A while back, jpcavanaugh told us about a Ford product that didn’t get any respect. Here’s another one: The “fat” 1971-73 Mustang. And while the Boss 351 and Mach 1 fastbacks may get a little love, the flying-buttress hardtop, in Grandé trim no less, may well be at the bottom of a Mustang lover’s list. To appreciate these Brougham Mustangs, you have to view them not as hot-blooded tarmac terrors, but instead as junior Thunderbirds.
The Mustang: All things to all people, or almost. From the first, it could be equipped as anything from a plain-Jane secretary sportster to a thoroughbred V8 sprinter, and it branched out even further throughout the ’60s. The 1967-68s got a bigger engine bay to accommodate big-block power; then, in 1969, the Mustang grew longer and added a Brougham model, the Grandé. And while all 1969 Mustangs appeared, well, grande, they were in fact only 3.8 inches longer than the ’68 models and rode the same 108″ wheelbase.
In a sense, the Grandé was the Mustang aping the Cougar for a change. Instead of flashing scoops, spoilers and stripes, the Grandé was rather elegant, with its subtle metallic colors, notchback roofline, vinyl roof, full wheel covers and suitably plush interior. The Grandé was priced about $200 above the plain Mustang hardtop.
Poor Mercury: Always living in the shadow of more salable Fords, and now that they did come up with a winning formula, the Mustang cheerfully copies it! Is it just me, or does the ’69 Grandé look like a knockoff of the Cougar, right down to the plush seats, roof line and chrome trim? Yes, I know they were corporate cousins, but maybe FoMoCo could have let the Cougar keep the Brougham pony car market to itself. Throw Mercury a frickin’ bone!
OK, sorry about that, but Mercury’s slide into irrelevance still chafes. Back on topic: The ’69 Grandé sold 22,182 copies, not bad for a first-year model. And just as the 1965 LTD was a simple re-trim of the more common Galaxie 500, I’m sure Ford made good money on every one. So naturally, the Grandé returned for ’70. Despite a new vinyl canopy-roof option, sales nosedived to 13,581. Perhaps that was due to the availability of more tantalizing Mustangs like the Boss 302 (my favorite Mustang), Boss 429 and Mach 1. Nineteen seventy was the last really big year for muscle, so maybe Mustang buyers wanted one last taste of it before the pony’s slide into Broughamified personal luxury.
Things changed drastically for ’71, at least appearance-wise. The “classic” Mustang look had been replaced with a billiard table-size hood, sheer, scoopless sides, and “flying buttress” C-pillars on the hardtop. Yes, the ’71s were longer, lower and wider than any previous Mustang, but as with the ’69 model, the look was in large part an optical illusion; versus their predecessors, they had a wheelbase only one inch longer, and sported a mere 1/10th-inch more in overall length.
Here’s an interior shot from the brochure. At least in this case, Ford was now pitching the Grandé as a “Ford Cougar,” or even a more affordable Thunderbird. Note the particularly campy ad copy. I’d never before seen the term “sparkles like champagne” used to describe a brown interior. Oh, those wacky ’70s Ford marketeers…
As expected, the hardtop, fastback and convertible all returned for ’71. Sadly, the legendary Boss 302 and Boss 429 had been dropped, although a new Boss 351 fastback offered partial compensation. In terms of power, everything from a 145-hp, 250 cu in six to a Ram Air, Super Cobra Jet 429 with 375 oh-so-understated horses was available. Six-cylinder Grandés started at $3,117, and V8s at $3,212.
While most of the V8s probably were the “cooking” 210-hp 302, theoretically a buyer could have ordered up the 285-hp, four-barrel Cleveland 351, the 370-hp CJ 429, or even the 375-hp SCJ with Ram Air. I recall seeing an SCJ-equipped Grandé in a recent issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines, but I believe it was a 1969 or ’70. Still, a handful of ’71 Grandés may have gotten out the door with this configuration. Our featured Calypso Coral Grandé most likely has either a 240-hp two-barrel 302 or 351 underhood.
You’d think Ford would have consulted a Spanish-to-English dictionary before bestowing “Grandé” nomenclature on these plush mini-T-Birds; in Spanish, “Grandé” means “large”, not “great” or “grand.” How deliciously ironic.
Here we see the flying-buttress C-pillars and recessed backlight. Since ex-GM executive Bunkie Knudsen arrived at FoMoCo as the ’71 Mustang was being pinned down, I think it’s a safe bet that he remembered the similar treatment used on the ’66-’67 GM A-body hardtop coupes. Bunkie’s mark can also be seen on the GM-ified 1970-71 Thunderbird and 1972-76 Continental Mark IV.
