2003-04 Mach 1 Registry Owners Club - View Single Post

OHMach1 · 06-06-2003, 10:27 PM

Long post to follow...sorry.

Don't forget that you have to adjust for inflation. It's too easy to say something cost $3000 in 1969, so it would cost $3000 in today's market, too -- it's also wrong to say that. Because of inflation today's dollar is worth less than a dollar in 1969.

Here's a handy tool you can use to adjust for inflation without having to worry about what the CPI was for any given year:

http://minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/

A base model Mach 1 (no options) in 1969 cost $3,122 in 1969 dollars. If you were to buy that car new today it would cost you $15,653. Now, a classic car is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, and the price fluctuates from year to year. That being said, the NADA classic car guide (found here http://www2.nadaguides.com/Values/Va...Sec=2&wPg=1202 ) tells us that a base model 69 Mach is worth $34,385 in like new condition in 2003 dollars. So your actual return on investment, adjusting for inflation is $18,732. And, as falcon pointed out, that doesn't include the cost of maintenance over 34 years, but still that ain't a bad figure.

As I noted above, there were 72,458 Machs made in 1969, out of a total of 299,824 Mustangs made that year. This means that Mach 1s accounted for just over 24% of production that year. I don't know how many total Mustangs they're likely to produce this year (2003), but I'd be willing to bet the 2003 Mach 1s will not account for 24% of production.

Oh, and for those who are curious, here are the numbers on a 1969 R code Mach 1 (I added the drag pak and the 4 speed manual tranny -- note that the presence of a manual tranny with a 428 ci engine meant that air conditioning was not an available option in 1969):

Retail cost (1969): $3,800
Retail cost (2003): $19,052
Value (2003): $55,470
Percentage of production: 4.4%

There were 13,193 Mustangs produced with the 428 CJ engine, but you didn't have to have a Mach to get it. The 4.4% above is the percentage of all R codes, not R code Mach 1s.

The most recent production numbers I could find were for 2001, when 155,162 Mustangs were rolled off the line. If this figure were to hold for 2003 (probably won't, but let's just suppose), and they were to produce all 6,500 Mach 1s this year, then our R code Machs will account for just 4.2% of production.

Funny how things work out.

Everybody play nice, now.

06-06-2003, 10:27 PM	#15
OHMach1 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 310	Long post to follow...sorry. Don't forget that you have to adjust for inflation. It's too easy to say something cost $3000 in 1969, so it would cost $3000 in today's market, too -- it's also wrong to say that. Because of inflation today's dollar is worth less than a dollar in 1969. Here's a handy tool you can use to adjust for inflation without having to worry about what the CPI was for any given year: http://minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/ A base model Mach 1 (no options) in 1969 cost $3,122 in 1969 dollars. If you were to buy that car new today it would cost you $15,653. Now, a classic car is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it, and the price fluctuates from year to year. That being said, the NADA classic car guide (found here http://www2.nadaguides.com/Values/Va...Sec=2&wPg=1202 ) tells us that a base model 69 Mach is worth $34,385 in like new condition in 2003 dollars. So your actual return on investment, adjusting for inflation is $18,732. And, as falcon pointed out, that doesn't include the cost of maintenance over 34 years, but still that ain't a bad figure. As I noted above, there were 72,458 Machs made in 1969, out of a total of 299,824 Mustangs made that year. This means that Mach 1s accounted for just over 24% of production that year. I don't know how many total Mustangs they're likely to produce this year (2003), but I'd be willing to bet the 2003 Mach 1s will not account for 24% of production. Oh, and for those who are curious, here are the numbers on a 1969 R code Mach 1 (I added the drag pak and the 4 speed manual tranny -- note that the presence of a manual tranny with a 428 ci engine meant that air conditioning was not an available option in 1969): Retail cost (1969): $3,800 Retail cost (2003): $19,052 Value (2003): $55,470 Percentage of production: 4.4% There were 13,193 Mustangs produced with the 428 CJ engine, but you didn't have to have a Mach to get it. The 4.4% above is the percentage of all R codes, not R code Mach 1s. The most recent production numbers I could find were for 2001, when 155,162 Mustangs were rolled off the line. If this figure were to hold for 2003 (probably won't, but let's just suppose), and they were to produce all 6,500 Mach 1s this year, then our R code Machs will account for just 4.2% of production. Funny how things work out. Everybody play nice, now. __________________ '71 Mach 1, M-code, Grabber blue (my baby!) '03 Mach1, 5spd, UIP, Azure blue Ordered 5/30 VIN 378884 Rec'd 12/6 Born on date 1/17/03 Mach 1 arrived 1/22/03 "There's always someone willing to disagree with me; but I'm the one who's called controvesial." Last edited by OHMach1; 06-06-2003 at 11:11 PM.