In the mid-1960s, you had to be hiding under a rock not to notice the sensational new Ford Mustang. It coined the term “pony car” and saw more than 1.3 million copies built in just 1964-66 alone. This nice-looking convertible was built in early 1965 during the “official” first year of the car (some had been built in 1964 and are often referred to as 1964½ models). Cosmetically solid, this ’65 Mustang hadn’t been started for years, so the motor went bad and the seller began to take it apart before health issues stopped work. Located in Windsor, Colorado, this Tropical Turquoise treat is available here on eBay where the bidding hovers at $12,999.
More than 65,000 drop-tops with body code 76A (for standard convertible) were produced in 1965. This is one of them and it came with a routine interior when new, but someone switched up to the “pony” interior when a cosmetic restoration must have taken place. We’re told the seller bought this Ford about a year ago and it’s been in his/her garage ever since. The prior owner didn’t bother to start it, so the engine became unusable, a 289 cubic inch V8 with a 4-barrel carburetor and a C4 automatic transmission. The 289 is in pieces and the seller suspects the tranny will need attention, too.
Other mechanical work that the seller has identified includes the bushings in the front end and the power convertible top is not operational. Also, one of the side windows is stuck and the door panel may need to come off to facilitate a repair. That being said, the body looks to be great as is the paint though there are some chips in places that would be associated with long-term storage. But there may be some cracking body filler in the trunk floor that looks suspicious, However, the Pony passenger compartment looks tidy though there is a lot of turquoise going on.
Spare parts will come with the deal, such as a new electronic distributor and intake manifold that the seller hadn’t gotten around to using. If you’re looking for history, you’re not going to get much as the seller bought the car mostly as you see it with no background information. The odometer reading at just shy of 100,000 miles. If you’re handy with engines, putting this car back together could result in a nice weekend cruiser. It even has air conditioning, though who needs it with the top down?
Whatever is on the trunk floor appears to be black under the blue paint. I think it’s a glob of seam sealer or undercoating sloppily applied at the factory. There’s no way they would have pulled this car off the line to correct a flaw that would be covered by paint and a trunk mat.
If the area of seam sealer noted is behind the right rear wheel tub, that’s a gigantic amount. I’d want to know for sure.
At any rate, I hope someone gets this out of the sellers hands before he starts doing anything else besides dismantling the engine. Parts get lost. The underside looks OK, but it’s covered in undercoat, so it’s hard to tell.
Nice enough little ‘vert.
Not a bad car. It’s an A-code so it’s the 289 4 barrel. The A/C is incorrect, and the seat covers are wrong for this car, but it should be an easy fix and decent local car show entry.
Funny…..pony seat covers BUT not pony door panels…..
That’s why I said wrong seat covers, it’s a standard interior car. Not Pony (which is actually just what people call it, Ford didn’t call it Pony Interior, they called it the “Interior Decor Group” and it included a lot more than just seats and door panels)
Per the data plate, this is convertible was built with the standard interior (76A), was originally “Honey Gold” (C), and the interior was white with palomino trim (D9). Honey Gold isn’t the prettiest color, but the white interior would have set it off nicely.
For the right person, this could be a great opportunity, provided that there’s no hidden rust or damage. If you can get it quickly, before the existing owner loses any more of the parts, you might be able to save it for not too much money. The engine will need a thorough inspection, to ensure that everything is assembled correctly, and updates to the cylinder heads, or replacing the heads with high-performance parts to ensure compatibility with unleaded go-juice are a must. Adding a hot cam with port fuel injection, electronic ignition, a set of headers and a low restriction dual exhaust will really wake this baby up! Just make sure that the transmission, drive shaft and rear end have been upgraded to handle the extra power, or the trip will be short when the transmission or rear end self destructs under the strain.
As for the trunk issues, the rear bumper is curved inward, makes me believe this got hit sometime in the past. Maybe why the color was changed, shows fewer problems.