As you can see, the interior was just as orange–excuse me, Calypso Coral–as the exterior. Although this is a snooty Grandé, it still shares a plain ol’ two-spoke Ford steering wheel with Galaxies, Pintos and F-100 pickups. The optional three-spoke, rim-blow steering wheel was much cooler looking.
And here’s the back seat. The upholstery is just as plush, but that vacu-formed armrest/quarter panel looks decidedly non-Grandé.
Automatic, tape player, sport mirrors…but no power windows? And although it looks cool, I’m not sure why the clock was placed so far out of the driver’s line of sight. I can just picture it: “Hey Bob, what time is it?” “Well, it’s quarter to….AAAUGH! (CRASH). Not exactly a Ford Better Idea, eh?
Clock of doom notwithstanding, I was drawn to the orange and black interior…now this I like! No wimpy, apologetic gray or beige interior here. And how very appropriate, since today is Halloween. But is this Grandé a trick or a treat?
Well, keep in mind the Muscle Car Fallacy, to wit: Many, nay, most pony cars in the ’60s and early ’70s were not hot rods. Sure, high-test variants were available, but they were certainly in the minority. Most Chevelles were not SS396s, most Camaros were not Z/28s, and most Mustangs were not GTs, Boss 302s or Boss 429s. Thanks to well-off Boomers and a surfeit of repro parts, Sadie the Secretary’s powder-blue 250-cube six-cylinder Mustang is today a bright red SCJ Mustang. Taken in its proper 1965-71 context, the Grandé was not all that unusual. And besides, what’s wrong with a little comfort?
With that in mind, the Grande was actually a nice, plush boulevardier; broughamy, but sporty too. No, it wasn’t a classic ’65 Mustang, but still was a perfectly nice car in early ’70s America. To my eyes, this Mustang has some style–and clearly remains a Mustang with the characteristic long hood and short deck. The lines are clean and trim, at least when compared with the gun-slit windowed, used-bar-of-soap mid-sizers on the road today. I’m not ashamed to say that I like it.
Grandés received all the usual Mustang features, plus bright pedal pads, Deluxe cloth-and-vinyl, high-back buckets, Deluxe instrument panel and steering wheel, electric clock, special door panels with integral door pulls and armrests, dual paint accent stripes, color-keyed sport mirrors, bright rocker and wheel lip moldings, vinyl roof and more. In addition to the previously mentioned range of available V8s, options included Cruise-O-Matic transmission, power front disc/rear drum brakes, power steering, power windows (although only 1.9% of Mustangs got ’em) and a rear window defogger.
I found our featured Grandé sitting at a used car lot about 10 minutes before I spotted the Euclid dump truck. Most of the cars were the expected late ’90s/early ’00s fare, but this one stood out despite its slightly down-at-the-heels appearance and one flat shoe. Of course, I had to investigate.
I really liked the orange/white/black color combination, and the slotted mags and whitewalls just looked right. I have no idea what they were asking for it (or if it even runs), but this car has style–a trait sorely lacking in most of today’s cars. Why can’t we at least get bright interior and exterior colors on 2012 models? Yes, I know certain sporty models come with them, but what if I want a 2013 Impala or Camry sedan in red with a red leather interior?
Annual Grandé sales for the 1971-73 period were 17,406, 18,045 and 25,274, respectively, a telling sign of the advancement of the Great Brougham Epoch. And while both the Grandé and the zaftig Mustang would go away after ’73, the Brougham Mustang would carry on in Bristol fashion through the early Fox-body years, albeit as a Ghia, not a Grandé.
The Grandé, like all the other Mustangs, got a minor facelift for ’73, as vertical parking lights moved up into the grille and a body-colored bumper replaced the previous chromed version. As you can see in this vintage ad, Ford was now trumpeting comfort and handling, not quarter-mile drama; rising insurance costs had seen to that. After ’73, the Grandé and the convertible were dropped; eventually, the convertible would return, but the Grandé would not.
Yes, the Grandé was a kind of odd offshoot of the classic pony car, but one that would look pretty good to Mustang fanciers once they got a gander at what Ford was passing off as a 1974 Mustang: The Super Pinto, AKA Mustang II! The Brougham Mustang was now the Brougham Pinto, at least in Ghia notchback form. But that’s another CC for another time.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
I LOVED my 73 Blue on blue Grande’! Mine had everything but power windows. It had the top power option 351Q 4V. It felt like driving a torpedo from the drivers seat. It had the FMX with Traction Loc 2.75 rear end so it was a great freeway cruiser…..it shifted 2-3 WOT at almost 90.
