Rare 1970 Mach 1 Ford Mustang Twister Special msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
autoevolution 28 Dec 2020, 14:41 UTC ·
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People living in Kansas in the late 1960s were treated to a special breed of the Ford Mustang: the limited edition Twister Special Mach 1. It was the local variant, if you like, of the Mustang California and High Country Specials the Blue Oval was selling elsewhere. 16 photos
Ford’s local Kansas dealers found the idea so exciting that they went on an expanded it onto Torinos. Hence the Torino Twister Special was born, limited to just 90 units back in 1970, and selling for big bucks presently at auctions across the U.S.
One of those 90 Torino Twisters is part of the Mecum Kissimmee auction in early January, and as a true rarity, it is expected to fetch up to a quarter of a million dollars. The car is one in just 30 to have been made with a 4-speed manual transmission, and according to Mecum, one of 29 presently listed in the Torino Twister Registry.
You may not have heard of the 1970 Ford Torino Twister Special before and that’s understandable as it is an exceptionally rare car.
The genesis of the Torino Twister Special can be traced back to 1969, when Ford approached its Kansas City Sales District dealerships to promote the 100 examples of the Mustang Mach 1 ordered by Detroit developer and race promoter Lawrence LoPatin. The dealers agreed to do just that and went one step further by ordering 90 special examples of the Torino.
For starters, the dealer group commissioned the vehicles to be produced with Ford’s then-new 429 Cobra Jet big-block V8. Back in the day, this engine was good for roughly 370 hp and all Torino Twister Special models produced left Ford’s Dearborn factory painted in a color known as Vermillion, with black interiors and steel wheels.