We can re-hash the same old trope about how muscle was nearly dead by 1973, or how the Ford Mustang had become an overweight draft horse form of it’s former self, or how Lee Iacocca was ranting and raving to Ford stylists and executives about how he wanted the Mustang to return to it’s roots, hence the smaller-for-1974 Mustang II. In fairness to Iacocca, who in the world of Mustang gets looked down on for bringing his “little jewel” to market at all, it has to be said that he did have a point. The 1971-73 Mustang is technically a first-generation car, though if you parked one next to a 1965 you’d swear otherwise. Ford’s pony car had grown seriously heavier and while the 1971 cars were still a threat with Boss 351 and 429 Cobra Jet power, by 1973 the bigger thrills were gone and what was left was more like a miniature Thunderbird than anything else, shifted more towards the luxury side of the coin.

Now seems like the perfect time to bring up a point: while there were muscular cars made even after 1971, as a general rule the muscle car was most certainly dead by 1972 with just a few brightly-glowing embers left…and the team at Pontiac, who got the memo and let Herb Adams use it to clean himself with before breaking out the 455 Super Duty Trans Am. A 1973 Mustang, even a Mach 1 variation, is a shell of what it could have and should have been. It’s not four-cylinder Mustang II bad, but it’s no Boss 351 either. But that doesn’t stop anyone who sees a chrome bumper from claiming it’s a muscle car. If you’ve been on Craigslist any, you’ve probably got your own list of “That’s NOT Muscle!!” jotted down somewhere, filled with mid-1970s stuff that was smogged to the core and wheezing out maybe 150 horsepower on it’s best day.

Now, to the vehicle on hand, a super-clean 1973 Mustang ragtop. This isn’t a muscle car. It looks right…the shape is in the scope, with it’s long hood, tunneled grille, short deck and sport cues. It’s also the last year of the first-gen car, and the first year that bumper regulations kicked in…if you look at the snout, you can see that the urethane-covered bumper is extended out further than earlier cars. It might be the most graceful adjustment to the bumper any manufacturer did to a pony car…it sure out-did the battering rams that the ‘Cuda and Challenger sprouted on their chromed bars and we just won’t mention the 1974 Camaro’s railroad ties here. No, this isn’t a muscle car…but does it need to be? It’s a basic 302-powered ragtop that wears a beautiful shade of green on the outside (that’s Ivy Glow, by the way) and…well, a color-coded interior and top (Dark Avocado.) Outside of the very appropriate Cragar wheels and aftermarket exhaust setup, it’s a close-to-stock looker and a cruiser, but it’s no fire-breather. And here, that is just fine. If you can look at us and tell us you wouldn’t want to drive this car on a warm summer night at least once, expect cynical looks back, because we don’t believe you.

Mecum Auctions’ Denver 2019: Lot F81 – 1973 Ford Mustang convertible