Factory Purple 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Factory Purple 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1

Purple Haze: The performance was outrageous, so why not the color? And what was more outrageous than a purple Mustang? The answer to this story鈥檚 subtitle is a purple Mach 1 with a Drag Pack 428, i.e. a Ram Air Shaker-hood Super Cobra Jet, backed by a four-speed, no less, and a set of 3.91:1 gears in a Traction-Lok differential. But wait; there is no 1969 Mustang code for the color purple. And stamped under COLOR on this car鈥檚 trim tag is the number 5 for black鈥擣ord left trim tags blank for COLOR on special order paint cars. Marcus Anghel (Anghel Restorations, Scottsdale, Arizona) who restored this 1969, explains. 鈥淗ad this 鈥?9 been a regular Mustang, not a Mach 1, the color code would have been left blank for special order paint. How did Anghel document and match the original purple color? The Marti Report revealed special-order paint but did not reveal the color of that special-order paint. A new car buyer in 1969 could specify any Ford fleet color, meaning from Ford color charts of Mercury, Lincoln, and other brands.

This Mach 1 piqued his interest to a high degree and he dove into this restoration with great fervor. Like Bob Perkins, Marcus Anghel is a national MCA judge and is much more than a restorer. He has a high level of enthusiasm for 1969-鈥?0 Mustangs and enjoys researching the particular car he is restoring. Factory procedure is his mantra, from the color-striped suspension to numbers and date code-matching parts throughout. The seller advertised the Mach 1 as originally purple, so there was no surprise or barn find here. The condition was decent and the 428 SCJ engine stamping matched the VIN, but the car needed a complete restoration. Likewise, the Top Loader four-speed and 9-inch rearend checked out as factory original for this chassis. After bouncing around several restoration shops, the car ended up in the very capable hands of Anghel a few years ago. Anghel restored the car like he owned it, even to the extent of taking over the history search. In other words, Anghel has a passion for these cars. Actual ownership became a moot point. At the show in Tucson, MCA attendees were curious since they had never seen a purple Mustang, and this car was in the concours trailered class for original Mustangs, where the color had to be factory. One lady surprised Anghel when she correctly asked if the paint was a Thunderbird color, but like everybody else she was seeing a purple Mustang for the first time. In the case of the purple Mach 1, the color definitely was not popular in 1969. But today, the outrageous color goes right with the outrageous performance. Now, if I could only make up such good lyrics as Burgess.

The weather was virtually unchanged, save for a slight increase in ambient temperature, which was now just over 60 degrees. The DA was up slightly, showing about 200 feet above sea level. I climbed in, selected Drag Mode, turned off traction control and did a quickie burnout. I staged carefully, set the rpm to 2,000, and let 鈥檈r rip. The Mustang got away clean and there wasn鈥檛 a hint of drama. Acceleration was brisk, and the sensation of speed was fantastic. The sensation and sound is so different from any previous Mustang GT, but it鈥檚 welcomed and simply fantastic. The timing system was set up to show incremental times on the board so I saw my 60-foot time, which was 1.881鈥攓uickest of the day. And if the cooldown gave us a few extra horsepower, we鈥檇 run our best elapsed time. The GT pulled hard, pouring on the power, spinning to redline, shifting and repeating again and again.

Nearing the stripe, the Mustang clicked into sixth, the revs climbed and we crossed the finish line in 11.835 seconds at a tick under 120 mph (119.51 to be exact). We鈥檇 done it, another best pass, and while elated, we wanted more. We started thinking, what could we do with drag radials, someone get us a cold air kit and a tune, what if we had a 3.73 geat? Well, those things will have to wait until another day, but the fact remained, the 2018 Mustang GT is a legit 11-second pony right from the showroom. Our takeaway is that overall Ford鈥檚 Mustang is simply amazing. You can option one to suit virtually any needs, from brawling at the strip, to corner carving, or commuting to work. You can stick with a stick, or have ten speeds with the auto. The 2018 Mustang gives you performance, safety, comfort and convenience. Of course, hardcore Mustang enthusiasts will key in on the performance and now they have the ammo to battle in the 50-year Mustang vs Camaro war.