The production and history of the Ford Mustangs have been fascinating to me. As a family we owned a couple of the Mustang Ponies. My nephew bought a used 1964 ½ Mustang Coupe in the late 1960’s and I had a 1965 Coupe. The cars looked identical when sitting alongside of each other but when you looked under the hoods they were real different. The 64 ½ had a V-8 260 engine and my 65 had an inline 6 cylinder engine. Both had 3 speed manual trans. After a couple years the Mustangs became a sleeker looking, more powerful and faster. I liked the changes they were making.

The 1971 Grande had a roof line that I really like and the vinyl top was really a nice accent to the design. This car was originally a two tone beige/tan car with a matching interior. The owner that I bought this car from was creative in its restoration. He dyed the vinyl top a bluish /grape color and painted the exterior to match. The finished product is a great looking car. The car has had an A/C system installed to top off the interior. The car is powered by a 302 V-8 and coupled with an auto transmission.

The Ford Mustang had become somewhat of a mascot for Ford. Ford has always been proud to offer each year model of the Mustangs and has taken its revisions seriously. This was evident in late 1970 when Ford released the 1971 Mustang models. Though 1970 saw a sharp decline in Mustang sales, this did not deter Ford. They were proud of their Mustangs and still are. The 1971 Mustang edition saw a lot of revisions from the previous year, some were received well and a few were not, but the Mustang line was full steam ahead!

1971 is the start of the third edition Mustang. The Mustang model had evolved so much over the past few years that it may seem to some that the 1965 Mustangs and the 1971 Mustangs have little in common stylistically. The 1971 edition came with three new rooflines, including a new ‘flat-back’ option. This meant you could choose from six models and dozens of customizable options. The models were as follows: Mach I, Grande’, Boss 351, Hardtop, Sportsroof and Convertible. Each model was bigger than the previous years, and featured a modified stance for better handling. Ford was clearly making the option available in 1971 of customizing your very own Mustang in every way possible.

The Grande’ luxury edition Mustang featured high back bucket seats, a woodtone high-lighted instrument panel, a mini floor console with a lighted ash tray and the choice of a Cruise-O-Matic shift option which allows a driver to shift automatically or manually. As any grand vehicle would, it came with a plethora of options all aimed at the higher income market. One of the new features available in 1971 was a choice between five different colors for the vinyl top roof as well as Lambeth cloth and vinyl seat trim. Though previous models were focused only on luxury, this model could include a new 429 Cobra Jet Dual Ram Induction engine. Luxury and speed was now at consumers fingertips.