Sam Medina’s 1969 Mustang Mach I
Sam Medina always considered himself a Chevy kind of guy until he happened upon a forlorn 1969 Mustang Mach I in the garage of a house for sale. The car was buried in garage debris, garbage, and abandoned rodent nests, but it was quite solid and needed to be saved.
The Mustang went from one garage to Sam’s garage where it sat for another five years until his brother in-law, Eddie, introduced Sam to his first Goodguys show where, he says, “my life was forever changed!” After seeing firsthand what his Mustang could become, he was all in.
Unfortunately, Same went all in on the wrong shop. A couple years later he was in small claims court, frustrated but not defeated and thanks to some direction from another local shop, he was able to get the Mustang on the road in 2017, though the car was far short of his overall goal.
Finally, Sam met Leonard Lopez from Dominator Street Rods and explained that he really wanted to have his Mustang built into a modern muscle machine that could drive anywhere at any time with a style that would remain timeless. A plan was created, unleashed, and as you can see, executed!
The team at Dominator didn’t waste any time in tearing into the Mustang, massaging the body and creating a series of subtle mods to the original sheet metal. The drip rails were removed, the side air scoops were reworked, bumpers and gas cap tucked, taillamps recessed, and flush mounted glass was installed. A one-off grille and aluminum spoiler were also crafted as well as custom hood scoop and air cleaner before being covered in a BASF Silver Mojave finish.
To meet the performance and handling requirements, Sam chose a 427c.i. Cobra engine from Ford Performance coupled to a T56 Tremec six-speed transmission for fun. The front suspension was upgraded with a Total Cost Involved Pro Touring IFS with their Torque Arm suspension system in the rear. Wilwood 13-inch discs pull the Mustang down from speed and Budnik 18-inch wheels are wrapped in Nitto rubber.
The interior received similar upgrades with Rojas Auto Upholstery reworking the seats and headliner with Alcantara suede and wrapping the original dash in leather. Dominator fabricated an aluminum console and added a few modern amenities including Vintage Air, an Ididit column, and Dakota Digital instrumentation – just enough to make it feel modern while retaining the classic Mustang aura.
The 1969 Mustang Mach I project may have taken a couple wrong turns along the way, but the end result makes the path traveled by this potent pony well worth it.
Photos by Terry Lysak
