1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1

MIGHTY MACH 1

Back in 2000, the film Gone In 60 Seconds was released.

The film, starring Nicholas Cage, Angelina Jolie and Robert Duvall, is about a group of car thieves trying to pinch 50 expensive motors in 24 hours and was a pretty big hit at the box office, raking in more than $300million worldwide.

To be honest though, while the film did have some big-name Hollywood heavyweights in the cast, the real star of the show was the 1967 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, nicknamed Eleanor, that was the ultimate target of the film’s protagonists.

It’s a cracking car, and the odds are pretty good that fans of American V8 muscle have seen the film and had more than their fair share of daydreams in which Eleanor is parked in their driveway.

Gone In 60 Seconds with Nicholas Cage is not a bad film. It’s not great, but not bad. However, those amongst you who enjoy a decent car flick will know that the Cage movie is actually a remake of a 1973 film. And that version of Gone In 60 Seconds is a dead-set classic.

For those that haven’t seen it, the original is on YouTube and really is worth a watch. True, the human performances are so wooden they’ll give your eyes splinters, but once again, the real star of the film (it even gets star billing in the opening credits) is Eleanor the car, a 1973 Mustang Mach 1, and her performance, especially in the outrageous 40-minute chase scene that is the film’s centrepiece, is flawless.

The Mach 1 Mustangs, produced from 1969 to 1978, were big cars. Wide and long, they were the most aggressive-looking Mustangs ever made – a look befitting what was the performance-oriented model of the Mustang line. Under the massive hood you wouldn’t find anything smaller than 302ci (4.9 litre) V8 during its entire production run, and at the top end you could buy one fitted with a 429ci (7.0 litre) Super Cobra Jet V8 churning out 375hp. That’s some monster grunt.

This 1973 Mach 1 has a 351ci (5.8 litre) Cleveland V8 and it is owned by Peter Devers, from the Supamerc prestige used car dealership in Coopers Plains, Brisbane.

A Mustang fan since he was a kid – his father was one of the first importers of used Mustang’s into the country back in the day – Peter stumbled across this particular car when surfing through eBay.

Having owned and then parted company with a ’69 Mach 1 in the past, the opportunity to get another was too good to miss and having made the highest bid that hadn’t met the reserve, Peter was able to contact the owner directly and organise to meet at the famous Munchies Friday Night Car Meet.

“When he rolled into the car park, I thought ‘Wow! Look at this!’,” says Peter. “I walked around the car a couple of times, and then quickly said, ‘Yep, that’ll be fine, take it home!’ because I didn’t want anyone else to see it!”

Peter organised for his mechanic to check the car out the following Monday and following a glowing report, he was in possession of the car the next evening.

Such was the condition of the Mustang, that in the following three years the changes Peter has made have been mostly cosmetic.

“When I got the car, it was in pretty much the condition you see it now, although I have replaced a lot of the ‘jewellery’ as I call it – the cosmetics,” he says.

“Having owned a Mach 1 in the past, I knew where to source all the little odds and sods – there is one particular Mustang parts supplier in the U.S. called Ohio Mustang who has a massive array of stuff – so I was able put a Mach 1 grill on it, which it didn’t have, and bought new anodised nuts and new rubbers. I changed the tail lights, the honeycomb panel on the back, the rear bumper bar, the vents in the bonnet, a new fuel cap . . .  when you own an old car it’s always a work in progress, there is always some piece of ‘jewellery’ or that you want to get.

“I am actually still looking for new windscreen and rain gutter mouldings,” he adds. “With the ’71-’73 Mustangs there are not quite the array of reproduction parts available as there are for, say, the ’66 Mustang, and though you can buy reproduction stuff, Ohio Mustang says that these mouldings are extremely tricky to fit and are quite soft which means you may leave dints in them. So, I am looking for ‘new’ old stock there.

“The interior of the car is as I bought it. It had been redone at some point in the past, and had a trim kit and carpets put through. Power windows, which weren’t standard back in the day, had been fitted too. Really, the interior is one area of the car where I haven’t had to do too much.

“The colour is different to the original and was done in 2014. It’s called Deep Impact Blue and I have had a lot of people comment on it. It really pops.”

With Peter’s background in prestige cars, his lifelong love of Mustangs, and his contacts in the trade, the car is simple enough to maintain and besides, he says, it’s hardly a daily driver.

“It’s an easy car to maintain,” he says. “You’re talking about a pretty basic 1970s motor car. It has an MSD ignition system but there really is no comparison to modern cars with all their electronics. We are fortunate in that Ford Australia’s products of the era carried the same driveline – a 351 Cleveland was in an XY and XA Falcon. There are subtle differences, such as the Mustang’s brake callipers being different to a Falcon’s, but generally speaking they’re similar.

“So, from a maintenance point of view, there are no major difficulties. I change the oil once every 12 months, regardless of mileage but, I must admit, it doesn’t do a lot of miles.

“It’s really an indulgence, and considering the amount of use it gets, it is hard to justify owning it!” he says with a smile. “But as far as I am concerned, you only get one go at this life. I’ve had Mercedes, Porsches and Ferraris, but I guess it comes back to my history as to why I bought this car – hen I turned 18, my dad dropped the keys of a ’65 Mustang in my lap and told me I would have to fix it up. I rebuilt that car over about 7 months and not only did I learn a lot about Mustangs, I was hooked on them too.”

For Peter then, this one will likely stay in his possession. It might not be rational to own the car, but the emotional attachment is strong. Which isn’t to say there might not be something else he would pick up if it came across his radar.

“It’s not a practical car for driving to the shops,” he says. “It’s an enthusiast’s car and I take it along to events like Cars and Coffee and so on. It’s pleasant to drive and there isn’t a time when I am out in the car that I don’t get some sort of comment or a thumb’s up, or people coming up to the car to take photos. It’s a keeper.

“No, I have no intention of selling,” he says, before adding with a smile. “Unless something absolutely amazing fell into my lap. That would be another Mustang, of course. A Boss 302 perhaps. We’ll see.”