Rare 428CJ V8! 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
The Mach 1 was added to the Mustang portfolio in 1969 as Ford was looking to breathe new life into the sales of the popular pony car. After peaking in 1966, every year’s sales thereafter saw less demand than the one prior. A performance auto, the Mach 1 shot to nearly 25% of all Mustang sales in its first outing, but quickly declined in 1970 as the era of the muscle car was beginning to wane. This ’70 Mach 1 has a mostly numbers-matching 428 Cobra Jet V8, which went into only 1,130 Mach1s with automatic transmission in that model year. Now rusty, incomplete, and not running, this Mustang is in Granite Falls, Washington, and is available through a dealer here on eBay. Bidders have yet to crack the seller’s reserve at $10,000.
We understand that this old Ford sat under a cover for many years, but that was outside which means that the elements could work their way inside. And they did, as the car is quite rusty at this stage. The problem areas include the floor pans and rear quarter panels. The paint on the front clip doesn’t match the yellow on the rest of the automobile, and we assume that was replaced because of corrosion, but also the Mustang may have gotten itself into an accident.
The interior was partially stripped, and the bucket seats there now were added by the seller from his/her own stock. This CJ was accompanied by factory air conditioning, which may have been an even rarer combination, but the seller’s Marti Report doesn’t document the number. Many of the parts associated with the big 428 V8 are present, except for the block which is from 1966.
While the Shaker hood is factory, the unit itself is a reproduction. The engine does not turn over and there is no indication of what’s required besides a teardown. All-in-all, this should be a desirable car and could fetch some serious money once restored. But getting to that point will require a lot of time, energy, and money (mostly the latter). If you’re in the market for an earlier Mach 1, would you go after this one or one where most or all the heavy lifting has already been done?
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Comments
The Marti report does indicate the car was delivered with Ford’s SelectAire air conditioning. The compressor is visible in the engine images.
it does have factory access rad and pins hold it but after all the years anything is possible lol
Anyone want a 70,000 headache. I’ll sell it to you for the one time low price of 10k.
Anything over scrap price is way too much.
Scrap price would only be about $500 the engine itself worth five times that much
Stupid comment, I guess just to stir comments or such. Smh
The more i see the worse it gets!!
Is this the harlequin edition?
You beat me to it…
That engine looks small for a 428 in that engine compartment.
Just saying !
Just look at how many Mustangs you can buy in just one package!
Selectaire, and Select-O-Shift equipped.
Hey Al. That’s exactly what I was going to say. That motor does not look like a 428 to me. I’m No Ford expert but looks an awful lot like the 390 that is in my Galaxy. Would have to do a lot more research on that car and I still don’t think it’s worth any more than the bid is right now.
Dimensionally a 390 and a 428 are the same. The valve covers and thermostat housing tell you it is an FE engine.
Roy
Those valve covers are for a 390.The 428cj all came with aluminum valve covers with the fins and stamped 428 on the top center.it’s all in the cylinder head casting numbers,the only way to really know….
332, 352, 360, 361, 390, 406, 410, 427, and 428, all FEs, and all look the same, when dressed in the same attire.
After some thought,i think what is there is a 66′ 428 non CJ from a T- bird,but on the other hand they were rated at 345hp that year,a 30hp increase over the 390.
428 and 390 look exactly the same smh
The difference between the 428 and 428cj is the heads.both have a 4.13″bore and a 3.98″stroke,but the cj heads have larger 2.08″intake and 1.65″exhaust valves.the 428 is the only FE big block that is externally balanced and had 2 different heads.the other 428 has 2.02″intake and 1.55 exhaust valves,like what was available in the 66′ t-bird.the same valve size as the 390,2v and 4v heads.the 390 is 4.050″ bore and 3.78″ stroke.dimensionally the same only on the outside,not alike at all in performance.the 428 is everything the 390 wanted to be….
410 uses the same crank, so it also balances the same.
Door jams rusted
Plus need two half pans, why chance the torque boxes since you’ve cut out the rest.
Not sure on lower panels below doors and inner rails to weld. This car likely needed them too.
Interior, trunk, gas tank , hood is rooted too.
Is the engine hiding the firewall rust or the dash panel hiding it too.
Its a NOM too.
So your buying a title and vin tag and a complete CJ pony parts metal reproduction array of parts.
I say get a cheaper six banger sports roof and get a Coyote engine . Beef up gears and frame connections and get decent paint job and bank $50 K that’s never coming back .. plus saving many weekends in rust with a plasma cutter and a welder ..
Been there done that on a Ohio Rustang.
It looked great when done with tge oriy trans, drive shaft , rear seat, one door and 2 fenders. The rest was non saving.. similar to this one.
If it had the original drive train maybe then would i tee off the misses with a 1000 hours on weekends of future.
Lifes too short.. runnnnnn away fast folks.
Or build a 500hp 5.3 LS for about $2500 total and save another $10k over the coyote swap
LS Schmell S💩
it is still a wonder of how many of these are still around, but than I think yup you have one also squirreled away, a no frills small block one that is rust free. I guess mine would be a good donar for this one since no one wants a 351 winsor equipped one with 14″ wheels with the original wheel covers. A very good survival rate on these and there always seems to be a frenzy when one of these surface. I know a fella that spent just over a 100k doing one. I also recall him blowing a fuse when he found out the original engine wasn’t in it. No thanks.
Man I would love to have a 69-70 mustang period. I’d hate to see a nice complete car die to bring back a nightmare like this one.
I gotta agree with John…”a $70,000 headache”. I can buy exact same equipped car in red out the door ready for $73G’s here in Charlotte. Having said that however, author stated that the muscle car era was starting to wind down & this was one of the last ones. He’s right. So, a two-sided coin really. And of 1130 of them that left factory, how many survived 53 yrs. later?
If there’s any justice in the world, this car o’ many colors will be bought and loved by somebody named Joseph…
Here’s a link to my car to show what can be done with a car that needs a lot of love. Mine wasn’t as bad as this one. It’s my first car that I bought from my mom at the end of 1971 and I also have a 69 GT coupe with a 390 that I hope to start on soon. I have about double the amount your talking about above. Google December 1999 Hot Rod magazine to see the article. Motor-trend has the full article on line.
https://imgur.com/gallery/Ys6CstA
Roy
Great work Roy!
Rot bucket!
Ended at $12,300, Reserve Not Met.