Auto World’s Vintage Muscle ’73 Mach 1: A Mach without the “E”
The early 70’s saw the beginning of the end of the muscle car era, when horsepower was cheap and fuel was abundant. By 1973, consumer pressure was being felt by American automakers to create bigger and bigger cars, yet somehow still be sporty and quick. Everything hit the fan once the oil crisis came about.
The ’73 Mustang was the last redesign of the first generation Mustang, which had gained close to 800 lbs. over the original car released in 1964. Ford had evolved the Mustang from pony car to full on Clydesdale. The Mach 1 trimmed Mustang sat on top of the Ford food chain, and was the last true “muscular” Mustang before the oil crisis hit and we were blessed with the Mustang II (shutters).
Auto World has a new casting hitting the pegs of this very Mach 1 Mustang. They sent us a couple boxes to review and we happily pulled a Medium Copper and a gorgeous Ivy Bronze colored cars. The Medium Copper car features black sport stripes on the doors and hood, and can be found in release 1 of their Vintage Muscle series. The Ivy Bronze Mustang is offset by silver stripes on the doors but a solid green hood. That car is also available in release 1 as the B-side. Naturally, you’re getting a true 1:64 scale model with a diecast body and chassis, rubber tires, and an opening hood, as all Auto World cars should be.
Although this model is the first ’73 Mach 1 from the brand, they have released versions of the Mustang from the 1971 facelift and ’72 years. If numbers are your thing, 14,910 of the ’73 Mach 1 will be issued, with 3% of that run tabbed for the UltraRed chase version. The car’s rear wing is made of plastic and the rear bumpers are painted on, but you’ll find tons of intricately painted details around the rest of the car. Pop the hood to reveal the Ford blue air cleaner sitting on top of the car’s monster V8.
The “Mach 1” name-plate was used sparingly with the Mustang II, but wouldn’t grace a “performance” Mustang until 2003. That New Edge Mustang borrowed more than a few performance parts from its Mustang brothers and has recently become an appreciating modern classic. Ford revived the Mach 1 once again last year, and is once again the top-dog Mustang that isn’t a Shelby. We won’t talk about that “Mach-E” …thing.
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Casthead Admin
02-02-2024
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