In the custom car world, less tends to be more. The custom builds that usually attract the most significant attention, and accolades, are ones that rely upon sound engineering, subtlety, and attention to detail. This 1967 Mustang owes nothing to subtlety and is very much a product of the era in which it was customized. After many years in the current owner’s possession, he has decided to part with his beloved classic. It is located in North Hollywood, California, and has been listed for sale here on Craigslist. Hand the owner $10,000, and you can drive this one away. I have to say thank you to Barn Finder Taylor W for referring this unique vehicle to us. I have to admit that I’ve been itching to write about this car.
It is kinda hard to know where to start with this Mustang because this is a car with a story that could fill a reasonable-sized book. The owner purchased the vehicle from his math teacher when he was 15-years-old. As I understand it, the car was virtually stock when he bought it. That means that all of the custom touches reflect both his individual tastes, along with the trends of the era. Sadly, I am old enough to remember many of these trends. Some of them make me shudder nearly as much as that pair of platform shoes that I wore when I was a teen! By my reckoning, the White paint that the Mustang wears is not original but is the 5th different paint job and color that the car has worn throughout its life. It rolled off the line finished in Clearwater Aqua. The top isn’t vinyl but is a spray product to simulate vinyl that was available in the 1970s. The body wears its share of minor dings and marks, and the owner is quite candid about this fact. He is also quite open and honest about how high the Mustang sits. It is loaded with lifts and helpers, and stand as an indication of this classic’s life. It hasn’t always resided in sunny California. It spent the early part of its life in rural Alaska and required the extra ground clearance to negotiate the rough dirt roads in the area. It left Alaska in 1987 and found its way to North Hollywood via Seattle. That begs the burning question about rust. The owner supplies a few shots of the Mustang’s underside, and it does look surprisingly clean and sound. I’m not going to say that it is completely rust-free, but it doesn’t appear to be a rot-box. The rockers are in decent shape, and there is no visible external rust. It has received some repairs over the years, but these have held up surprisingly well. The flared rear fenders are all steel, and the rear quarter panels themselves seem to be okay. If the buyer wants to achieve a standard look, I believe that this could be achieved without having to replace the quarter panels. The side-pipes are genuine Thrush items. The glass-pack collapsed some time back, so they have regular pipes inside now. There is also a two-port glass sunroof, and quite surprisingly, this has never leaked. Whether it stays or goes will be a choice for the next owner to make.
Okay, brace yourself. There is an awful lot to unpack with this interior. It would seem that virtually every electronic device offered to owners in the 1970s and ’80s has found its way into the Mustang. I can see an AM/FM radio/cassette player, an 8-track, a couple of graphic equalizers, a CB radio, a radar detector, and what appears to be a UHF scanner. Add in a significant collection of switches and gauges, and you are starting to get the picture. There was even a set of roof-mounted speakers behind the front seats, but the boxes for these disintegrated. The wiring remains intact if the next owner wants to fit another set. Below that oh-so-70s Blue velour upholstery is the original Ford vinyl. However, the cloth has been glued to the vinyl in many spots, so a trim kit is probably going to be required. As I sit here, I am also pondering the great unknown that is the Mustang’s wiring harness. With all of the additions, this can’t be a pretty sight. I suspect that the only way to return everything to an electrically sound state would be to source and install a new wiring harness. After all, there would be nothing worse than to complete the restoration only to watch the car disappear in a ball of flames thanks to faulty wiring.
The engine bay of the Mustang initially housed a T-Code 200ci 6-cylinder engine. This turned up its toes many years ago, so a 351ci Cleveland V8 and a C6 automatic transmission found their way under the hood. This is a 2-barrel engine, and the owner believes that it came from a 1973 Cougar. The uprated engine and transmission also meant that the owner upgraded the suspension and brakes, which is pretty smart thinking. The Mustang will now have plenty of additional performance, especially when compared to how it would have run when it was new. The owner states that the Mustang runs and drives quite well, but that he believes that some of the brake drums might be out of round. He also admits that the 351 is showing low oil pressure. He isn’t sure whether this is a faulty gauge, wiring, the sender unit, or an internal fault in the engine. One thing that I find encouraging is the fact that the owner has been driving the Mustang with this low oil pressure reading for something like 30-years. The engine hasn’t gone “bang,” which suggests that it might be in good health.
