Shhhh. Don’t say “Mustang” around this car, because it isn’t one. What? It looks an awful lot like a 1967 Mustang coupe. The familiar body lines, the taillights, the pony and corral in the grill. Well, it is, of course, a Mustang, but it can’t be called one, because it, along with other early Mustang models starting with the first year of production, was destined for Germany. In that country, the name “Mustang” was already owned by a trucking company, so Ford grabbed an early internal designation for the Mustang, T5, and used that as the model name. If that kind of history intrigues you, you can find this 1967 T5 (Mustang) here on eBay hailing from Binghamton, NY, with a starting bid at $9500 and no takers as of yet. Thanks for the tip on this oddity of Mustang history, Jon Gaffney.

So what is a T5? A Mustang with use of the word deleted from badging, and T5 emblems plus letters spelling out “FORD” on the lower front fenders. A car with Euro-style reflectors on the front fenders and rear valence. No “MUSTANG” lettering on the trunk lid. And a Shelby-style export brace bolted under the hood. According to the Marti report included with this sale, this T5 is one of only 453 made during the 1967 model year. That’s exceedingly rare in the scope of overall Mustang production. Just for comparison, this car’s paint code, Nightmist Blue, was sold on over 14,000 Mustangs in 1967.

But despite this interesting history, there are no bidders. Maybe that’s because of the tin worm plaguing this somewhat rare pony car. The car is in its original paint, though there’s nothing left of it worth preserving, but if you buy it, you’ll inherit a huge rust problem. The ad says it’s very solid except for the driver’s floor. That’s an underestimation born of not knowing Mustangs.  Here’s the real deal: the driver’s floor is gone, but what’s in front of that is what’s expensive and difficult to fix. This car is leaking from the cowl, a common Mustang issue, and that has rotted it out underneath the area forward of the pedals. The only fix is to drill out the welds of the cowl vent and go inside to make the fix. Labor-intensive? You bet (easy to see by searching it up). On this car, the rockers at the trailing edge of the driver’s door (at least) are also rotted through, and that means structure is lost. This is not a body-on-frame car. Thus, all of that bad metal will have to be cut out, and it’s impossible to know until the first cut is made how far back the torch will have to reach.

Is this car worth saving? Out of respect for its unusual heritage, sure. Note that the interior is pretty good, and the seller notes that the car runs, drives, and brakes. Undoubtedly, you’d be the only one at a show with a T5, should you spring for it. But you’re not getting there easily or cheaply, and you’d likely be way upside down for a long time, value-wise, in a car that, in the end, is just a 289-powered Mustang coupe. I mean T5 coupe.