Mecum’s Indianapolis sale has been America’s bread and butter, slow pitch down the middle, lawnchair and light beer auction for years. It took over spiritually from the Kruse Auburn auction when the latter imploded in 2010 and has since brought thousands of solid, respectable collector cars to the American heartland.
Being Mecum, it also usually has more than a sprinkling of muscle cars, but this year? It’s crazy with Mustangs, a pony car lovers pants squirming five dozen of them. And, since we love you, we’ve looked at every single one of them to pull five of the real gems out of the mud of mediocrity.
#1. 1969 Boss 429
The Boss 9 was Ford’s ultimate weapon in the muscle car wars, a NASCAR homologation tool with a detuned, restricted circle track engine rated at an extremely conservative 375hp. Opening it up with the proper heads, timing, exhaust headers and proper mechanical lifter cam and it’s a 500hp car. There are two at Indy in Wimbledon White, Ford’s original Mustang performance color, but monsters are scarier in Raven Black.
#2. 1969 Fastback
The top usable street engine for the 1969 Mustang, as opposed to the huge and unhappy 429, was the underrated 325hp 428. It’s a pretty good bet that this car, with it’s aftermarket wheels, Cobra badging and odd stance, wasn’t built with a CobraJet, but sometimes that’s OK. An authentic 428 CJ fastback ’69 would be a Mach 1, and worth the better part of $75,000. This will be cheap enough to fry the hides off it any time you like.
#3. 2007 Saleen S281
In 2007, the top Mustang engine was was the GT’s 300hp Mod 4.6. Which is why tuners like Saleen were able to get into business, as adding another 135 supercharged horsepower (and comparable torque) was an attractive proposition. They also added $31,000 dollars to the price, although that did include huge aero, suspension and appearance packages, as well. The whole car falls somewhere between a 2016 GT and GT350, and looks pretty damn good.
#4. 1965 SN65 custom
If no. 2 was a partial resto mod, this is the whole enchilada. It’s a modified, 640hp supercharged 4.6-liter SVT Cobra, with a carbon fiber (!) interpretation of a ’65 body. When it was originally built, Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords called it “the stuff of fabrication legend,” and it then won all the awards, ever. In 2015, the original builders rebuilt it completely, with the result this 2,900-pound dream of a vehicle. If you don’t want it, you’re dead to us.
#5. 1969 Lucy’s Larceny
Apparently, I have a thing for ’69s. Sue me. Lucy’s Larceny, for driver Lucy Below, ran in the NHRA for three years with the two-sided paint scheme it wears now. A little gimmick by the sponsor to try to convince people they were running more cars. Lucy, whose husband Bob also drove this Mustang, was a drag racing pioneer, and the Belows are alive and well, having helped to restore the car. It’s bad ass in every possible way.