Ford Mustang 1973 Convertible

By 1973, Ford already knew the Mustang convertible was finished — regulations and buyer trends were closing in, and no drop-top Mustang would follow until 1983. Buyers reacted the way buyers do when they hear something is ending: convertible sales nearly doubled. This Blue Glow example with a white interior, power everything and its original 302 shows exactly what the last one looked like. Read on to find out why the 1973 cars deserve more respect than they get.

There is a particular energy around the last example of anything, and in the fall of 1972 Ford dealers had it in the showroom. Word had gotten out that the convertible was finished — that safety regulations, changing buyer preferences and the coming redesign meant this was the end of open-air Mustang motoring, at least for the foreseeable future. Buyers responded exactly the way people respond to a closing window. Convertible orders nearly doubled over the previous year, which is an unusual thing to happen to a body style in its terminal season. What nobody in that showroom knew was how long the gap would actually turn out to be, or how completely the car that replaced this one would fail to fill it.

A Ten-Year Gap Nobody Saw Coming

The answer was ten years. Ford would not build another Mustang convertible until 1983, when the Fox-body car finally got a factory drop-top again. In between sat the Mustang II, a fundamentally different vehicle built on Pinto underpinnings, offered exclusively as a coupe or hatchback, and available at launch without any V8 at all. For a decade the only way to drive a Mustang with the roof down was to own one of these. That context is why the 1973 convertible has a significance the market took a long time to acknowledge — it closed a chapter that stayed closed longer than anyone expected.

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The Bumper That Reshaped the Front End

The most visible change for 1973 was federal. New regulations required front bumpers capable of surviving a five-mile-per-hour impact, and Ford’s solution was a body-color urethane-covered bumper on substantial reinforcement, integrated into a revised front-end treatment with a new grille and vertical parking lamps relocated into the grille opening. It works better than most manufacturers’ answers to the same rule — the sloped, color-keyed treatment is far more graceful than the chrome battering rams that appeared on plenty of 1973 competitors — but it did add mass and length to a car that had already grown considerably.

How a 1965 Mustang Turned Into This

That growth is the real story of the first-generation Mustang. The 1965 original was a compact, light, tidily proportioned car. Eight model years later it had gained several hundred pounds, stretched substantially in every dimension, and moved decisively upmarket in weight and equipment. The 1971 through 1973 cars are the largest first-generation Mustangs by a wide margin, and they take a lot of criticism for it. Viewed on their own terms rather than against the 1965 car, though, they are handsome, comfortable and considerably more capable as long-distance vehicles than the early cars ever were.

The 302 Was the Sensible Choice by 1973

Engine choices for 1973 ran from the 250 cubic inch inline-six through the 302 two-barrel to the 351 Cleveland in two-barrel and four-barrel forms. The 302 in this car was the volume V8 and, by 1973, the sensible pick. Net-rated output was modest by the standards of four years earlier, but the small-block Windsor is light, durable, endlessly serviceable and supported by the deepest aftermarket of any American V8. A few modifications on an original 302 — which is what this car carries — is exactly the configuration most owners end up wanting: authentic where it counts, improved where it helps.

Blue Glow, White Interior, and Every Power Option

The specification on this example is the good one. Blue Glow paint over a white interior is a period-correct combination that photographs beautifully and was genuinely popular in 1973, and the option list covers essentially everything a buyer could add: air conditioning, power front disc brakes, power steering, power windows and a power-operated white convertible top. That last group matters more than it sounds. Power windows on an early-seventies Ford were an expensive box to tick, and cars that left the factory loaded tend to be the ones that were cared for, because they were bought by people who could afford to care for them.

What Came Next Made This Car Look Great

What came next did this generation a considerable favor in retrospect. The Mustang II sold in strong numbers during the fuel crisis and served its commercial purpose, but it left the enthusiast community without a proper V8 Mustang for years and permanently changed how the 1971 through 1973 cars are perceived. Against the Mustang II, the 1973 convertible is unambiguously the more desirable object — a real V8, a real convertible, real presence and a shape that still reads as a Mustang from any angle.

Values Have Quietly Been Moving

The market has been slowly correcting for this. For decades the 1971 through 1973 cars were the cheapest way into first-generation Mustang ownership, valued well below the 1965 to 1970 cars and treated as the awkward years. Convertibles have led the recovery, and 1973 convertibles in particular, because the last-year status combined with a production run of fewer than twelve thousand units gives them a genuine scarcity argument that the coupes lack. Values have moved without ever reaching a level that feels speculative.

The Case for Buying the Unfashionable Year

Which is the practical case for buying the unfashionable year. A 1973 Mustang convertible offers a documented final-year model, a complete first-generation V8 driving experience, excellent parts availability, and a purchase price still well short of what a comparable 1966 or 1967 convertible commands. It is roomier, rides better and is easier to live with over distance than the early cars. The only thing it lacks is the consensus approval that follows the 1965 through 1968 models everywhere — and consensus approval has never been the same thing as being right.

What to Inspect Before You Commit

The inspection list on a 1971 through 1973 Mustang convertible is specific. Start underneath at the torque boxes and the front frame rails, then work through the floor pans, the cowl area beneath the windshield and the rear quarters ahead of the wheel openings. Convertibles carry additional structural reinforcement, and repairs in those areas are involved and expensive. The convertible top mechanism, particularly a power unit, should be cycled several times to confirm the pump, the cylinders and the frame still work together properly. Verify that the 302 in the car is the one it left the factory with if originality matters to the price you are paying. Everything else mechanically is a well-supported Ford small-block with parts available from any supplier in the country. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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