Topic: 1971 Mustang fold down panels - which parts are which color?

[Mwilson7]

I?ve got a 1971 Mach 1 that originally came with a white deluxe interior with a fold down rear seat.  Somewhere along the way the interior was changed to all black and I?m looking to change it back but I?m running into some conflicting information.  I?m trying to figure out what color the rear most panels should be.  If you look at the picture below they show the three scenarios that I?ve seen that everyone swears theirs is right.  How do I find out which one is correct and defend it?  Looking for pictures of original 1971 cars would be my best bet but I can?t find any.

Thanks for your help!

[Mwilson7]

Attached images show a supposedly unrestored car with the front of the panels black but the rear of the panels white which is confusing as I thought these panels were all molded in color.

[J_Speegle]

The panels that are molded are made of an off white or light tan material and painted. So like other years they will look a whitish color from the trunk side and be another color (painted) on the surfaces that face the interior

I realize that the color combination on white interior cars looks odd  but someone choose at Ford, that there was a reason for this and went with it in 69, then changed to all panels white in 70 then back to the black and white combination for 71 as you have found.  There are other threads that focus on this for the other years mentioned.

Documentation for the 71-73 is difficult unless its a 73 convertible. Just have to do your best and document the car (vin) that the pictures came from.

[Mwilson7]

Jeff,

I guess I?m not following your answer.  Is it correct for a white interior car to have white panels painted black or white panels painted white?  I have seen cars in the 3 configurations shown above and am trying to understand which way would be correct at an MCA show.  What would the judges consider correct and on what basis would that have come to that conclusion?  From the information I have gathered there seems to be a lot of here say but no definitive position that anyone can back up with proof.  I?ve looked at Ford trim guides, broadcast books, build sheets and nothing I?ve looked at calls out that these pieces are the same or different color than the interior color which makes me question how the person on the assembly line decided. 

Ultimately the lack of a specific direction might  be why I?ve seen so many different configurations is because it depends on who was working that day and what they thought was right.

Not sure how the 73 convertible comment relates to this as this is a fold down seat question which is only available on sport roofs.

Again,  appreciate your time and response.

[J_Speegle]

If your focus is is mainly a concern for judging purposes for MCA I would suggest you contact the head judge directly and ask what they would expect. Hopefully you can do this in a email so that you have a written statement you can carry to a MCA show. If your focused on what was originally done your just going to have to search and get lucky on finding at least three unrestored examples IMHO from Dearborn and hopefully the same time period to determine that. Would not rely on Ford documentation solely since it some times does not match when the car plants produced as we've documented many times on this site

Sorry I wish I had examples I could post to fulfill your needs in this quest

Not sure how the 73 convertible comment relates to this as this is a fold down seat question which is only available on sport roofs.

That was in reference to the lack of nice unregistered examples in comparison to the relatively large numbers of 73 convertibles that were purchased and put away and that we have available. Trying to keep the reference in the 71-73 family.

[Mwilson7]

Appreciate the response.