When it comes to old Mustangs, there can be little doubt that everyone knows the hardtop was the most popular body style of the three that were available. However, have you ever compared the production numbers of the hardtop and fastback? Our Pick of the Day shows that the gap between the two began to get small by the end of the decade. This 1969 Ford Mustang hardtop is listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a dealership in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Glancing at Ford Mustang numbers in the 1960s, you’ll notice that hardtop production dwarfed fastback production. Take 1967 as an example: Ford built 356,324 hardtops but only 71,062 fastbacks. The following model year, 249,448 hardtops were built, compared to 42,579 fastbacks. However, with the redesigned 1969 Mustang, things changed — the fastback came very close to hardtop production. Now christened SportsRoof, 134,440 were built, which is surprisingly close to the 150,637 hardtops built. What changed?
The introduction of the Mach I SportsRoof. Along with the mid-size, Fairlane-based Cobra, the Mach I was Ford’s “image car” for the performance set. While the standard engine was a 351 two-barrel — hardly a performance engine — it was the image that sold the Mach I to the masses that were clamoring for bright colors, stripes, and other go-fast flaunts. Mach Is accounted for 72,458 units of SportsRoof production, effectively being the most popular incarnation of the SportsRoof (the GT package also continued to be available, though only 4,084 GT SportsRoofs were built).
Engine options bring imbalance to the equation. It would be logical to assume that the most popular body style would also find peak popularity of all available engines, but that would not necessarily be true. The reason for that is dependent on the image of the body style: the sportiest body style would logically have a greater percentage (if not number) of high-performance engine installations. That was true for earlier years, and it continued to be true for the 1969 Mustang SportsRoof. Add the Mach I to the mix and you would be correct in assuming that most high-performance engines were installed in that model, especially compared to base SportsRoofs.
However, a smart drag racer would gravitate towards the hardtop. Historically, it has been the cheapest Mustang (though by the spring of 1969 they were equal), and it most certainly has been the lightest, with the SportsRoof weighing 24 pounds more (add another 156 pounds for the Mach I, believe it or not). We like to think racers dominated the scene, but the truth is that most people preferred image over anything else.
Hence, it’s also easy to assume that the person who originally ordered this Royal Maroon 1969 Ford Mustang hardtop wanted to go drag racing, but check out its option list and you instead may wish to be forgiven. Under the hood is the 428 Cobra Jet engine, which was a hauler that (finally) changed Ford’s reputation on the street. There were two version of this engine: the “Q-code” without ram air and the “R-code” with a functional Shaker hood scoop, with this particular car being the former but now featuring a retrofitted Shaker (a nice update). However, check out the gears: 3.00 standard, which was due to the original owner opting for air conditioning. Given this car was originally ordered near Pasadena, it makes sense. A top-end machine for heading to Joshua Tree? Perhaps. Other features include C6 Cruise-O-Matic transmission with console, Competition Suspension (very rare on a hardtop), power steering and front disc brakes, AM radio, tinted windows, Deluxe seat belts, and vinyl top.
Ford built an impressive 13,261 Mustangs with the 428 Cobra Jet in 1969. Of those, 243 were hardtops, with 68 being Q-code cars. Thirty-four of those were automatics (the reason you see 62 in the Marti Report is because that also includes the luxurious Grande). For $97,999, you get rarity and top-end speed rarely seen together in a muscle car.
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