At first glance, I thought this was a really sharp-looking 1966 Ford Mustang convertible. And considering how many that we cover here on BF, it takes something special with a first-gen Mustang to get me to take a second look. Well, this one’s got that, and then some! It’s an eyeball-appealing, V8-powered, four-speed manual transmission-equipped convertible, or is it? Let’s review and see what’s really here. Located in Casselberry, Florida, this first-gen Pony is available, here on craigslist for $22,500.
So, how are your Sawzall skills? Mine are shaky at best but I guess those possessed by Driver Seat Inc. of Roswell, GA must be pretty sound because this convertible was a coupe until they got a hold of it and nicked off the roof. The roofectomy occurred in the ’90s and “side reinforcement”, whatever that exactly is, was performed, ostensibly to stiffen up the body. It appears to have been beautifully executed, the body panels line up properly and I really did think that this car was a day-one convertible. The combination of deep ruby red paint, red stripe tires, and black wheels produces a stunning visual. Even the folding convertible top, which is obviously not original, looks like it belongs. That said, the seller adds, “Top can go up but takes a bit of work – I just keep it down instead and in a garage when parked” Hmm…
Giddy-up is provided by a modified 289 CI V8 attached to a four-speed manual Toploader swapped transmission. The engine has been upgraded with a replacement carburetor, MSD distributor, dual exhaust system, and an open-element air cleaner. I imagine that this Mustang runs pretty well but I don’t know with certainty as mums the word on that front. What I really wonder, however, is how it drives after the coupe to convertible transformation.
The refurbished “Pony” interior looks fabulous. The seats have been re-foamed and in spite of this Ford’s “preferred” top town mode, I’m seeing no indication of sun or weather-related damage. Two notable additions are the center console and the underdash A/C unit.
So there you have it, looks-wise this Mustang is just brilliant, and the top conversion job appears to have been perfectly executed. The price, as I mentioned at the outset, seems to be too good for what this car is – until all of the details are known and then it starts to make sense. All of this goodness, however, is tempered by that comment about the amount of work that it takes to get the top-up. I am no stranger to convertibles or Florida summer weather and I have experienced many times when top-down mode needs to go to top-up mode in a huge hurry. And then there’s the other unknown about driving characteristics. I have owned a factory Mustang convertible and the cowl shake was really annoying – I wonder what driving undesirables this drop-top might conjure?
Considering the “competition” vibe this puts off, and the question of chassis stiffness, a roll bar with lowered down tubes [for “some” ease of entry] extending forward might not be a bad plan. And may actually enhance the look.
I’d be suspect of the aftermarket top chop-some folks get it right and a LOT of them don’t, causing some major problems later on..
Before using this I’d take to heart a phrase of my ex coworker from Missouri- “Show me”.
And lowering it a little wouldn’t hurt the look either…
This is nit picking, but I’m not a fan of blacked-out wheels on classic cars. Today’s cars don’t have a lot of chrome trim. Blacked-out rims make more sense on newer cars.
Wheels look bad.
This Mustang is would look great with the stock chrome wheels , especially with the red lines. $22,000. is doable and you probably could get it back at Mecum or B/Jackson.
This car should go on a frame rig to insure it is square. If the top doesn’t fit right that could be a whole car out of square. Most the time fixable. Once squared up, put some underbody reinforcements in.
I’d be curious if the coupe was born with a six-cylinder or not, because early Mustangs had significant differences between six and eight cylinder cars that could be a problem if the roof was chopped off of a six-cylinder car. Sixes got four-bolt wheels, drum brakes on all four-corners as standard, and no torque boxes. Eights got five-bolt rims, torque boxes, and front disk brakes as standard equipment, so if they cut the roof off of a six-cylinder coupe and didn’t install the appropriate reinforcements, including the torque boxes, the entire body may have twisted out of shape. Only your body man’s frame table will know for sure!
You obviously don’t know what you are talking about lol. The body between an I6 and a V8 is… Nothing! As a pro restorer of Mustangs, the things done people say smh
Dan Short of Fantom Works garage says otherwise, so I’ll let you two argue about it, LOL! I can only go by what I see or read, so if my sources aren’t correct, that’s “My Bad”!
V-8 cars did not have front disc brakes as standard equipment. They came with drums as well. In fact I have a factory K-Code high performance non-GT fastback with front drums.
Well, the car has 5 lug wheels and the writeup says the the conversion company put in the beam reinforcements which would run the full length of the area between the wheels. I agree on following up the conversion which could be done by going back to the shop that did it and ask some questions. Other than that, the only thing I’d do is ditch the black wheels as mentioned.
Convertibles were really never solid rocks. Any old timer that had them years back and had to change a rear tire with the bumper jack can tell you how easy it was to open a door with the car jacked up. With that said. If they did all the reinforcements to the underside before they took the steel roof away and installed the Convertible stuff, I wouldn’t worry about anything. If they put the rocker reinforcements in and then added the frame connectors, you have nothing to worry about. The truth be told it might just be better than what was done originally. Inspect it, check the fit and finish, drive it, listen for creeky noises in the haul, and go from there.
