Neglected. Forgotten. Pushed aside. It is safe to say that the classic 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1 Mustang you see here had seen better days. And had it not been for Baiting Hollow, New York’s Michael Cuevas, it might still be sitting outside rotting away.
“This car was first built back in 1985 while I was in high school. I remember seeing the car at local cruise nights, and it drew attention for the beautiful candy apple red paint,” Cuevas said. Originally built by legendary “Rat Pack” founder Pat Crafton, it featured all the styling cues that were hot at the time: tubbed out stance, snorkel hood scoop, and subtle graphics. And it was that distinctive paint job that first attracted Cuevas’ attention over a decade later.
“Fast forward to 1997 hen I saw the car parked outside beside a house in my parents’ neighborhood. It was uncovered, with leaves embedded in the paint and the engine not running,” he said. However, Cuevas remembered the car from back in the day and decided that he needed to make a play for it and see if he might be able to get it back in action. “I wound up trading my 1989 Mustang for it, and while everyone thought I was nuts for trading my nice driver for a project like this, I knew what I had on my hands,” he added.
What he had on his hands was a real Q-code 428 Cobra Jet Mach 1 Mustang. After having the car flat-bedded to his shop, Cuevas got busy making the car road-worthy again. Chassis and suspension mods were performed in the ’80s and consist of a mild steel back half with a narrowed Ford 9-inch differential on custom ladder bars and Viking coil overs. An Auburn posi and Richmond 4.11 gears have been partnered with shortened Moser axles. Meanwhile, the front suspension is largely unchanged with the exception of new shocks and poly bushings and 4-wheel disc brakes ensure great stopping performance. Rolling stock consists of era-perfect Weld Racing Superlites—15×3.5 up front and 15x15s out back—with…..Read more of this article. Just click on the digital feature below this introduction.
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