GRANDE PRODUCTION
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| 1969 | 22,186 (14.7% of hardtops) |
| 1970 | 13,583 (14.1% of hardtops) |
| 1971 | 17,406 (20.9% of hardtops) |
| 1972 | 18,045 (23.9% of hardtops) |
| 1973 | 25,274 (32.9% of hardtops) |
Hometown Memories:
Bill Whiteside's '73 GrandeI came to know Bill Whiteside in the spring of 1974. We went to the same high school in Bowie, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. I drove a '67 Mustang hardtop with chrome reverse wheels. Bill drove an Indian Fire '70 Mach 1 with a 351C.
We lived in a huge planned community known as Belair at Bowie. Bill and I were ships that passed in the night. I'd see his Mach 1 in the Bowie High parking lot or at the mall. Sometimes, I'd see him cruising up Stonybrook or Belair Drive. It wasn't until I started dating Bill's neighbor that he became more familiar. I had a crush on Pam, so I was at her house every chance I could get.
As most things go in high school, my relationship with Pam faded, and Bill Whiteside passed into the hard drive of my mind as someone I never dreamed I'd see again.
Years later, as I opened reader mail in my Los Angeles office, an envelope from a suburb of Kansas City got my attention. Bill Whiteside was a name I'd heard before. I learned from Bill's letter that the Mach 1 was gone, but he currently owned a '73 Grande. He and I had both moved far from our roots, but our Mustang background included a common denominator-Bowie's Melvin Motors. My '67 hardtop, totaled in an accident in 1976, was a Melvin Motors used car. So was Bill's '70 Mach 1. And so is Bill's '73 Grande.
Bill swapped his Mach 1 for the Grande in 1975. Recently restored by Colorado Mustang, the Medium Yellow Gold Grande features a Ginger interior and power by the two-barrel 351C/FMX automatic transmission combination. Options include air conditioning, a Deluxe Rim-Blow steering wheel, and an AM/FM stereo. Sport wheel covers add pizzazz over the standard Grande covers. -Jim Smart