1969 Ford Mustang Mach I
The Ford Mustang Mach 1 is a performance-oriented option package of the Ford Mustang, originally introduced by Ford in August 1968 as a package for the 1969 model year. Visual connections to the 1969 model were integrated into the design to pay homage to the original. This generation of the Mach 1 was discontinued after the 2004 model year, with the introduction of the fifth-generation Mustang. Ford first used the name 鈥淢ach 1鈥?in its 1959 display of a concept called the 鈥淟evacar Mach I鈥?at the Ford Rotunda. This concept vehicle used a cushion of air as propulsion on a circular dais. Late in the 1968 model year, Ford introduced the 428 cu in (7.0 L) Cobra Jet FE engine in a small group of Mustang GTs and into the 1968 Shelby GT500KR. This was a strong performer and indicated the direction of the 1969 Mustang. However, 鈥淕T鈥?wasn鈥檛 a name that would initiate images of street screeching performance; hence the introduction of the Mach 1 title. In 1969 endurance driver Mickey Thompson took three Mach 1 Mustangs to the Bonneville salt flats for a feature in Hot Rod magazine, in the process setting 295 speed and endurance records over a series of 500-mile and 24-hour courses. This absolutely fantastic example was fully restored in 2010 and has covered under 2000 miles since. It is fitted with the brutish 428 Cobra Jet engine, revered in the US as 鈥?The鈥?engine to power these iconic American muscle cars. Presented in blue/black with black interior, the car is unblemished and is a masterpiece in American engineering. With around 600 bhp, it is not for the faint hearted and will provide you with many miles of exhilarating driving either on the roads or at 鈥淪anta Pod Raceway鈥?
If the Ford model was the blue-collar sporty car, then Mercury鈥檚 pony car was a luxury GT touring machine. Its top of the line XR-7, introduced in mid-1967, offered wood grained instrument panels, upgraded upholstery, and four-speed gearbox. There was even a GT package that included a 320-horsepower 390 cubic inch engine with low restriction exhaust, power disc brakes, handling package and wide oval tires. Hardly what one would call a muscle car, but the GT was a nicely packaged performance car. If stripes and decal make a muscle car, than the 1970 Eliminator was supercar material hands down. Blacked out grilles, wide billboard tires and spoilers front and rear were all part of the Eliminator package. Mercury was reluctant to bulk up the Cougar and take on the muscle market, a place where rivals like the SS396 Camaro and Ram Air 400 Firebird had already begun staking territory. By 1969, the Mustang was knuckling against these two with its 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1, and Mercury could no longer sit on the sidelines. By mid-year, the division had jumped into the fray with the Eliminator.
The name was taken from a Cougar show car and from the 1968 Cougar Eliminator funny car driven by 鈥淒yno鈥?Don Nicholson. Management fathomed that racing exposure could heighten Mercury鈥檚 profile with young performance buyers. They were the ones who drove the hot cars, right? Dressed out in de rigueur bright colors, blacked out grilles, body stripes, spoilers and decals, the Eliminator was based on the standard Cougar and came with a choice of engines from mild to wild. The standard block was a 351 cid V8 producing 290 horsepower @ 4800 rpm. Competition Gold was one of six colors available in 1970 for the Eliminator. Vinyl tops were not offered on Eliminators. Mercury turned up the heat for 1970. Standard engine was the 351 four-barrel V8 (either Windsor or Cleveland, depending on availability). The 351 Cleveland was the more desirable of the two, thanks to its canted valve positioning that permitted better cylinder flow. Also standard was a 3.25:1 rear axle and a performance handling package with F70x14 white lettered tires.
Developing 335 horsepower and 440 lbs.-ft of torque with a 10.5:1 compression, the Cobra Jet 428 engine was offered with or without cold air induction. The Boss 302 engine could also be checked off on an order sheet. This was the same engine as in the Boss 302 Mustang with an output of 290 horsepower @ 5800 rpm. Top of the heap was the Cobra Jet 428 that produced 335 horsepower @ 5200 rpm. The cold air package Cobra Jet was rated the same as the non-ram air CJ. At least one Eliminator was equipped with the Boss 429 engine that was installed in a limited run of Mustangs to homologate the engine for NASCAR racing. With any engine choice, a floor mounted three-speed manual transmission was standard. The C6 automatic or a four-speed manual box was optional. The Eliminator鈥檚 interior was offered in 10 different colors for 1970, up from seven the year before.
Buyers had a choice of standard vinyl, Comfort-Weave vinyl or a black vinyl with white houndstooth check. Also standard for the Eliminator were high back bucket seats, black grain instrument panel, 6,000-rpm tach (8,000 for Boss 302 equipped models), a novel 鈥渆lapsed time鈥?clock and full instrumentation. For manual transmission cars, a Hurst shifter with aluminum 鈥淭鈥?handle was standard, while automatic transmission models received a simulated wood grain shift knob (when the floor mounted transmission was ordered). The exterior was modified for 1970 with the Eliminator鈥檚 grilles blacked out and a black center stripe running from the grille split, up the center of the hood into the blacked out hood scoop. Below the front bumper was a full-length black fiberglass chin spoiler. Along the upper beltline, a trio of stripes reached from the front fender to the end of the quarter. The standard dual outside rear view mirrors also sported a racing style look. Next to the rear side marker lamp was an 鈥淓LIMINATOR鈥?decal on either side. On the deck lid was the usual muscle car stand up wing, this one carrying a stripe with ELMINATOR in the center and painted body color.