By the end of the 1966 model year, Ford had sold more than 1.2 million copies of their new pony car phenom – and they did it in 2 ½ years! A commonly equipped ’66 Mustang came with a 289 engine with automatic transmission, which is exactly what resides in the seller’s car. It appears to have been captive in a garage amongst the pool supplies for a long time given the flat tires all way around. Interesting parties can find the ‘Stang in Pequannock, New Jersey where it’s available here on Facebook Marketplace for $6,000.
If you walked into a Ford dealership in 1966, a new Mustang like this would have cost you $2,416 plus $106 for a 289 (2-barrel) and another $185 for the automatic. Add a radio and a few other things and you had to write a check for north of $3,000. If you had kept the car all these years in good condition, you could get five times that amount with a for sale sign on it. But that would not have kept up with inflation because your $3,000 then is equal to $24,000 now. But you could have had $9,000 worth of fun over the past 55 years!
The seller of this dusty and dirty white ’66 is looking to make space in the garage to take on another project. There is no indication how long the car has been sitting there, but it’s clearly been a while. There is no mention of whether the car runs, but there is indication of a newer carburetor on top of the engine, so at least perhaps attempts have been made. What we can see of the body looks good with no obvious rust, but the entire passenger side is blocked from view. It appears to be wearing an older, scratched paint job and the 289 V8 insignia is missing from the driver’s side front fender.
Once inside the car, you’ll find it has served as a storage unit for parts that may or may not relate to the car. The instrumentation has been ravaged and the bucket seats look to be from a later model car. The back seat is original but it also has problems as does the dashboard. So, this car is going to need a fair amount of work to get it going again, and you may have to do battle with your DMV to get it titled in your state because the seller doesn’t have one.
Ah, it looks like the kiss of death with that pallet of salt in front!
As 1st gen Mustangs go, the price is probably in the ball park for a project. However, if it spent it’s life in New Jersey, a careful inspection for rust and Bondo is warranted. It does need attention to just about everything but the C-code 289 is a good motor you can extract more performance from if so desired. This would be a good car for the right person with restoration skills but if you farm out the restoration, I think that would be pricey considering this car needs just about everything refreshed. The seller’s almost complete lack of details isn’t very helpful, either.
There must be thousands of first-gen Mustangs slumbering in garages, in all conditions. This one is probably in the middle, certainly many are in worse shape but there are some in better shape. Given their familiarity, popularity, parts availability, etc. probably nothing is more straightforward to restore. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy or cheap. Per usual advice, start with the best one you can afford.
Can anyone write an informative and useful ad on Facebook Marketplace?
Bob, think you are correct in Identifying it as a middle of the road car, May be worth a further look for someone in the market.
As we all know, FB is a reliable source of information. If it weren’t a great car, they wouldn’t allow the listing (?)
I’m from Jersey. He’s probably getting rid of it because Jersey is HELL trying to get titles for cars. Just not worth the effort
at least its not on Facebook
The last car show I attended before Covid was a relatively small one near Tucson. There were 2 long rows of 1st gen Mustangs everything from Cobras to 6 banger secretary cars. (And an equally large number of Camaros and Corvettes). It hard to imagine covering ones restoration costs but I guess if you like to tinker and have the skills and tools it might be fun to try and bring back.
You all know the reason for the black paint along the bottom edge. They don’t call them Rustang for nothing.
Love the lazy pictures, and facebook market place. NOT EVERYONE does facebook! Another thing, I wonder how many people explored further to see if it happened to be a fastback? Old trick, just show enough so you cannot tell what it is… (maybe there were more pictures, but I have never found a fastback that was not pictured).
I hate to call mustangs rust magnets, but they didn’t end up on the front of a can of bondo, and the main car used in the bondo companys add camppain. But hey! It could just be a cawinky dink.
Bet the tree air freshener is doing a lot of good in that interior! 💀
It was a million for the 1965 model – year model 1966 was less. It was backed up by the new 1967 model which also sold a million.