In April 1964, Ford debuted the new Mustang “pony car” and changed the automotive landscape for years to come. Though it came 17 days after Plymouth brought out the Barracuda, the Mustang would dominate the new market space well into the 1970s. This 1965 Mustang convertible is a fairly basic car that has an inline-6 engine and wears an older restoration. From Baltimore, Maryland, this drop-top classic is available here on eBay where $10,500 is the current bid with no reserve.
The Mustang was introduced in the middle of a model year, so the pre-Fall 1964 cars are often thought of as 1964 ½ editions. But that’s not really so as all of them assembled in 1964 and in 1965 before the 1966 versions came out were all titled as ‘65s. During an 18-month cycle, more than 680,000 Mustangs were built, including 94,000 convertibles. The door tag on this car says it was built in December, so there’s no debate here either way.
We’re told this ’65 ‘Stang was once restored and looks great now except in a few places when you get up close. There you’ll see a couple of little scrapes and bubbling where rust may be trying to break through. The Rangoon Red paint shines up nicely and the white top presents well, while we’re told the power mechanism to lower or raise it works as it should. The interior comes across as original and the red carpeting and seat belts are starting to fade.
Unfortunately, some mechanical issues will need your attention. Both the 200 cubic-inch engine and automatic transmission leak a bit, perhaps due to older gaskets that don’t hold up as well as they used to. A couple of kits may solve those problems as the car is said to otherwise run and drive as it should – and this Mustang even has power steering. As one of the photos shows, loads of documentation come with the car which may enable you to piece together its history.
It definitely shows signs of a repaint – the door latches should not be painted – and that repaint looks more like Poppy Red than Rangoon Red to my eyes.
Plus the door latch repair plates that have been installed.
Stangs in that era without the small block 289 are not desirable to me. Loved the two pipes with the louvers coming out the back. The 289 was Ford’s answer to GM’s 283, both great motors.
The car is beautiful but has a lot of paint where it shouldn’t be.
It’s like taking a shower and not getting all the soap out.
I would pretty much re-gasket the engine just short of the head gasket,and pull out the tranny and do the same,new seals, tail gasket and pan.do it all at once over a weekend.
Not to late to buy the worst car ever made :-) I would nickname tin can.
I usually don’t reply to asinine comments, but you caught me on a bad day. I have a 65 mustang that I have had since I was 15 years old, last summer I hit half 1,000,000 miles on this “worst car ever made”. It has been my daily driver every day, except for roughly 3 1/2 years that it was being restored or refreshed. Sooner or later, we are going to be in a fight to have classic cars on the road. It won’t matter if they’re Fords, Pontiacs, Triumphs, or Chevys. It’ll only matter if they’re electric or internal combustion engines. The fight is coming. It’s going to happen. So instead of wasting our energy bashing cars that we don’t personally like, maybe we should appreciate the fact that someone’s taking the time to keep that car on the road, We are going to need every vote we can get to allow us to go for a cruise in our classics, regardless of who manufactured them. Those are my thoughts…perhaps your energy would be better spent organizing groups to fight the demise of our classics no matter what brand they are.
The demise of the classic car is definitely a real thing, but in particular, this car should have never been a convertible. I would take a cherry little hardtop though. Sorry about the knee jerk.
same thing is happening to this Country we need to take these precious things back ! God Bless you brother.
No need to apologize. I just want every classic on the road no matter who made them. My buddies give me grief all the time, because when parents are showing them my car anywhere (a show, a gas station…) I let those kids get in my car. I let them feel the metal, chrome, and stainless dials. I do this because if kids stop loving the “old” cars and trucks; they won’t care if the government wants them to go away. If we don’t have the youth loving the classics we are doomed.
Thank you Bill Quick for your terrific note re the classics. I have owned and enjoyed two 1971 MGB s and I presently own a 17 year old Sonata which is my daily driver when I am in Florida. The Mustang ushered in a fun time for piney cars which are still loved by many inNA. Barn finds is my favourite fb site and I spend many hours reading about the cars of yesterday and the readers comments. Thank you Barn Finds and may you continue for many decades to come.
Jim from Canada
Jim, Some of my best friends are in Western Canada.Vancouver, Alberta, Calgary. I’m planning one last epic road trip for the summer of 2025. I’ll be all over the states and the western half of your beautiful country. Give me your contact info and I’ll put you on my roadmap! I’m always ready to meet a new friend and fellow car lover.
Sorry piney should read pony
Trunk lid is fitting funky, some horrible repair work back there. But, the undercarriage is worst, heavy undercoat over rust. Look at the rear quarter, sloppy repair with fiberglass body filler and some fiber on the leaf spring.
People are way over bidding on cars glued and taped together….