These days, a "barn find" can be found pretty much anywhere, the attribution finding itself applied to almost any car showing some amount of long-term storage. Finding cars in actual barns, however, is a trend that's in decline, which makes this quartet of no-reserve barn-find Mustangs being auctioned at Mecum's Harrisburg event all the rarer. The cars—all between model years 1969 and 1972—represent a solid cross-section of the autumn years of the first-generation Mustang, and they give us an interesting look into the mind and circumstances of their seller, Stephen Yousey.
Stephen Yousey didn't have to go far to find his Mustangs—they were in a cluster of rural barns and workshops around Croghan, New York, where he has amassed quite the assortment. Yousey has a demonstrable interest in late first-generation Mustangs, and we've gleaned a few observations about him from the massive photo collection provided to Mecum Auctions, which we've edited down in this article's must-see gallery!
At age 60, Yousey is the typical generation Jones baby boomer—old enough to remember these cars when they were new, but too young to have participated in the muscle car revolution (a cohort your author also falls into). Among the documents provided by Yousey is a typewritten blow-by-blow description of his 1972 Boss 351 HO, which dives deep into the various options and history of the car; Yousey is a self-styled Mustang history buff and his knowledge of these cars borders on the obsessive. As a boy who would've been between the ages of seven and ten during the model years in question, Yousey saw these cars brand-new everywhere. He most certainly would've yearned to own one (or four!).
The first of four Stephen Yousey barn-find Mustangs being auctioned, lot number S36, is a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 Fastback four-speed with a not-stock 428ci Cobra Jet big-block and a shaker hood. Last registered in 2007 in New York state according to photos provided to Mecum Auctions, this one was partially disassembled for a stillborn restoration and sports an older repaint and some non-factory audio components. The buyer will also need to track down some of the front-end trim and grille pieces, all readily available from Scott Drake restoration parts and others.
The 351ci Windsor was an all-new small-block for 1969, based on the earlier 221-, 289-, and 302ci small-block V-8. When equipped in M-code trim, as this Mustang was originally, the 351 Windsor had a four-barrel carb and a gross horsepower rating of 290. A total of 72,458 Mach 1 Fastback coupes were produced in 1969 in all engine types. Hagerty values a 1969 Mustang Mach 1 SportsRoof (alternately known as a fastback) in good condition at $48,500 (with the 2V 351ci H-code Windsor engine cited). While this 1969 Mach 1 certainly qualifies as a barn find, it does not technically qualify for survivor status without its original M-code 351ci small-block and born-with paint. Nevertheless, for the potential buyer planning on driving it, the transplanted 428 CJ mill under the hood of this 1969 Mach 1 will certainly provide miles of smiles.
Of the four Stephen Yousey barn-find Mustangs to be auctioned, it is the 1971 Boss 351 Fastback, lot number S38, that has the most interesting piece of documentation with it: a one-page feature from 2006 that appeared in the September issue of Mustang & Fords magazine. In it, author Jerry Heasley documents a chance meeting between the car's current owner and its previous owner, one Larry Mosher, at a filling station sometime around 2004. Mosher, a Vietnam veteran, had two Mustangs he would go on to sell the younger Yousey before his passing: the 1972 351ci R-Code you will see further down the page, and eventually this more-desirable 1971 Boss 351 fastback.
The Marti report that accompanies the car indicates it was ordered in March of 1971 and built in April. According to Heasley's account, Mosher, a Navy corpsman, had special-ordered the car, but by the time it arrived at K-B Motor Company in Adams, New York, he was embedded with Marines in the trenches of Vietnam. In the story, Yousey related that Mosher's father had played a joke on Larry by sending him a photo of the new car at the dealership—along with another photo of a six-cylinder engine from a different Mustang. It's stories like this, passed on from owner to owner, generation to generation, that make survivor cars like this into living history. According to Hagerty, a 1971 Ford Mustang Boss 351 in good condition has a value of $67,700.
The year 1971 ushered in the era of the "big horse" Mustangs, which represented the final gasp of the original Mustang platform based on the 1960 Ford Falcon architecture. While the 1971-1973 Mustang had lost much of its allure by moving away from the tossable lightweight design remit of the original, it was now endowed with more than enough power to make up the difference, and Stephen Yousey's 1971 Mustang Mach 1 fastback 429 Super Cobra Jet—with a gross power rating of 375 hp—is a perfect example. When ordered with 3.91, 4.11, or 4.30 rear-gearing and the Drag Pack option, Mach 1 429 Cobra Jets became 429 Super Cobra Jets, and that's what is being sold here as Mecum lot number S39.
At 7 inches longer, 7 inches wider, and 500 pounds heavier than the 1965 Mustang, Ford's 1971 "big horse" Mustang needed all of the 429ci Super Cobra Jet's 375 hp to go up against Mopar's 426ci Hemi cars and Chevy's 454ci LS6 in the Chevelle and Corvette, and the Mach 1 429 Super Cobra Jet did so with a parity that was breathtaking. Yousey's survivor Mach 1 is just one of 103 1971 Super Cobra Jet Mach 1s built with 3.91 gearing and the C6 three-speed automatic. (Note: the car no longer has its date-correct 3.91 gearing, but a 1973-dated 3.91 gearset is included with the sale.) At present, Hagerty does not have an estimated value for a 1971 Mustang Mach 1 429 SCJ, but the NADA price guide places an average value for this model at $69,100. A quick check of legit web ads for 1971 Mustang Mach 1 429 SCJs shows asking prices between $65K and $85K. We'll certainly know if those asking prices are the real deal after this auction.
The final car of this Mustang barn-find extravaganza, Mecum lot number S37, is a 1972 fastback with the R-Code solid-lifter 351ci Cleveland small-block (aka the 351ci HO Cleveland). Importantly, this was the second Mustang Larry Mosher special-ordered while serving in the Navy, and followed his previous purchase of the 1971 Ford Mustang Boss 351 Fastback seen earlier. At the beginning of the 1972 model year, the prior year's use of the "Boss" name was dropped due to heightened concerns from the insurance industry, but when it mysteriously resurfaced mid-year in 1972, it was mostly the same internally as in 1971, save for a drop in compression (11.7:1 vs. 9:1) resulting from the use of open-chamber cylinder heads and a name change to 351 HO. These were tough engines despite their constrained output, and had nice-flowing cylinder heads, forged pistons, forged rods, and a nodular-iron crank for lots of untapped hot-rodding potential.
For its 1972 incarnation, the solid-lifter 351 HO (aka Boss 351) could be ordered in any Mustang body style. Net horsepower was a new standard beginning in 1972, and for the lower-compression 1972 351 HO, that figure stood between 266 and 275 hp, depending on the source quoted. (A gross rating of 305 to 315 horsepower is generally considered equivalent when comparing with earlier Mustangs rated with the SAE gross power rating.) Collectors take note: With the R-code 351 and four-speed combination, only 336 cars were built like this in 1972. More interestingly, the car was built, VIN'd, and registered as an 02-code fastback, but Ford production records (and the Marti report) show this car as an 05-code SportsRoof. Yousey has documented this in the accompanying photos, making this a rare one-of-a-kind car. This no-reserve auction could get very interesting!
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