Odd Ford Mustang Mach 1 restomod crops up on sale

The art of automotive restoration and modernization is subject to a sense of proportion: cars that are overly stylized or otherwise overdone tend to sell worse than tastefully restored examples. We can imagine plenty of love and care going into this 1970 Mustang Mach 1, but the result is nothing short of gaudy.

You don’t need to look inside to identify this particular pony as a restomod. Most of the bodywork was changed, the rear air intakes became larger and a non-functional air scoop appeared on the “hood” at the front end. The whole car was repainted in a controversial combination of lime green and grey, and the exhaust pipes were rerouted to the sides. Do they look like they belong there? We don’t think so.

The interior is perhaps even more controversial. Grey leather and artificial suede give off a nasty greasy sheen, and the haphazard green accents don’t help at all. Minor kinks and dents are seen all around, and a Pioneer head unit is about the only bit of modern equipment on board.

That is, unless you peek under the hood. The car actually looks rather solid there, packing a 5.0-liter Coyote V8 in tandem with a Tremec six-speed manual transmission. The drive is on the rear wheels, the suspension has been rebuilt from scratch, Wilwood brakes ensure proper deceleration, and an aftermarket exhaust system supplies the auditory thrills.

But even with these indisputable advantages, the ‘Stang went on sale at Mecum Auctions this weekend and apparently failed to find a buyer. It only had around 8,700 km (5,400 miles) on the odometer, too. If we had to guess why it didn’t sell, we’d point at the color and trim choices.