(Photo Courtesy Donald Farr)
More grateful mention needs to go to Hagerty Price Guide’s (hagerty.com) Brian Rabold for sharing his annual publication’s Mach 1 assessed value information, and Matt Hocker at the Antique Automobile Club of America Library & Research Center (Hershey, Pennsylvania) for supplying a little supportive artwork. Further photographic contributions came from veteran drag racing shooter Bob McClurg, Warren Crone at Ford Images, and Mark Han at The Enthusiast Network.
And I can’t possible forget Doug Turner, Andrew Simmons, Sunny Rodriguez, Jim and Carol Long, and Tom and Michelle Grothouse, who graciously allowed me to photograph their pride and joys, on very short notice, for this work in 2016. Last, I’ll surely always remember long-time friend Tom Shaw, who succumbed to complications following an auto accident in November that year. You’ll see Tom’s fabulous photos on these pages, along with a comment or two demonstrating his unique perspective, as well as his boundless enthusiasm for the machines he loved like few other gearheads out there. Here’s to you, buddy.
The year 1969 certainly was a busy time in Dearborn, Michigan, especially so in the Mustang corral. Fresh variations on Ford’s pony car theme abounded, beginning with the kinder, gentler, “super-luxury” Grande with its regal vinyl roof and uber-deluxe interior. Not kind in the least were two other new-for-1969 ’Stangs: Boss 302 and its bodacious big brother, Boss 429. Following in the smoky tire tracks of 1968’s midyear 428 Cobra Jet model, this rarin’-to-race pair helped demonstrate further that the Blue Oval bunch was no longer fooling around; they were finally putting Mustang at the head of the Motor City muscle car pack, just where many interested parties felt it belonged from the start.
Included in that group, albeit retroactively, was Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen, who became Ford Motor Company president in February 1968 after quitting his vice president post at General Motors in a fit following the promotion of his rival, veteran engineer Ed Cole, to the top office there in October 1967. Responsible for Pontiac’s reawakening a decade prior, Knudsen’s prime motto always was “You can sell a young man’s car to an old man, but you’ll never sell an old man’s car to a young man,” and this thinking faded nary a wit following his planet-rattling defection. “When Mr. Knudsen came from GM he brought along a strong belief in the value of performance,” wrote Eric Dahlquist while reporting the big bulletin in the Motor Trend August 1968 issue.
When fitted with the optional 428 Cobra Jet V-8, Ford’s first Mach 1 Mustang ranked as one of Detroit’s hottest muscle cars in 1969. Serving as a suitable backdrop for this CJ Mach is North American Aviation’s equally intimidating P-51 Mustang fighter plane. Compared to the Cobra Jet’s 335 hp, the P-51’s supercharged Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 churned out about 1,400 horses.
New in the 1969 Mustang corral along with the Mach 1 was the luxury-conscious Grande, crowned by a regal vinyl roof. Also note the blacked-out hood and chromed styled-steel wheels. The former was a Grande option that year; the rims, however, are incorrect. Styled steelies were available to 1969 Grande buyers, but only argent-painted or color-keyed renditions. (Photo Courtesy Mecum Auctions)
“[Ford] designers have gone to considerable trouble to make their intentions known,” announced Car Life’s March 1969 cover story. “The Mach 1 comes [with] everything, in short, except a decal proclaiming [a] readiness to coat the opposition with rubber dust.” (Photo Courtesy Antique Auto Club of America Library & Research Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania)
Knudsen also wasted no time broadcasting his feelings about Lee Iacocca’s little baby. In his far-from-humble opinion, Mustang was “a good-looking automobile, but there are a tremendous number of people out there who want good-looking automobiles with performance. If a car looks like it’s going fast and doesn’t go fast, people get turned off. If you have a performance car and it looks like a pretty sleek automobile, then you should give the sports-minded fellow the opportunity to buy a high-performance automobile.”
Introduced in April 1968, Ford’s 428 Cobra Jet FE-series big-block V-8 was available with or without Ram-Air in 1969. In the latter’s case, this non-functional scoop was traded for the legendary Shaker. Advertised CJ output remained 335 hp in either case. (Photo Courtesy Tom Shaw)
Both Boss Mustangs, each released after the turn of the calendar year in 1969, represented rapid-fire results of Knudsen’s heavy-footed influence. And this wasn’t all Dearborn had in store for racehorse lovers that year. Introduced earlier, along with Ford’s latest lineup in the summer of 1968, was another sleek, speed-seeking pony; this one was bred more for the mainstream, not necessarily the track.
“Are you ready for the first great Mustang?” asked a March 1969 Car Life review of this news-making newborn. “One with performance to match its looks, handling to send imported-car fans home mumbling to themselves, and an interior as elegant, and livable, as a gentleman’s club?” Wait, don’t answer. Because along with all that, interested buyers also were treated to a super-cool name known well among real, card-carrying jet setters: Mach 1.
Indeed, when fitted with the 335-hp 428 CJ (the non-Boss Mustang’s top power option in 1969), this groundbreaker seemed capable of doing the same to the sound barrier. Well, not quite. But down on Earth (where noise travels really fast, roughly 750 mph), it ranked right up with Detroit’s hottest rods of the day. Calling the Cobra Jet rendition “the quickest standard passenger car through the quarter-mile we’ve ever tested,” the Car Life crew further felt it was “a superb road car, stable at speed, tenacious on corners, with surplus power and brakes for any road situation.”
Talk about two vessels gliding by each other in the wee hours. Ford’s original flagship pony car, the GT, was forgotten almost overnight in the wake of the new Mach 1, which featured all Gran Turismo attractions (except for appropriate identification), plus a heavy load of form/function goodies that cost extra on other Mustangs. Early factory paperwork even used a Super GT reference when announcing the original Mach’s standard equipment menu.
Along with nicely subtle striping, the Mach 1 deal included a blacked-out hood, dual racing mirrors, and gleaming wheels on the outside. Meanwhile, starring on the inside was the prestigious Grande interior, upgraded with high-back bucket seats and a console. The Grande’s special sound package further added extra silencing insulation inside the Mach’s fastback shell, now formally known as a SportsRoof.
First great Mustang? Damn straight. Ford might’ve also accepted “milestone” as a fair description, as least as far as its equine legacy was concerned.
Former Musclecar Enthusiast editor and Super Ford managing editor Steve Statham agrees whole-heartedly. “What set the 1969 Mach 1 apart was that it was the first factory-built Mustang that got all the muscle car elements right, in one package,” he said in September 2016. “It had the scoops, the stripes, the right engine options, and the right price. [The] Mustang GT was a fine car but never had the dramatic looks and image to go against flashier rivals, and its engines weren’t competitive until the Cobra Jet
