Museum-grade Mustang a victim of favouritism

Another bargain we missed was at SWVA’S July online sale in Poole. A time-warp 11,000 miles warranted 1973 Ford Mustang Coupe, bought for – are you sitting down – just £14,500 plus premium. I’m still having stern conversations with myself about why I didn’t spot this treasure before the sale. And it wasn’t the usual personal import shipped later in its life from the US, but ordered in 1973 directly by Bristol Street Motors in Southampton from Ford in America as a brandnew car (you could do that then) and carefully kept by its one and only Dorset-based owner.

This was a proper, unmolested, original paint, unrestored, museum-grade survivor. And instead of the usual slushy C4 automatic gearbox and standard tune V8 it had a special-order tyreburning wide-ratio top-loader fourspeed manual and high-performance 266bhp 5.7-litre Q-code V8.

I know the Seventies Sports Roof Mustangs aren’t everybody’s cup of tea but in its factoryapplied and untouched Golden Glow paint and immaculate, undisturbed Medium Ginger interior (who chose those names back then?) this Mustang was a perfect Seventies time capsule in terms of both condition and the period colour combination. Perhaps the low price illustrates that the UK still struggles to love lhd US classics and lags behind France, Holland and Germany where American cars are much more desirable – and expensive. I know several posh dealers in Holland where a Mustang of

VALUE 2012

£19k

VALUE NOW

£29.5k

this sort of calibre and mileage would be advertised at £40,000. Maybe one day it will.

Have Mini vans and pickups peaked?

They have become rare and I’ve seen prices up to £25k. Is there more to come?

And yes, I have one!

Darryl Brown