Car owner: Sat Dhaliwal Words & photos: Clive Branson
As the oil crisis in the early 1970s threatened to spread a drought across the western world, car manufacturers were forced to reconsider reducing girth and muscle to some fad diet. Only Ford got the message a bit late, and instead kept feeding their flagship product, the Mustang, more and more oats, growing the once svelte pony car of 1964 into a Clydesdale by 1971. The Mustang hardtop, coupe and convertible were three inches wider and seven inches longer than the original model. The clothes didn’t fit anymore since the car had gained several hundred pounds, marking the largest weight gain in the car’s history. To be fair, the competition had also followed the same menu of flabbiness. The added jumbo proportions allowed room to accommodate V8 power in the form of a 351-ci Cleveland. In fact, the 1971 Mach 1 began drawing comparisons to larger Fords such as the Fairlane or Torino rather than the Mustang.
Lee Iacocca had just claimed the reigns to the Ford mantle, but there was little he could do regarding the brand since the 1971 – 1972 models had actually been signed, sealed and delivered back when Bunkie Knudsen was president of Ford in 1968/1969. Like primordial creatures, these were cars whose rumble could go off the radar on a seismic graph, and whose speed could peel the paint off tarmac, so it came as a rude awakening for Detroit to concede to government emission pressures. Gross horsepower and torque ratings fell significantly in 1972 – up to 100 horsepower or more – to meet such federal restrictions. Nevertheless, the 1972 Mustang Mach 1 was built to celebrate the immediate, the prowess, and the instantly gratifying.
The popular Mach 1 SportsRoof fastbacks seemed oblivious to the crisis in 1972 and appeared invincible, like they owned the street with their flamboyant hood scoops, competition suspension, a front spoiler and rear wing, colour-keyed hood rear fender moldings, wheel trim rings and white wall tires. This was a recipe for nothing other than for speed.
“I was always interested in cars,” Sat Dhaliwal nods quietly as if the topic is of mild academic interest. “Perhaps it’s in the blood. I’m a Punjabi from the state of Punjab in northern India. I came to Canada on June 13, 1976 with my family. Punjabis are big in two particular fields: agriculture and transportation (trucking, buses, cars, taxis, mechanics….).”
Sat has been a city bus operator for 34 years. Though he continues to be a driver, for the past 12 years it has been as a light rail operator. “Soon after starting the job in 1986, the old itch to own a muscle car emerged with the security of a good job. I am an introvert by nature, but my head would always turn when I saw a Mustang and my heart would follow. This is not to say I disliked Mopar or GM products, but I always longed for some Mustang muscle. The car has actually helped me make friends and lasting friendships, such as those from the Ottawa Mustang Club.” Sat smiles softly.
Externally, one needs 20/20 vision to discern any difference between the 1971 and the 1972 models except for touch-ups on the make-up (most of Ford’s engineering attention was diverted to the new crop of Mustangs to emerge as the second generation, letting the ’72 models drift into a Merlin sleep only to be remembered as muscle with too much steroids and testosterone). What lay under the hood was a different story. The standard Mustang engine remained the 250-cu in., a six-cylinder plow-horse with the choice of a 302 small-block, two-barrel V8, but its horsepower dramatically dropped from 210 to 140. Options were a 351 two-barrel V8 or a 351 four-barrel Cleveland V8, the latter available either as a 351 Cobra Jet (the largest engine for the year) or a 351 High Output (a toned down version of the ’71 Boss 351), reducing 280 hp to 266 hp.
“When I purchased the car in 1986, it had spent seven out of those 14 years in a garage. Perhaps that explained the minimal rust for a Mustang from that era.”
Upon arriving to buy the car, Sat discovered that the whole engine was scattered on the owner’s garage floor. Sat’s friend Ross towed the Mustang back to Ottawa while the multitude of engine pieces lay in the back of Sat’s ’84 Chevette.
When it came to rebuilding the car, another friend, Jeff, came to the rescue. “Jeff rebuilt the engine and then put it together in my garage. He started in the morning and had it running by the evening. Genius Jeff! Made it look so easy. I purchased four Universal turbine rims from a colleague, who owned a Corvette, for $100 a piece. The rears were BFG’s L50s. The Mustang was starting to look hot!”
And the sound! “We lived in a typical suburban neighbourhood. I used to drive the Mustang to work every day, and as I was a junior bus operator, I started work around 6 a.m. or earlier. Well, apparently the car was bothering a police officer and his teenage son three houses down. A bit loud for them,” Sat smirks. “He would come over to ‘talk to me’ about the situation. You know, being a cop and all. Life goes on. I had to go work. He has to adjust.”
In 1988, Sat got married and started a family, resulting in two beautiful daughters, but a spanner fell into the works in 1997 when they got divorced. “The family fell apart. I lost interest in the car, so I parked it and only started it from time to time. The insurance lapsed. Eventually I stopped even starting the car.”
The car sat in his parent’s garage for 10 years. Sat remarried – he now has two boys – and every summer his wife would gently mention getting the Mach back on the road.
“I had a neighbour across from me who was a retired mechanic. He owned a 1969 Mustang notchback. I asked him to help me get the Mach back on the road. He tinkered with the car and said the fuel pump is seized.” The search for a fuel pump led Sat to Majestic Auto Restorers. They took the car in June 2010 and it didn’t come out until October 2013. Besides replacing a fuel pump, it got a complete rotisserie restoration.
“The hardest part after the money (didn’t have the courage to tally the bills over the three years so all I can say is that if was a lot) was choosing the colour and deciding to go with a stock look.” The car was initially black with gold stripes. “After looking at different colours I decided to go with the factory Grabber Green. I miss the old look, but the car looks hot in a different way now.”
Sat gets a chorus of thumbs up from pedestrians and admiring drivers. “There aren’t very many of these around. Hardly any, I’d say. Quite a few from the 60’s up to the ‘70’s, but not these models.”
Regarding whether these muscle cars will have an everlasting appeal, Sat tosses the thought around in his mind before he speaks. “I hope the interest in muscle cars of this era never goes down, even though the current young generation would rather play video games rather than drive one for themselves ,or have their food delivered by Uber rather than going for a spin. I’m doing my part. I have two boys from my second marriage and I take them to car shows whenever I can. The older one, who is 15, and can usually tell what car or truck it is just from the sound, has his eye on the Mach. Dream on, son – I’m taking it with me I’m like the old man from that Audi television commercial: a car nut till the end.”
To Sat, this is more than a car. It’s a statement. “The car means that I achieved what I wanted. The long hood. The rumble. The shaking. The looks. The thumbs up. The goose bumps.” When the world seems on the verge of mental bankruptcy, you just need to sit in, and preferably drive, a car like this and you are at peace. It is metal therapy.
“The adrenaline that pumps through me when I drive this beauty is like octane for my nerves. Sometimes the adrenaline pumps through the body just by looking at the car sitting in the shade under a tree. Why? Because I did it!”
