Car Of The Week: 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 428 CJ

Car Of The Week: 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1 428 CJ

Kelly Graefe had plenty of good reasons to hang onto his 1970 Mach 1 Mustang. It was a really nice car, he had owned it less than two years, and he wasn鈥檛 dying to get rid of it. But when he got a chance to trade up from his 351 Windsor-equipped 鈥楽tang to a growling 428 Cobra Jet beast, he only needed the slightest of nudges. 鈥淢y wife said we deserve it, and that was all the encouragement I needed! 鈥?laughed the resident of Wausau, Wis. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 that much! 鈥淚 liked my other one, but this one became available and, hey, a big-block is a big-block! So Graefe made the swap of Mustangs at Kuyoth鈥檚 Klassics, a collector car dealer and restorer in tiny Stratford, Wis., and he hasn鈥檛 looked back. The bright orange 鈥?officially called Calypso Corral on the Ford paint code charts 鈥?428 Cobra Jet Mach 1 travels loud and proud wherever it goes with the Graefes in the front seat. In Mustang enthusiast circles, the 428 CJ/SCJ Mustang is also known for grabbing the Stock Eliminator title at the 1970 National Hot Rod Association鈥檚 (NHRA) Winternationals.

This was the race of the year for high-performance buffs and the Mustang was the monarch that season. The 1970 Mustang had some distinctions to set it apart from the 1969 edition. The biggest change was a return to single headlights up front. The new headlights were located inside a larger new grille opening. Simulated air intakes were seen where the outboard headlights were on the 1969 Mustang models. The 1970 rear end appearance was also slightly restyled. Standard equipment in the 1970 Mustang included wall-to-wall carpeting, bucket seats, belted bias-ply tires, a locking steering column, a full synchronized manual transmission, a sporty floor-mounted gear shift lever and a rear deck lid spoiler on SportsRoof models. Among the many muscle car options were power front disc brakes, a functional hood scoop, louvered sport slats for the rear window (which were very popular at the time), a Hurst shifter, a tachometer and a Drag Pack racing package. In addition to the base sport coupe (two-door hardtop) and convertible, Mustangs came as the hot Mach 1 fastback, the luxurious Grande hardtop and the race-bred Boss 302 fastback.

While the pre-packaged Boss models were the hit of the enthusiast magazines that season, the CJ 428 and SCJ 428 engines were both back. 311 over the price of its standard 351-cid V-8. 421 extra in other models. 222) was required with both of the Cobra Jet engines. In addition, on base Mustangs F70-14 whitewall tires were required over E78-14 black sidewall tires when either of these engines was ordered. On Mach 1s, Boss models and convertibles, E70-14 whitewalls were required. The 1970 Mach 1 featured the new year鈥檚 front end styling and had its taillights recessed in a flat panel with honeycomb trim between them. Ribbed aluminum rocker panel moldings with big Mach 1 call-outs and a cleaner upper rear quarter treatment without simulated air scoops at the end of the main feature line were seen. A black-striped hood with a standard fake scoop replaced the completely matte-black hood. New twist-in hood pins held the hood down. You could also get a shaker hood scoop on Mach 1鈥檚 with the standard 351-cid V-8.

A redesigned steering wheel was the big interior change. A larger rear stripe, larger rear call-out, mag-type hubcaps, wide 14 x 7-inch wheels and bright oval exhaust tips were also new. Black-painted styled wheels were a no-cost option. Motor Trend tested a 1970 Mustang Mach 1 with the 351-cid four-barrel V-8. It had a 4.002 x 3.50-inch bore and stroke. With an 11.0:1 compression ratio it developed 300 hp at 5400 rpm and 380 lbs.-ft. 3400 rpm. With automatic transmission and a 3.00:1 axle the car turned 0-to-60 mph in 8.2 seconds and did the quarter-mile in 16 seconds at 86.2 mph. With new competition from the Dodge Challenger, plus totally redesigned Barracudas, Camaros, and Firebirds, the Mustang lost around 100,000 sales in 1970. A total of 190,727 1970 Mustangs were built. Ford ceased its official racing activities late in the 1970 calendar year. Before getting out of racing, Ford captured the 1970 Trans-Am title with the Mustang. Graefe doesn鈥檛 know the complete life story of his orange Mach 1, but he did get a little surprise about its past when he acquired the title.

Southern California, and that鈥檚 where it came from. I thought it been somewhere in the Southwest all along, but when I got he title it was originally titled in Canada. I don鈥檛 know how much time it spent up there, hopefully not too much. It鈥檚 always a new experience when you send in for the title and you can see where it鈥檚 been. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still kind of a mystery. 鈥?I鈥檓 thinking it was restored a few years before that, so I鈥檓 guessing it was restored eight to 10 years ago. Graefe鈥檚 car is outfitted with the 428 four-barrel rated by Ford at 335 hp. 376 upgrade and one of the few options that the original owner checked when the car was built. 鈥淚t鈥檚 got an automatic and no air conditioning. It鈥檚 basically your 428 with nothing too special really. It didn鈥檛 have power steering when I first got it, and I think that was on it originally so I put the power steering on it. Other than that it鈥檚 pretty much stock, which is what I was looking for to begin with.