1971 wasn’t a great year for Ford’s Mustang, and not by much: the iconic pony car had fallen drastically out of favor with customers. From sales of half a million or more in the mid-1960s, the wildly popular pony car found itself in an uncontrollable tailspin toward the end of its first-generation production run.
In 1971, the Mustang sold just under 151,500 units, nearly half the number it had just two years earlier. Ford Motor Company executives noticed the sluggish sales and came up with a plan to inject some life into the car’s lackluster self-confidence and allure. The Spring Special package was essentially a cosmetic upgrade that offered the look of the Mach 1 at a base price.
It didn’t work out well. Only 9,000 midyear Mustangs were ordered, and many were lost in the years that followed, plundered for usable parts, crushed for scrap metal, or simply left to rot in the open. The latter is the case with this rusty example from California, which burrowed so deep into the ground that it refused to be dug out.
Attentive readers may have noticed a major discrepancy in the previous paragraph: “rust” and “California” don't usually go together in the same sentence unless there's a negative somewhere between them. However, there's a geographical problem: it's not the West Coast Golden State, but the village of California, Pennsylvania.
Photo: YouTube/NoNonsenseKnowHow
In preparation for 1971, Ford introduced the Mustang in three basic body styles for the six-model lineup that shared four engines (with six total states of tune). The Sportsroof (call it a fastback because that's what it was) was reserved for the Mach 1, Boss 351, and Sportsroof. The hardtop went with the Grande and Hardtop, while the Convertible was a… you get the idea.
Ford's naming committee wasn't exactly full of imagination, or they preferred to call a spade a spade. For the Spring Special, the package consisted of a NASA hood with dual vents (functional, please), Boss side stripes, Mach 1 grille and sport headlights, dual racing mirrors, color-matched front bumper, hood, and fender moldings, trim rings, E70 whitewall tires, and every engine in the lineup except the 330-hp High-Output unit (reserved for the Boss 351).
The car in our story was abandoned to the elements in the 1980s (with the possibility of it actually being abandoned in the late 1970s), and it shows. California, Pennsylvania has a more recycling-friendly climate than the dry climate of the state of California, so this Ford product has shed some weight thanks to the natural biodegradability of metals.
Photo: YouTube/NoNonsenseKnowHow
Luckily, some parts are still worth the effort of getting them out of the field (and the $600 paid by Chris, the longtime mechanic behind the YouTube channel NoNonseseKnowhow). He had his fair share of money troubles when he literally pulled the Mustang out of the ground. In fact, the car was so well planted in the ground that it actually pulled the trailer back when the vlogger started winching it onto the rig.
After finally getting it into his garage (an operation that required more elbow grease than it might seem, considering the Mustang's locked wheels), Chris performed a brief visual inspection before unsuccessfully trying to crank the engine by hand.
A quick look at the spark plugs revealed a worrying hypothesis: the pistons and cylinder walls may not be in a perfect state. The borescope inspection camera confirmed the fears: watch the video below around 1:00 PM to see what it was dealing with.
Photo: YouTube/NoNonsenseKnowHow
Despite his best judgment and mechanical savvy, the vlogger builds a crankshaft gear (out of an old timing gear and nut) and cranks the engine over after soaking it in oil. Unfortunately, the deplorable condition of the 351 Cleveland V8, combined with the brute force of the wrench, causes two exhaust valves to break cleanly off their stems. It turns out a third had suffered the same fate at some point earlier.
The closed heads, Ford nine-inch rear end, wide-ratio 'Top Loader' four-speed manual transmission, clutch, and other performance parts made it worth it in the long run. Chris was able to sell the $600 1971 Mustang for a small profit to an enthusiast who will save the 351 cubic inch (5.8-liter) V8 for his project car.
The Holley dual-pump, four-barrel carburetor indicates that this particular Ford had the 285-hp variant of the 351 Cleveland V8, thanks to its 10.7:1 compression and premium fuel. The two-barrel was rated at 240 hp (with a 9.7:1 compression on regular gas). The Boss achieved its 330-hp output thanks to a high 11.7:1 compression and Dual Ram Induction, a pair of massive hood scoops that fed cold air directly to the carb.
Photo: YouTube/NoNonsenseKnowHow
Other engine options available for a 1971 Ford Mustang were the base 250-cubic-foot (4.1-liter) inline-six, the trusty 302 V8 (the long-produced 4.9-liter small-block), and a pair of 429 Cobra Jets (with or without a Ram Air hood).
The Spring Special Value Mustang was launched in March 1971, offering a significant price drop from the fall of 1970. With a retail price of $2,624, the mid-year package was well below the $3,006 price of an early base model hardtop. Despite this, it failed to attract customers.
By then, buyer preferences were already shifting away from the pony car and toward more budget-friendly options. In terms of rarity, the 1971 Spring Special Mustang was the third rarest model, behind the Boss 351 (1,806) and the convertible (6,121).
