A little clarification?

65straightsick · May 17, 2005

What is the difference in the 69 Coupe, Fastback and Grande. I know what the Mach 1 looks like but I have heard the other three names and am unsure as to which looks best.

Soaring1 · May 17, 2005

It's all a matter of opinion, but I like the looks of the fastback the best of the three.

Gud T.B. Blown · May 17, 2005

65straightsick said:
What is the difference in the 69 Coupe, Fastback and Grande. I know what the Mach 1 looks like but I have heard the other three names and am unsure as to which looks best.

coupe and fastback are the two body styles that were offered. the grande is a coupe premium/luxury trim package. the mach 1 is a model of mustang offered in a fastback body only.
in othe words, all mach 1's are fastbacks but not all fastbacks are mach 1's.
you could order a fastback or a coupe with any engine trans package that you could a mach 1.
the Boss 302 and 429 were only available in the fastback body but were not mach 1's.
i hope this helps.

yeloxr7 · May 17, 2005

Don't forget there were convertibles too.

Gud T.B. Blown · May 17, 2005

yeloxr7 said:
Don't forget there were convertibles too.

my bad ,. how could i have forgotten about the verts.

the convertibles, like the coupes could be had with any engine, trans combo except the boss motors.

Pakrat · May 17, 2005

Most of what was said here is true except for one very important 1969 fact. There is no such thing as a 69' fastback and anyone that tells you otherwise is mis-informed. This is the first year that this popular racey look became known as the "Sportsroof" model.

Even though it wasn't part of your question, yeah, don't forget the vert's please. There may have only been 15k or so originally but they are out there. Also don't forget that while this was the first year for the Mach 1, it was also the last year they made a GT for many years to come.

ForceFed70 · May 17, 2005

Coupe, Fastback/sportsroof, and convertible.. as listed already, these are the body styles.

A mach1 is a fastback with a "race package" if you will.

A Grande is a coupe with a "luxary package".

I believe a coupe could be ordered with every grande option except for the "grande" badge.

So why did ford do this? Well because during this time period domestic auto manufacturers were really starting to feal the pinch from the import car market. 1 major difference between american and import cars were the options. Domestic cars had a huge list of available options. Often you could more than double the base cost of the vehicle by adding all of the options. Import cars only had a few different "options packages". This turned out to be a more cost effective way of including the options. So the Grande and Mach1 models were actually some of Ford's first attempts at switching to the same options marketing technique as the import market.

ForceFed70 · May 17, 2005

co-incidently, the Grande turned out to be a marketing flop for ford.

The whole premise behind the mustang was "a poor man's sports car". And thus the grande was supposed to be a "luxary poor man's sports car" which just doesn't work.

Pakrat · May 17, 2005

70_Nitrous_Eater said:
co-incidently, the Grande turned out to be a marketing flop for ford.

The whole premise behind the mustang was "a poor man's sports car". And thus the grande was supposed to be a "luxary poor man's sports car" which just doesn't work.

Wasn't that also an attempt to compete with the sister companies Cougar?

Timmy · May 17, 2005

69 was also the last year for the 390 in the Mustang.

ForceFed70 · May 17, 2005

Pakrat said:
Wasn't that also an attempt to compete with the sister companies Cougar?

Could be.

Since it was a sister company, I don't think they would be too concerned about competition. But there is no doubt that the cougar's of that time would have been more "luxary" than the mustang. (with higher price tag of course).

Max Power · May 17, 2005

Pakrat said:
Most of what was said here is true except for one very important 1969 fact. There is no such thing as a 69' fastback and anyone that tells you otherwise is mis-informed. This is the first year that this popular racey look became known as the "Sportsroof" model.

Splitting hairs. Ford called em Sportsroofs, but everybody on the street calls em Fastbacks. Technically you are correct, but they are usually called fastbacks by most.

FasterThenU72 · May 17, 2005

so what exactly does 2 + 2 stand for? i know its for a sportsroof... but why do all the shops call them 2 + 2's....?

Gud T.B. Blown · May 18, 2005

FasterThenU72 said:
so what exactly does 2 + 2 stand for? i know its for a sportsroof... but why do all the shops call them 2 + 2's....?

2 seats in the front. 2 in the back.

Pakrat · May 18, 2005

Max Power said:
Splitting hairs. Ford called em Sportsroofs, but everybody on the street calls em Fastbacks. Technically you are correct, but they are usually called fastbacks by most.

And as we all know, quite often everybody is wrong. Commonality does not make it fact. A lot of folks call their engine a motor too. Using the term casually amongst stangers is fine I agree, but when someone is unsure of the difference between a coupe, "fastback", Grande and Mach, splitting hairs seems like a good idea to me. I find if someone is learning then it's best to get them off on the right foot so they only have to learn it once.

For example, how do you feel when you read an add of a car for sale and the owner or even dealer has got all their facts wrong? Do you feel like spending your money on their car?

