This week I found a trio of pony cars that give you the opportunity to tickle different parts of your fancy. You like it stock? You want the opportunity to shape it to suit yourself? You like modern muscle and want assured future collectability? AutoHunter has something for everyone or every one of your personalities!
Let’s start off with the oldest of the bunch and move up from there.
It may not be my favorite, but I think there’s many muscle car fans (if not Mustang fans in general) who feel the 1969 Mach I SportsRoof (“fastback” to Ford’s marketing staff) is their favorite Mustang ever. The Mustang was redesigned for 1969, and Ford introduced a new sporty model to carry the image torch for the performance set. Though the standard two-barrel 351 Windsor was hardly something for performance fans, things started to get interesting with the four-barrel version of the small-block, if not the 390 or 428 Cobra Jet. Plus, 1969 was the year Ford introduced the functional Shaker hood scoop.
428 CJ 
Marti Report
This 1969 Mach I on AutoHunter is painted in Indian Fire, which is one of my favorite colors from Ford’s palette. Not only is this one equipped with the 428 CJ, but it also is an R-code, meaning it’s a CJ that includes the Shaker. What’s even better to some is that this Mach I came equipped with air conditioning from the factory (take a look at the Marti Report invoice) so you can cruise in comfort.
Though listed as a 1970, Camaro nit-pickers will point out that the 1969 Camaro was produced through December 1969 so the late introduction of the redesign would make this a 1970½. This generation was built for such a long time that I’m somewhat jaded, but the truth is that the first of these (and sister Firebird) had such great styling.
This one seems to be done up as a half-hearted Z/28 clone, so it has the badges, stripes, spoiler, and fat tires and wheels that made this among the leading ledge of American performance at the time. Engine is a 350 of unspecified vintage, though the automatic transmission is a more modern 700R4 4-speed automatic. As such, this car is practically a blank slate, ripe for someone to snag and personalize into something more special and drive the living daylights out of it. Air conditioning alert for the retired peeps!
Maybe the inclusion of a modern Challenger is marginal because while it looks like a pony car, it’s sized much bigger. Nonetheless, it has the same proportions as ye pony car of olde, so a pony car it is.
When the Challenger debuted for 2008, the SRT was the only version, all having a 6.1-liter Hemi with an automatic. If you wanted a stick, you’d have to wait till 2009. That makes this one on AutoHunter.com quite desirable to those who like having the first edition, especially since it has under 3,200 miles and is painted in the signature Hemi Orange of yore. Back in 2009, cars like the Hellcat and Demon were beyond anyone’s imagination, but they owe a debt to the original SRT like this. If you want the first and maybe the best, look no further.
