The 1971 Mustang Mach 1When the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 made it's debut, it left no doubt that Ford was still in the muscle car business. Exterior StylingIt's continuation of the new styling inside and out, made the car look bigger, which it was, but it also looked fast.Part of the new design, was a product of government safety mandates, while the other was coming up with an engine compartment big enough to shoe horn in the Big 429 cubic inch Cobrajet engine, an new and completely different powerplant, from the previous year's Boss 429 engine. Add in the classic fastback styling, high beltline and long hood and you could spot it's heritage a block away. To further enhance the look, the hood was decorated in matte black and featured two individual ducts, to bring fresh air into the motor. Like previous versions, a special stripe package with an inverted hockey stick body stripe and the words Mach 1 displayed behind the front wheel arches. The new front design featured a color keyed urethane bumper, sports lamps in the grille and a textured black front chin spoiler. Interior StylingAlong with the completely new body, came a brand new interior. Not to be confused with the plain jane Ford Mustang, the 1971 Mustang Mach 1 featured some distinctive interior additions for their lucky owners to enjoy.Like the 1970 Mach 1, the new car had it's own special high back buckets, with distinctive styling and familiar comfort weave panels. The dash featured big round gauge pods, with a tachometer on one side and speedometer on the other. Engine and TransmissionThere was a wide variety of 1971 Mustang Mach 1 specs, depending on your desires and the size of your wallet.The base engine was a 302 cubic inch (5.0 liter) V8 with a 2 barrel carburetor. And with all that extra real estate under the hood, there was still room for the 370 horsepower big block 429 cubic inch Cobrajet and the even more powerful 375 horsepower Super Cobrajet V8. One of the highlights of the year, was an incredible car chase in an around the Las Vegas strip seen in the James Bond feature "Diamonds are Forever", with Bond thrashing Tiffany Case's (Jill St.John) red 1971 Mach l, which was an early 429 Cobrajet car, with a C6 automatic. Early cars were distinguished by the lack of the inverted hockey stick stripe seen on later cars. |