Max Power · May 18, 2005

Pakrat said:
And as we all know, quite often everybody is wrong. Commonality does not make it fact. A lot of folks call their engine a motor too. Using the term casually amongst stangers is fine I agree, but when someone is unsure of the difference between a coupe, "fastback", Grande and Mach, splitting hairs seems like a good idea to me. I find if someone is learning then it's best to get them off on the right foot so they only have to learn it once.

For example, how do you feel when you read an add of a car for sale and the owner or even dealer has got all their facts wrong? Do you feel like spending your money on their car?

I think that's a leap.

Be correct all you want if it makes you feel better. When I tell non-Mustang people I have a sportsroof, they usually ask if I mean fastback. Above you called your car a "vert". Is that what Ford called it?

You can communicate, or you can be right. Do whatever makes you feel better.

yeloxr7 · May 19, 2005

In 69 there were also GT models, but sales were so slow due to the Mach 1 the GT was discontinued.

Pakrat · May 19, 2005

Max Power said:
I think that's a leap.

Be correct all you want if it makes you feel better. When I tell non-Mustang people I have a sportsroof, they usually ask if I mean fastback. Above you called your car a "vert". Is that what Ford called it?

You can communicate, or you can be right. Do whatever makes you feel better.

Well that's a total non copmparison, vert is short for conVERTible at least, like saying you own a stang for example, fastback isn't even a part of the word sportsroof. I do get your point, hell I even think fastback sounds way cooler but I think it's more like: You can promote here say, folklore and ignorance or you can take the time to set the record straight. None of it is about feeling better, only helping and educating the newcomers to the hobby can do that, at least I was glad when I started out that someone took the time to do so. If spending your time telling me I'm splitting hairs makes you feel better then spending it educating someone by all means feel better, I'm glad to provide the service.

Maybe you are right though, maybe the newbies should go around saying they just bought a 65' V6 or thinking all 302's are Bosses and not ever know why a square can be a rectangle but a rectangle can't be a square. Perhaps all we should do is nod and smile like they are from special needs and just be content in our own aquired knowledge and that we will take it with us to the grave. Yeah that's how it should be, my bad, I was totally wrong, I'm sorry about that. I forget nobody cares about history anymore so why keep it we all should just be thankful that Columbo found this country in 1792 while searching for a fountain of spaghetti and leave it at that. Everything else is meaningless.

Max Power · May 19, 2005

If you want to get into history, I have owned "sportsroofs" since before you were born. How's that for history?

I took exception to your original statement that people who called them fastbacks were "mis-informed". That's not true. It's not ignorance, as you suggest. People usually call them fastbacks because that is what people understand. Sportsroof is just a Ford term, like 2+2. How many people call early fastbacks 2+2's when people ask?

Do me a favor. Do an ebay search on 69 mustang fastback, and then do one on 69 mustang sportsroof. Tell me what you see.

Keep speaking latin if you want. You are technically correct. But telling people how "mis-informed" they are is pretty condascending. That was mostly my point.

Pakrat · May 19, 2005

Max Power said:
If you want to get into history, I have owned "sportsroofs" since before you were born. How's that for history?

Well, that certainly explains why you are so crochety about it. Seriously though, I would think that would make you want to support correctness even more so. BTW, I was born one year before the Sportsroof was introduced so I bow to your impossible skills.

Max Power said:
I took exception to your original statement that people who called them fastbacks were "mis-informed". That's not true. It's not ignorance, as you suggest. People usually call them fastbacks because that is what people understand. Sportsroof is just a Ford term, like 2+2. How many people call early fastbacks 2+2's when people ask?

Well, at least now we are at the heart of the matter. Ok my mistake, not everyone says it because they are misinformed, no offense was meant. But heck, even "Mustang" is a Ford term so why don't we all just call 'em cars, or something generic or whatever the hell tickles our fancy? I guess I can start putting Cobra Jet badges on my 302 if it's just a term, hell even a type R badge right? I mean the "people" understand those terms right? So as said before, from now on when kids call it a V6 because that's what they understand a six to be we should let it go right? I mean V is just a term after all right? A six is a six afterall.

Max Power said:
Do me a favor. Do an ebay search on 69 mustang fastback, and then do one on 69 mustang sportsroof. Tell me what you see.

Keep speaking latin if you want. You are technically correct. But telling people how "mis-informed" they are is pretty condascending. That was mostly my point.

I meant no condascention what so ever by that I again apologize for offending your sensabilities with such a generalized statement, but I would think that someone of your history would be even more adament about not dumbing down the facts for the general non enthusiast. I guess the next time someone at the pump asks me if my 69' is a 67' Mustang I should just be thankful they knew the model and say yes right? I have no doubt you are right about e-bay but c'mon, those are the folks you are using to support your claim? How many incorrect car adds do you see there? I'm sorry but you are standing in the corner with the wrong folks to back you up. Pure and simple technical fact is only latin if the person you are speaking to not only doesn't know any better but has no desire to further their knowledge as well. I think the world has enough of those people in it, don't you?

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