I was cleaning out the front trunk on my 73 2.0 and I noticed a bracket that I hadn't focused upon before. It runs horizontally between the head light buckets just above the black "dollar" grommets. The front side is welded to the front face and the back is semi-circular, as if to keep the spare tire in place.

I looked through the pics on Pat Garvey's Forum, and it looks like some had it, and some didn't. Neun Vierzehn's 70, Garvey's 72, Rhodyguy's 75 and Type4org's 76 didn't have one. Johny Blackstain's white car (no year listed) did have it.

Anybody know what the real deal is with that brace.

73/74 IIRC.

3 styles front panels. 70-72, 73-74 and 75-76. Half moon shape is the 73-74.

Steve

Added in '73-'74 with the bumper guards to help meet the new front end crash standards. Deleted in '75-'76 with the addition of the new larger shock absorbing bumpers.

Paul

Deleted in 2006 to make way for the GT cooler shroud.