I find myself quite torn by this Mustang. The logical part of my brain tells me that this is a car that should be restored, or at least refurbished. Many of the aftermarket additions should be removed and thrown into the nearest trash can. Then a bit of common sense should be used when choosing what (if any) aftermarket accessories are fitted to the car in the future. Part of me also wants to preserve the Mustang, mostly untouched. I had friends when I was younger who made many of the same modifications that the owner has made to this car. I will admit that not all of my friends undertook all of these mods, and not one of them installed the whole lot in one car! I will even admit to fitting some of these to my own car. I mean, a stereo sounds that much better once you’ve tuned it with a graphic equalizer! The current crop of younger customizers would look at this Mustang and shake their head in disbelief. Imagine what the response would be in another 40-years or so. Photos are one thing, but to actually see and experience this car would be something else again. If nothing else, it could serve to demonstrate precisely why less-is-more in the world of customizing. I know that somebody will almost certainly see sense and treat the Mustang to a restoration. What would you do?
Yikes!! Where would I start to fix this mess if I were to buy it? Of course, not at anywhere near $10k. Weird that with all the mods, he didn’t add power front disc, power steering, traction lock and a 4 barrel. Also, with the big flares in the rear, I would think he would have added much wider tires. Maybe this could be a good prop in a movie about 1980s-90s teens or some weird guy still stuck in that era.
Oh yeah, being from the 70’s this was the way cars were modded, I remember those days well!
Fortunately no early Mustangs in my area had these mods. Maybe the backend jacked up but not the other mods (odds?) like this. Any bodystyle of a 67 Mustang is my favorite. Today I found the exception to that. Btw, I’m 60 so indeed I was around when these were mostly just awesomely cool used cars to us teenagers at the time.
Even if you didn’t live in Alaska the cars we’re lifted in the rear at the very least. I will agree he covered all the 70’s bases. 😳
Breaker “Stanger” this is Sheriff Buford T. Justice following and in search of the Bandit. I just got a couple questions after witnessing your train wreck of a vehicle ..
What in the he ll have you done to those rear fenders on that-car? I commend you CB “Stanger “but those rain gutter add ons are the most dim witted things my eyes have ever witnessed. We’ll talk about the hood scoop later ….😮😂😂😂😂😉
I just threw up in my mouth a little bit
p.u.
This car shouldn’t be in No. Hollywood. More like Whittier, with the low riders.
Compton would work….
Cool in the correct error.
wrong – there was never an era when cars were modified this way – can you say parts car?
Uh no! This poor car has been modified
to the point the “real” Mustang just up
and disappeared. Low oil pressure?
Sounds to me that the filter screen on
the oil pump is either clogged or the
pump itself is about to fail. I can appreciate the fact that this gentleman
loves this car, but he got some bad advice as to how to maintain it. To be
honest with you, I wouldn’t know where
to start righting the wrongs that were done to this car. Of all the Mustangs
I’ve seen on Barn Finds, this one is the
worst. I would never let my neice buy a
car as bad as this one.
Ken, you hit the nail on the head. Thanks you….
…I wonder how many clowns you can fit in this circus wagon….
My first Mustang had rear flares like that to cover a set of 50 series tires. The car had been a high school shop class project, junk yard 6 cylinder body they threw a 302 into and didn’t change the brakes or the rear end. I drove it through high school until I was pulled over by the Illinois State Police and told I was to take the car home and not put it back on the road until I fixed the suspension. I had worn the front tires down to the cords.
I enjoyed the owner’s long and honest description, he clearly and unapologetically put a lot of himself into this car over the years, other’s opinions be darned. Especially since there is nothing rare about a 6 cylinder 1967 Mustang, I appreciate that it has been loved and used way more than I would appreciate someone who had kept their 6 cylinder 67 Mustang in a climate controlled garage for 50 years. He sums it up nicely at the end- “this car will appeal to some and horrify others”.
It has a small block in it now. I wouldn’t trust anything about this car.
The ad says it has a 351c and the engine pictured is a 351c. What engine do you think has? How is he lying?
Steve R
Sometimes its important to leave our kids an example of what not to do. This poor thing is a rolling catalogue of them. Other than safety and fire prevention mods it should be left just the way it is.
Snowtires mounted in pic #17.
I love the homemade poor man’s shaker. & is that gage between the dash & trans hump pointing towards the passenger only for him or her2look at?
http://cdn-0.barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/1967-Ford-Mustang-3.jpg lol
I think it’s a vacuum gauge. Just how many CB radios do you need?
That’s a big 10-4, good buddy.
LOL!
