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.

Detroit Lockers on it. It will be a brand-new car in about five years." Directly below it was another '71, a virtual scrap heap, but also a 4.11 Drag Pack 429 Super Cobra Jet.

Finley smiled as he thought of its return to factory issue, "A stunning car, black with white interior! We have eight cars in process right now. We assemble the cars here. All my restoration is done at a shop I have in Arkansas with Mike Farrell."