I Was Told This Was A Famous NASCAR Driver’s Old Mustang: Cold Start

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Remember yesterday, when I told you I was going to that big Mustang thing, so we should look at Big Mustangs? Well, that big event happened, and you’ll see some piping hot content about that soon, but also I realized that tiny dream and did encounter some of those Big Horse Mustangs I was going on and on about yesterday morning. I figured today I’d show one to you, because it has an interesting sort of feel to it, and I’m told it was once owned by a famous ex-NASCAR driver. Let’s look at this elegant alabaster beast!

This is a 1973 Mustang, firmly within that “Big Horse” era of Mustangs, when they grew so very large and massive. But there’s something about this one, which has been beautifully restored, something that makes this car feel oddly ethereal? Maybe that’s not the right word. But I think because of the white-on-white color scheme, with that white vinyl half top and those acres of shiny white sheet metal, the car takes on a weird and oddly appealing pious quality?

It kind of feels like a different sort of Popemobile, if, say, the Pope was really committed to doing donuts in the parking lot of the Dairy Queen on the Vatican’s premises.

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I mean, look at this thing; that white vinyl top definitely has a religious vestments sort of feeling, and it’s even got flying buttresses, for St.Francis’ sake.

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I’ve never been that interested in this era of Mustang until this week, I think. Well, my wife always liked the Mach Is of this era, so I had thought about them before in that context, but I sort of feel like I’m seeing them anew now.

The taillight design is interesting; the designers knew that the three-segment thing was somehow part of the Mustang identity, but this almost mothy/butterfly sort of take on it is, I think, unexpected? There’s a peculiar delicacy to the shapes, a biomorphism, that I wouldn’t expect. It’s the same with the badging, too:

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Look at that lovely, slightly angular script! This feels almost like classic signpainter lettering, with the bold vertical strokes and the more delicate diagonal connecting lines. I love it. I also cannot imagine a modern Mustang having badging like this today; I feel like for muscle-type cars now, the badge’s typography has to look like it was punched out of solid pumice by a bloody fist. This typography is more likely to invite you to an art opening than yell at you for being such a candy-ass.

Oh, you probably want to know who the ex-NASCAR driver was who owned this car, once! I was told it was NASCAR hall of famer Rusty Wallace, and I assume that first name is short for “Rustford” or perhaps “Rustworthington.”

Want to see Rusty’s acceptance speech into the Hall of Fame? Sure you do:

Another interesting note about this Mustang:

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It’s one of the few cars I can think of that had mismatched bumpers, front to rear, from the factory. Out rear you saw a pretty conventional chrome bumper with black rubber impact strips; up front we have a body-colored Endura bumper! I guess this car is so long the designers figured you’d forget what the front bumper looked like by the time you got to the rear.

Man what a beefy, angelic Mustang!

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Mercedes Streeter

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28 thoughts on “I Was Told This Was A Famous NASCAR Driver’s Old Mustang: Cold Start”

  1. I had a 73 Grande’ with 351-4V Q-code. It had every option but power windows. With FMX auto and a 2.75 rear end it was not quick off the line but pulled like a rocket at highway speeds. If one has never sat in one, it felt like driving a torpedo with that long hood. I truly loved it.

    1. I was thinking it would be a great Mustang for Aziraphale – if it were a Grande.

      What’s odd is selecting a white vinyl top (not a half-top – it’s a full “halo” top) on a white car that isn’t a Grande.

      1. Never heard of this character before, but I saw an old lady in NYC who was dressed just like that, under the impression she was color-coded, wearing all white.

        1. Aziraphale is a character in the Book of Genesis. He’s the angel of the flaming sword who guarded the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve were cast out.
          He’s played in “Good Omens” by Michael Sheen

          We often saw Sharon Stone when she lived in San Francisco during the 90’s dressed similarly.

  4. The mismatched bumpers are particular to ’73s – The bumper had to get bigger to meet the new 5mph impact standard, but the rear, which only had to meet a 2.5mph standard, got by with being spaced out a little bit on energy-absorbing mounts. ’71-’72 Mustangs had the same style bumper on the front as on the rear, either chrome or painted depending on trim level (rear was always chrome.) Challengers and Cudas also sometimes got painted front / chrome rear. Jason will also, of course, remember the ’73 Corvette, with its Endura nose and chrome-bumper rear.

    2. Yup, makes it easy to spot a ’73 model car whereas 74-76 are harder to differentiate. Something which occasionally makes me hit pause while watching Rockford Files.

  5. Mismatched bumpers are fairly common on older base model pickups: for a long time, if you really cheaped out ordering a Ford, it would get a gray plastic grille instead of chrome, and often the front bumper would be a matching gray while the rear bumper was still chrome.

    Either that, or they would put a chrome front bumper that just didn’t match the gray grille. Looks pretty goofy either way.

  6. Whenever I see one of these “clydsdale” Mustangs, I always think of the start of the Top Gear Argentina special, where Hammond explains that they wanted the Mustang to be bigger, so they just made it bigger, and then he opens the hood to reveal a huge gap of nothingness between the grill and the core support.

  7. I think these 71-73 “fat” Mustangs are misunderstood. While they did lose some handling prowess, it’s not like old Mustangs were ever great handlers. Making them so large was just a part of where the whole industry was going in 1970.
    THIS one is a total looker, and I love the “pontif” options.

  8. Man,Jason, you’ve really been working on my emotions and nostalgia with these. Picked up an emerald green with white top 72 convertible with strait 6 when I was 22 back in 86 and kept it for ten years, then got a bronze 73 Grande with 351C. They still stir me, but not enough to justify current values.

  9. Look for a pencil with bite marks in the glovebox, then trick Rusty into biting your arm to see if they match. It’s the only way to know for sure.

    1. I’ve never understood how the value of something is enhanced by a previous owner on the list, or even why that would bear mention. I mean, except possibly for famous race cars, who cares?

      1. The present owner of a 1993 Bronco XLT owned by Al Cowlings is asking $1.5 million for the vehicle. That doesn’t answer your implied question, but it’s a data point.

  11. I just like that nobody cared about panel alignment, during the restoration process, especially visible between hood and front fender, but the trunk lid’s also a bit off.

    2. They were shit when new – limited by the manufacturing processes and technology of the time. It does bug me when I see high dollar restorations with bad surfacing and unaligned panels (all of them) because it’s the sort of thing a designer spots right away.

  14. “It’s one of the few cars I can think of that had mismatched bumpers, front to rear, from the factory.“

    As was the style at the time…

    The same year Corvette had similar mismatched bumpers. I think it fits better on the Corvette though, since the bumper is more integrated into the front end.

    1. Pretty much every American car in 1973 had tight 2.5mph bumpers at the rear, and large 5mph bumpers at the front.

      The ones with the body-color front bumpers were

      Chevrolet Chevelle Laguna & Corvette
      Pontiac GrandAm & Firebird
      Ford Mustang
      Dodge Challenger Rallye

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