..the flying-buttress hardtop, in Grandé trim no less, may well be at the bottom of a Mustang lover’s list.
Got that right. I liked the original gen Mustang, and the 69. This 71-73 generation was all over campus in the mid 70s. Didn’t like them then, either. Too bloated.
Ford really screwed the pooch with the French curves they threw onto the Grandé flying buttresses. They work on the Cougar due to that ponycar’s more pronounced overall rounded styling. But on the Mustang more edgy lines, they just don’t fit.
And all they would have had to do is just make the tops of the buttresses straight edges as on the 1968-70 Dodge Charger. Maybe someone can photoshop it to show the difference it would have made.
On a side note, that may be the first time I’ve seen a canopy vinyl roof on a 1970 Mustang. That surely can’t have been an option for very long. It’s typically Mopar products like the A-body and B-body coupes where that was used. IIRC, Chrysler used to include the canopy roof with their ‘spring special’ option packages.
My immediate reaction is that this is Ford’s version of the Firebird Esprit, which doesn’t get anywhere near as much hate. Ford must have sold enough of these to justify the Ghia trim on the Mustang II and early Fox body cars because the market wanted it.
I have no interest in this generation or the Mustang II because I was an 80s teen and that was the Fox body era
“…at what Ford was passing off as a 1974 Mustang: The Super Pinto, AKA Mustang II”. You could say that about the ’65 Mustang as well: The Super Falcon.
You could say that about the ’65 Mustang as well: The Super Falcon.
Absolutely, a Falcon with styling. Using the Falcon platform made it affordable. Affordability produced record setting first year sales volume, and changed the face of the US car market for a decade. Now, many participants in the industry only care about inflating the price and profit margin, per car, and don’t care about volume. These days, the Mustang’s styling is getting as overwrought as it was in 71-73, and “affordability” is a distant memory. Farley brags about making Ford “the Porsche of off-road”, and there is chatter the rumored “off-road Mustang” will sticker for $110,000. But will it have an impact on the industry like the tarted up Falcon had 60 years ago?
The “70-73”, era stangs were just too big for the small amt of space (interior-trunk) that was offered.
The ’71-73’s’ as I recall were fast rusters as well.
One of the “h/s”, English teachers had a green one I recall.Not sure what year exactly. likely “72-3”.
Would a been around “78-9”.
The ’71 -’73 Mustangs have grown on me over time. The coupe roof gives much better rearward vision than the fastback, along with more headroom for occasional back seat passengers. It looks bigger in pictures, but parked next to a modern car, or even an early 2000’s Mustang, it looks quite petite.
I think that there was still a place for a luxury Mustang. It could have had a more ride oriented suspension, more sound deadening, (especially more sound deadening!)and an appropriate plush interior.
My ’06 has every luxury option that you could want, even leather, so it’s pretty much a PLC. A smoother quieter ride would make it perfect.
I do like these Mustangs. The 73 was one of the first cars I ever drove. Zero room in the back seat however. We had to try to fit three adults back there for a ninety minute drive. Yikes.
Didn’t you like them?
Ah the Mustang. Could be so much for so many.
And that philosophy carried right along into the Fox body, where my involvement came in. Mrs Chip had a brand new 1979 Mustang with the 3.3 engine. But by 1982, the HVAC system needed an overhaul and my father in law did not belive in car repairs- which is why he’s pretty much penniless today.
So he convinced her to go into debt for an 83 Mustang with the then new Essex (Essux if you ask me) V6. When we got married in December of 1984 that car had something like 8000 miles on it. We would drive it for about another year and half when the engine began to overheat. We took it to Ford who told us the the overheating issue had lead to the transmissions demise. Because it had lower mileage, Ford would cover parts and us labor. We were good with that until the service manager admitted that they couldn’t find the source of the overheating and thus a new transmission would suffer failure.
I’d had all I wanted, so we looked at 86 Mustangs. I wasn’t having another V6 so I looked at LX V8 with an automatic transmission so she could drive it. Nope. Dealer had all manuals. So we selected a 4 cylinder. Slow with the automatic, it was a fairly decent car, and even better, we leased it for $170 monthly on a 48 month-72,000 mile lease!
So while the marketing really opened up the spectrum, I’m all out of love for the Mustang!