One of the characteristics that made the 1st generation Mustang such an overwhelming success was that people could jump aboard the Mustang lifestyle at an affordable price. For those people who really couldn’t justify the cost of a car with a V8 engine, they could easily secure the good looks without breaking the bank. Barn Finder Ikey H referred this Mustang that perfectly encapsulates that philosophy to us, so thank you so much for that Ikey. The Mustang is located in Fall River, Massachusetts, and is listed for sale here on Craigslist. The owner is asking a cool $2,600 for this entry-level special.

The Mustang currently wears what appears to be Vail Blue paint, but I don’t believe this is original. There is some evidence to suggest that it may have started life finished in Arcadian Blue, so the car has undergone a repaint at some point. The owner doesn’t make any mention of rust issues with the car, and the photos of the car’s exterior look quite promising. There is also a single shot of the trunk floor, and it also looks pretty good. There is surface corrosion present, but that really does appear to be about it. About the only thing that I find even mildly disconcerting at this point is the fact that the Mustang is wearing what looks like snow tires. This raises the question as to whether the car has been exposed to snow and salt at any point in its life.

When you look at the interior of the Mustang you can see evidence of overspray from the repaint present on the passenger side door trim. This suggests that the repaint was not performed with a lot of care, so has to make you wonder what lies beneath. There will be some restoration work required inside this old classic, but at least it does appear to be original and unmolested. The rear seat looks quite good, as does the dash pad and door trims (apart from the overspray). The dash itself will need some restoration work, while new carpet and covers for the front seats will all be required.

Being the entry-level version, what you get in the Mustang is a 200ci 6-cylinder engine, and 3-speed manual transmission. This is where the news does improve because the owner says that the car does run and drive. Stopping is a whole other story though because the brakes don’t currently work. The braking system on these Mustangs is pretty basic, so rectifying this issue shouldn’t take a lot of work. Of course, with this combination of engine and transmission, this Mustang is not going to set the world alight with its performance, but if there is one saving grace, it’s the fact that at least this isn’t the automatic version. That transmission really does hurt the car’s performance in 6-cylinder guise.

It doesn’t seem like it is that many years ago when many people would buy a Mustang equipped as this one is, and the first thing that they would do would be to shoehorn a bigger engine under the hood. That still happens today, but the 6-cylinder Mustangs have begun to come into their own, and have now become a reasonably popular restorer in their own right. This one will need restoration, but how much work will be required would only be revealed with a personal inspection. With the question marks that are hanging over the quality of the repaint, that’s an option that I would definitely be exercising.