1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Mike Mueller
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into the sunset, 1969’s Mach 1 was reinventing Mustang popularity, with production surpassing 72,400. Just so you know, that first-year figure fell about 15,000 short of the GT’s total 1965–1969 tally.
GT: GETTING MUSTANG ROLLING
It was the car’s first birthday, but it was buyers who received the presents. On April 17, 1965, Ford announced two new Mustang options: the snazzy Interior Decor Group, with its galloping-horse seat inserts and simulated walnut paneling, and the GT Equipment Group, a sporty addition that helped put the spurs to Dearborn’s little horse.
The original GT package was only available with one of two optional 289-4V V-8s: the 225-hp Challenger or 271-hp High Performance. It included the existing Special Handling suspension, unassisted front disc brakes, dual exhausts, fog lamps, and a flashy five-dial instrument panel in place of the standard Falcon-style dash.
When five-dial instrumentation became the norm for all Mustangs in 1966, it helped reduce the price for the second-edition GT package. Adding a set of F70-14 Wide Oval tires into the mix pushed the price back up in 1967. Heavy-duty underpinnings carried over, along with front discs (now power-assisted) and those familiar fog lamps. New out back was a pop-open gas cap, adorned with appropriate “GT” lettering. Revised naming also appeared this year, as manual transmission cars wore familiar “GT” identification and automatic-equipped models were given “GTA” fender badges.
The Mustang’s original $165 GT package could be added to all three 1965 models: coupe, convertible, and fastback. Unassisted front disc brakes and dual exhausts with chrome tips were included also.
GT Mustangs represented the flagships of the fleet into 1968 and were offered one final time in 1969. GT fender badges did not appear on the last of the line.
Revised GT identification appeared in 1967, as automatic-transmission models were adorned with “GTA” fender badges. Gas caps, in either stick or auto mode, still read “GT.”
Engine choices doubled in 1967 after the 320-hp 390-ci FE-series big-block was allowed entry between the fenders of Ford’s newly enlarged Mustang. A 200-hp 289-2V joined the list, too, meaning a single exhaust appeared beneath a GT for the first time.
GTA differentiation didn’t return for 1968, nor did standard front discs, which at least were mandatory options when an FE big-block was installed. The remaining standard stuff included a new base engine (a 302-4V small-block) and revised styled-steel wheels. The 14x6 argent-colored rims wore bright trim rings and small center caps sporting red-painted “GT” identification. Trading argent paint for chrome plating was optional.
Ford’s hottest GT yet debuted in April 1968, fitted with the aforementioned 428 Cobra Jet big-block plus a whole host of hot parts (see Chapter 2). Although all regular-production CJ Mustangs were GTs in 1968, the 335-hp option became available for non-GTs as well the following year.
The GT and Mach 1 shared engine lineups in 1969, and the latter also borrowed the former’s new non-functional hood scoop and racing-style hood pins. GT fender badges went missing this year, and those two letters weren’t mated with another Mustang until 1982.
HEADING UP 1969’S HERD
Both Boss Mustangs, 302 and 429, were originally developed by Ford’s performance contractor, Kar-Kraft, in Brighton, Michigan. Kar-Kraft then handled final “Boss-9” production duties, rolling out its first in January 1969, nearly three months ahead of the initial small-block Boss.
Able to operate at a slower, steadier pace than the home factory, Kar-Kraft was better suited to perform various time-consuming modifications to Mach 1 SportsRoofs delivered right off the Dearborn assembly line. Making the transformation from Mach to Boss involved, among other things, widening the engine compartment by 2 inches, relocating the battery to the trunk, and adding reinforced shock towers. On the outside went a large functional hood scoop and fenders clearanced especially to supply operating room for standard F60 Wide Oval rubbers mounted on chromed 15x7 Magnum 500 wheels. Beneath that scoop was the star of the show, the 375-hp “Shotgun motor,” with its aluminum cylinder heads and competition-style oil cooler.
Although the nimble Boss 302 was born to do battle with Chevrolet’s Z/28 Camaro on the Trans-Am road racing circuit, the brutal Boss 429 was created to satisfy NASCAR rules, which stated that any model or engine could compete on its stock car tracks as long as at least 500 regular-production examples were sold to the public. But nowhere was it specified that the pair be built together. Once legalized between Mustang flanks, the Boss 429 V-8 went to work on the NASCAR circuit behind the extended snouts of Fairlane-based Talladegas.
Powering the Boss 302 in 1969 (shown) and 1970 was an exclusive small-block created by combining a modified Windsor block (incorporating four-bolt main bearing caps) with the free-breathing canted-valve cylinder heads then being readied for 1970’s new 351 Cleveland V-8. Output was 290 hp, and a 4-speed stick was included in all cases for both years. (David Newhardt Photo, Courtesy Mecum Auctions)
Ford initially applied the Mach 1 nameplate to a futuristic personal hovercraft, called a “Levacar,” originally displayed at the Rotunda in Dearborn early in 1959. Shown here is Ford Engineering & Research vice president Andrew Kucher, who first proposed using air jets to propel daily transports 30 years earlier. In 1961, the Aluminum Model Toys (AMT) company released a 1/20-scale plastic version. AMT’s model kit even included a blow tube (with mouthpiece) that allowed this little Levacar to ride around on a “cushion of air” just like the real thing. (Photo Courtesy Ford Images)
Following its prototype stage at Kar-Kraft, the Boss 302 was refined at Ford Engineering, where Mat Donner was responsible for its superb chassis, made up of “mostly adjustments” in his words. Fat F60 Wide Ovals on 15x7 Magnum 500s (painted in standard form, chromed optionally) again appeared, as did those requisite wheel arch mods. Hank Lenox supplied an exclusive power source; he assembled a special 302-cube V-8 based on a modified Windsor block fitted with four-bolt main bearings. On top went new canted-valve cylinder heads then being readied for Ford’s upcoming 351 Cleveland small-block, introduced for 1970.
Boss production rolled over into 1970 before changing attitudes at Ford deemed the combo no longer viable in the face of tightening federal standards concerning both automotive safety and emissions. The times, they were a-changin’, too.
MACH 1 LAUNCH
Mach 1 identification first landed on a Blue Oval vehicle 10 years before it began gracing the 1969 SportsRoof. An out-of-this-world concept, to say the least, the Levacar Mach 1 went on display in Ford’s Rotunda in the spring of 1959, leaving witnesses wondering how the heck the darned thing worked. Not one wheel was in sight, yet brochures claimed a possible top end of 500 mph. What was up?
The Levacar was. It was suspended a few inches above the roadway or turf by pressurized