RARE FINDS

BARN FIND 1971 MUSTANG 429 SUPER COBRA JET MACHT

- JERRY HEASLEY

Finley Ledbetter stood in the center of his "Blue Oval Car Barn" in Mineral Wells, Texas, surrounded by a showroom of 1971 Mustangs, all high performance. "These are just my cars. I don't sell them, I don't trade them. I've sold 3 cars in 40 years."

No wonder. He found this incredible barn find, a 1971 Super Cobra Jet Mach 1, hidden in a salvage yard in Missouri. What is the fascination with 1971's? "Had one. Had one in high school. Started with one, plus the 1969-70's are really small inside-not enough leg room," Findley replied.

Finley slid behind the wheel of a blue 1971 429 Cobra Jet convertible; one of nine four-speeds Ford built. He got up and pointed out two Boss 351s and two Super Cobra Jets-one a black Sportsroof and the other a Pastel Blue 429 coupe. In the adjoining shop, Finley rattled off specs to a mangled red 1971 fastback parked in the upper rung of a storage lift.

"I bid against four or five other people for it. It came out of a scrap yard in West Virginia. It's a 1971 Super Cobra Jet Sportsroof. There's only a couple of them. It's not a Mach 1. It's a radio-delete car, no power steering, no power brakes-built for one reason: to go fast.