an object of lust for us types. I loved these cars when I was much younger, especially in dark gold with the rear window louvers and wing in matte black. The one shown would be fun to drive on the street until the cops got you for the stall converter. Which probably wouldn't take long.

  13. junkman Avatar
    junkman

    White is a very slimming color on these cars.

  14. Derek Avatar
    Derek

    I knew a guy in Silicon Valley in the mid-late 70’s who was buying these up, and other rare models, like the BOSS series and Shelby’s, and a prototype supercharged Ivy Green ’66 GT350H w/Hurst 4-speed, and warehousing them for investment, last count I heard was that he had over 20 of them, and all in excellent shape.
    When he sold them in the early ’90’s he did pretty well off I’m told. Fred L., are you still out there collecting cars?

  15. muthalovin Avatar

    I see one on my commute home about 3 days of the week. Windows cranked down in bumper to bumper traffic. I always wonder what this dudes story is. It is all primered and loud as hell, it seems like a project car that got relegated to daily driver duty.

  16. selective sound Avatar

    Even though we won’t see the production version of the standard Audi A7 until this year’s Paris Motor Show, the men and women in Ingolstadt are already prepping a hotted-up version of the swoopy four-door coupe (we still aren’t used to typing that), as seen here in this latest set of spy shots. Rumors have stated that a RS7 Sportback might debut alongside the A7 in Paris, complete with a 580-horsepower V10, and it would certainly be show-stopping if Audi could pull off having all three variants of the A7 range on hand.