One of the last “New Edge” bodies, here in its Mach1 glory (2003 or 2004 MY)
I promise, I’m not on the payroll of the Alabama Tourism Department. It’s just that if you’re in Huntsville to visit the Marshall Space Flight Center (the “NASA Museum”) or the Veterans Memorial Museum (the “Original WWII Jeep Museum”), you could as well drive 100 miles south, to Odenville, AL, and visit the Mustang Museum of America. Odenville is a little town 30 miles north-east of Birmingham, and not far from the Barber Motorsports complex and its incredible motorcycle museum.
The Mustang Museum of America is a non-for profit, family managed initiative. It opened to the public in 2019, in a 30,000 sq ft building. There’s plenty of room, plenty of light, and everything (the amenities and the cars) is squeaky clean. At the top of that, the people running the operation are definitely enthusiasts (most of the cars are coming from the family’s private collection).
Mustang GT / California Special (1968)
There are 110 Ford Mustangs on the floor. Almost half of them are police interceptors – starting with the car developed by Ford for the California Highway Patrol. Almost every state is represented, as well as a few Federal administrations. A lot of people collect the Starbucks mugs of the far away places they’ve gone to; it looks as if there are also people who collect Police Interceptors – maybe one for each of the places where they got speeding tickets. That would be an interesting idea.
Mustang “Playmate” – “Playmate Pink” was a special order option – available from 1964 to 1969
The other half of the Museum is dedicated to “civilian” Mustangs of all generations, with a strong representation of cars of the 1979 to 2004 vintage. They’re all pristine, outside and inside. A few of them have their hood open, and the engine bay is as clean as a surgical block. All cars are registered and their tags are current, they regularly leave the museum to join parades or charity events.
A 1972 Mustang coupe
There are also a few (genuine) race cars, and an Indianapolis pace car replica. I’ve never been a fan of the Fox Bodies (and there are plenty of them in the Museum), and, until I stopped there, I had never really looked at cars of the SN-95 generation – to me they were just an upgrade at the car rental counter. I should have looked better: the Museum has a few impressive SN-95 Cobras and one or two New Edge Mach 1s of stunning beauty – even the interior is much nicer than in my recollections.
I’m far from being a Mustang specialist – I’ve probably been standing in front of gems, and been too ignorant to appreciate their originality or their historical importance. I simply took a few pictures of the cars I liked the most, and that I had little chance of spotting at a Caffeine and Octane meeting.
Mustang Mach 1 Ram Air 351 – Convertible – 1973
If you love Mustangs or are interested in American cars in general, the place is definitely worth a visit.
OK, I will start the ball rolling. This looks like a place for my bucket list. We drive through this area on our way to Florida. What you have shown looks really nice. I wish you would have included a shot of one of the police cars. Indiana used those in the late ’80’s-early ’90’s and then again in the mid 2000’s. The State Police Museum in Indy has one of the early ones that they restored. Those things and the later Camaros were sure hard to spot out on the road. Thanks for the writeup and the great pictures.
Roll Tide!
I used to drive regularly between Memphis and Jacksonville and told myself I would visit the Barber Museum, but never did. As the owner of a 06 Mustang, I now have yet another reason to visit this area and I better do it while I can. I can’t say for sure that I ever saw a Much I convertible.
The Mach 1 was never made as a convertible but the 71-72 style Mach 1 stripe kit and grille blackouts could be ordered on regular Mustangs of any bodystyle with the Decor group in 1973, so that’s likely what this car is. I suspect the Ram air hood was probably added.
Actual 1973 Mach 1s used a totally different stripe scheme from the 1971 and 1972s with it running from the center of the front fenders to the edge of the rear wheel opening with “Mach 1” in that little segment.
Heading to Huntsville through Corinth, Mississippi you will find a museum along the main road that houses restored classics from the fifties, sixties, seventies, and newer.
Dream Riders is the Museum’s name and the entry fee is minimal. So worth the stop of an otherwise dull drive.
Is this just on the east side of Corinth? When we visited there (quite a few years ago) I remember seeing a place having a number of older cars for sale out front. Was curious if there is a correlation or not.
This is right in the center of town, with no outdoor space for display. The cars aren’t for sale, simply for appreciation. If you’re ever heading from Memphis to H’Ville, it’s definitely worth stopping.
The SN 95 Mach One has many special features that differentiate it from the normal GT. First off the shaker hood and the engine, like the Bullet version, is tuned for additional power. Special wheels. The interior has different ’70’s style upholstery and instrument marking font. Back when the SN95 debuted I was driving a Cadillac STS and had no interest in Mustangs. In 2007 I bought a new V6 coupe and started to develop an appreciation for the Mustang. I found a nice ’96 GT convertible which I still own.
I will say the the larger S187 models have more rear seat leg room and a bigger trunk with a fold down rear seat that makes them very practical cars. The longer wheelbase and wider track gives the car a very planted feel on the road. I like the more close coupled, narrower, cock pit design of the ’96. The car feels a bit busier on the highway than the newer larger models. I describe it as a “scrappy” little car, lots of fun to drive.
The New Edge models have many improvements, and are the best of this generation.
The SN95 coupes have fold down rear seats too. The Mach 1 wasn’t just tuned, it had the DOHC engine rather than the SOHC, making it something like the 01 SVT Cobra but with the lighter solid rear axle instead of IRS.
Other neat difference is the quarter windows and exterior sail panels are shaped differently from other New Edge Mustangs, it’s very subtle but much nicer to my eye than the arch shape of the greenhouse of standard Mustangs. The Bullitt used the same pieces as well there