OMG NOOOO!!! Used to laugh at this crap. Now it’s just sad.
I get that people today hate car mods like this but this was the way it was back then. Back then this was the average car mods done by people on a budget. Kind of a Gasser/Street car. Don’t hate it, just look as period correct. COOL!
How they was, like it or not. Mind you it’s still mostly all show and no go, at least from the attitude in appearance.
Rear tires are too small and it sits too high for me anyways, too much electronic junk in there that’s just extra weight we don’t need, on the fence with the side pipes but they are actually nostalgic speed parts, as for the 351 C it would have been a solid choice to build steetable performance with the friendly 2 barrel heads and aluminum 4 barrel intake and carb, little more cam, dialed in and who knows…
By the way,, did the C6 bolt up to the 351 C or W, I thought only the 351 M had the right bellhousing?.!…..not to bring up the alphabet 351 Ford but just curious..
Some of these old rides need to stay this way, straightened up a little, as I’ve said before, to represent the pre-big money correct car status they’ve turned into, for the younger folks to truly understand.
Wow, this car is JACKED UP and I don’t mean the rear end!
Are the photos taken on the side of the road where it broke down?
From the looks of the dash this guy was an assistant manager at Radio Shack!
Poor car. Owner was trying too hard to be “one of the cool kids !”
My least favorite wheels OF ALL TIME !!!! Keystone Classics I think. I am with Kevin about the “throwing up in the mouth a little” !
The damage done to the rear quarters makes me sick and it looks like he ruined the outer wheelwells too!! To me this is just something an idiot would do or someone that has no respect for a classic American car!! To much work to make it right again!! He can keep his abomination as far as I’m concerned!!!
It wasn’t a classic American car when the kid bought it, it was just an old car . Young guys wanted their cars to look hopped up like the older guys who could afford a newer car with all the extras , and the younger ones did what they could to theirs . We used to go the the local junkyard and see if we could find parts to “doctor” our cars up,whether it was a factory option we didn’t have , an aftermarket part like a spoiler or a better sound system . I remember how excited I was finding a pitted pair of old Cragar SS rims for the back of my Gremlin – that was like finding gold back then !
Adam, I feel your pain as you consider 2 paths for this Mustang. But as a professional fabricator in the late 70s-mid 80s, I was paid to make way too many modifications no less hideous than some of these we see before us right now. Whoever ends up with this car, please take Adams logical path and make these nightmare-inducing mods go away, once and for all.
Wait a minute! Hold the phone! There are no bumper stickers on the car (not evan on the sides). I must admit, I scared myself a little when remembering that I would have done the same to my first car, If I had money to burn. Thanks for the memories. I wouldn’t change a thing. Ok maybe add a few bumper stickers; like, hijackers – aka air shocks
Good grief! What a mess! This thing would be better off in a scrap yard or for parts,it would cost entirely too much to restore and if it were myself, I’d be afraid to drive it thinking the hood or trunk is going to pop up and fly off or worse,the engine is just going to quit.
It’s not worth what it would take to unscrew this car. Whoever did this should be shot at dawn. It’s a parts car at best.
Hello barn Finds
Today this 1967 Mustang from Alaska came to the shop where I work turns out this car was a cop car in Alaska the owner was a volunteer firefighter and a volunteer Police officer The girl that bought the car has the whole story with pictures Yeah it A cool barn Find All the cool stuff from the seventies Hopefully she brings it back and we get to work on it😎
Well this car came to our shop in Covina today to me It’s quite a cool car barn find at best stuff from the seventies it’s a time machine and yes it can be restored or made to run good I wouldn’t give up on this car it’s a Mustang And the girl that owns it now totally loves it I hope she comes back and we work on it
Well I bought this beauty as my first classic car. It’s such a beautiful car, so unique. The history it comes with makes it’s special to me. The owner kept pictures and photos
To reference back to. As of now I’m currently working my way though the engine fixes first. Yes, wiring is a mess, that has to go. I’m torn if I should put a smaller engine in because I definitely need to get a power steering kit in it. The interior I am also torn, I can wait to restore it back to a quality classic fit. However, I kinda like all the extra stuff/gadgets in it due to its history but since it’s not really working anymore Maybe, I should just toss it all out. I love the feed back and advice. I love this car, stay tuned. Also I did take it back to the Covina shop, Mr. Richard will be working on it ;) he actually showed me this page. How cool to find someone that is just just as excited to check out my car as I was. Looking forward to working with him.