Hull, not haul..darn whatever these electronic gizmos want or think you want to say…lol
Buy the real thing to begin with. It’ll cost more but will always be worth more (probably substantially more), and you will know exactly what you have.
The black wheels do not look good, the painted interior panels look too shiny, and I am not a fan of the top chop. Like others, I’d be suspect of the proper stiffening and the squareness of the frame. Is it the lighting, or were the jambs left the former colour? I’d be curious what the title says; I’d suspect it would be branded reconstructed.
I had a 1959 British Ford Zephyr Si Mk 2 which was supplied by the Ford factory to a company called Car Bodies which was bought by Ford after Car Bodies had converted Mk1 Zephyrs and Consuls into convertibles. The first thing I worried about was body twist when changing a wheel so I jacked up the car as if to change a front wheel and the doors opened and closed perfectly so I figured that Car Bodies new what they were doing and never had a moments concern in the next 10 years driving after completing the restoration. Wonderful car.
How is this an interesting thing for barn finds? I don’t even know where to start. A coupe with the roof cut off. You know there are literally thousands of 1966 convertibles out there, that was just dumb. Then please don’t call that pony interior. The only piece of the interior that is “pony” is the seat covers. Real only interior has different door panels, woodgrain door handles, wood grain dash and glove box covers, woodgrain steering wheel, courtesy lights in the bottoms of the doors, this was just a few cheap seat covers and some foam. The car will never be a real convertible and now it’s not even worth the money it would have been as a coupe. My opinion , this car is not worth anything more than what my the parts are worth to fix a real car.
It’s interesting because you, and for now, fourteen others have commented on it.
JO
Number of comments doesn’t make a vehicle interesting. You could get lots of comments on a Yugo by people saying what is this doing on here. But if you keep putting crap like that on the website, people will stop looking
Wrong! They don’t stop looking, they like variety and we’ll continue to offer it. Of course, if these types of posts aren’t your cup of tea, please feel free to move on.
JO
I find it very interesting, as I do everything about BF as we are all different. My preference is for ORIGINAL car finds in any condition, hate what some people do to lovely cars in order to make them into Hot Rods. Shorty’s, Pick-ups etc. but that doesn’t stop me from reading about them. I watch as much as I can of Full Custom Garage where Ian Rousell chops off bits and pieces, roofs, fenders, frame extensions or reductions, window angles etc. you name it and Ian does it. I don’t like what he does to some of the vehicles but I appreciate it immensley on how he does it!
I watch shows like full custom garage as well, but on those shows they are not just trying to recreate an easy to find and affordable version of the same car they started out with.
Are you trying to tell us you don’t like the car?
I’m trying to say it was dumb to create a convertible out of a coupe on a model where there are literally thousands of factory convertibles available and given the condition of this car where the top isn’t even practical according to the seller, you could probably find a real factory convertible with a functional top in driver quality for the same price. Not a GT or a high performance model mind you, but a standard c-code V-8 convertible in this condition doesn’t cost any more than this abomination.
And what’s with the A/C? I mean you can’t work the top right what exactly are you trying to cook with the A/C the entire state of Florida?
Cool not cook. Gotta love spell check too.
With apologies to Resto Mod Lovers, I would say the Mustang is more of a Resto Mod. I did find a little info on the Drivers Seat, Inc. and there were several other companies at the time who sold the Coup/Convertible Kits. The main complaint was that the cowl shook badly at certain speeds. I also found an article about making the conversion and it looked basically like you were replacing all sheet metal from the rear seat back. Replacing quarters, wheel wells, wheel liners, and whatever you would replace, most of the parts needs could be purchased aftermarket (not praising aftermarket parts). Not sure about Mustangs but I would assume they have some kind of extra support underneath, which is probably why convertibles take different frame stiffeners. I would think there would also be different rockers. All that being said, who knows what was done to the Mustang during the conversion? It would certainly need to go to a frame shop. Not a big fan of the top but I don’t why you couldn’t use a factory top. Maybe I missed that. The Mustang having a Pony Interior is a stretch since all it has is Pony seat covers and as stated above, is missing the rest of the Pony parts. Not a big fan of the wheels either but they would look better with trim rings or different wheels. To the untrained eye, this Mustang might look OK but take it to a Ford show to see what the experts think. I am not an expert but to me, the car just doesn’t look quite right. However, for the right price, it might make someone a good local driver at half the price. About 30 years ago, I helped a guy convert a 56 Cadillac Coupe Deville into a 62 Series convertible. We used all stock parts from the convertible on the coupe, including the complete top assembly and windshield assembly. It turned out excellent.
Maybe you could use a factory top, but if you did you would also need factory convertible door windows and quarter window glass. Anyone who has worked on these cars can tell you the quarter windows are shorter on the convertible, and the door windows have a slight taper on the rear edge. This car still has the coupe side glass
Also you say could make a good car for half the price. A real convertible in the same condition as this is not worth 45,000 unless there is something special about it
OPPS…it really is a coupe…the price should reflect that…