I think you will enjoy the 05 so much more. the only issue is depreaciating the 05 & I bet the 69 would hold steady or rise in value. the 05 is soooooo much better to drive and it WILL get you tons of attention for years to come.
If you'd waited a few years you probably could have traded straight across for a used 05. That's my plan, anyway. But if you need a newer car now, then...
Personally I would have kept the Mach 1 and then tried to also get a 2005 later down the road. But its your choice man. Both of these are great cars. I am actually debating on wheter to get a 2006 GT or a 69/70 Mach 1 when I graduate from college in a year and a half.
YellowMach69 I think you made the right choice and most of us on these forums would have done the same. I too love the old Mustangs, I still want to find a 68 GT and build it, but I have an 05 on order.
Its easy for all of us to say"you should have kept it and then bought the 05 also" , but reality is most of us dont have that kind of money to have two cars, a hobby car and a daily driver.
I love the 69's also and would love to have a Mach 1 ,that could have been a nice car but it looks like it still needed a lot of money and work to be right.I'd say you got a good price for basicly a project car. Now if it was already restored complete or had some real colector potential like a 428CJ engine, or an "R" code or all matching numbers or something like that, well then it might have been different. But if you look on line at Auto trader or colector car sites, a basic 69 Mach 1, with 351, there are still quite a few of them available, and in the rough they dont bring much more than what you sold yours for.
And the beauty of the 05's ,besides just their awsome looks, power, quality and performance, is that there will be plenty of after market parts to make the 05 look similar to any of the older classic Mustangs like the Mach 1's. Now I havnt seen the side scoop up on the quarter panel like the 69 Mach 1's but I have seen the shaker hood, the front air dam, the 05 comes with a wing thats is almost an exact copy of the 69 Mach 1 wing, the rear window slats, the honeycomb rear treatment between the taillights, the Magnum rims, and I'm sure theres more stuff I have missed.
Myself I'm looking to add some parts to my 05 that I love from my favorite Mustang of all , the 68 Shelby's, like the rear ductail spoiler, the side scoops, the front end air dam like the Cervini Elenore , and maybe a small hood scoop like the Shlebys' had.
Well, the decision should have been made around your wants and needs. If you wanted the 05 and you didn't possess the ability or desire to restore the Mach then no one can fault you for your decision. Personally I probably would have kept the Mach and done whatever I needed to do, other than sell it, to get the 05. You've got two kidneys after all, your body won't miss one and they get a good buck from what I understand I can understand the frustration of working on a restoration and having it go very slowly, for whatever reason, and just getting tired of looking at the car sitting in the garage and not running. I've been there myself, my 71 Mach sat in my garage for 3 years. I had a completed motor trans and rear, all new suspension and brakes, and a complete interior waiting to go in. However, the car was a complete basket case body wise, and I am not a body man. I think the only panel on the car that was rust free was the roof. Anyway, it sat waiting for me to get the desire and the cash to get the body started and I just got plain tired of looking at it. I sold it to a kid who's dad owns a local body shop, and from what I understand the car was completed and looks gorgeous now.
Every time I sell a car I talk to my dad just for laughs. He's owned three Corvettes (58, 62, and 63), half a dozen 67 Mustangs, and a 69 Mach with the 428 CJ just to name a few, all back in the day. He kicks himself every time he looks in an issue of Hemmings and sees what these cars are getting today. Many times he thought about just sticking one of them away in my grandparents barn to hold onto, but something newer and better came along or he just plain needed the money. Hindsight is always 20/20.
well if all esle fails ill try to convince my brother into selling his 1969 mach 1 428 cj r model , but of course its a basket case also,His has been sitting since 1986 ,