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Garage Collapse: 1978 Ford Mustang Rallye

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At one time, this 1978 Ford Mustang Rallye package here on eBay lived a quiet life in a carport, accumulating a mere 47,041 miles from new. Then, the safety of its storage was shattered when the garage collapsed and gave this pretty pony car the bruises you see here. Unfortunately, the roof collapsing on the car smashed the left T-top glass and dented the top of the windshield. Is it worth repairing? The car is located in Washington state with the reserve unmet. 

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The interior on this Mustang looks fantastic. Given how many of these we’ve seen over the years with roached-out insides, this is a refreshing change of pace. Tan is not an easy color to keep clean after all of these years, so that carport must have done a good job of protecting the Mustang from sun damage before it collapsed. The steering wheel looks mint as well, and you have to love a seller who actually vacuumed the car out before posting pictures of it! The Rallye packaged consistent of some handling improvements and color-coordinated cloth seats.

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Now, for the really bad news: it’s a six-cylinder. The seller says the car feels pretty gutless, which I don’t think will be affected by his recommendation of a proper tuneup. None of the engines in this Mustang range were particularly powerful, but at least the V8 could get up and go when provoked. Unless you swap this motor out, plan on owning a leisurely cruiser vehicle – configurations like these are why the lower-spec Mustangs have sometimes earned the title of being a secretary’s car. Still, with the T-tops popped out and the windows down, I’d be fine with taking my time.

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In my opinion, the real attraction is the clean body and interior, low miles and T-top roof. Unfortunately, that roof is going to be one of the bigger challenges. My suspicion is that fixing that section of the windshield can be tricky, given it’s already a bit weaker structurally thanks to the T-tops. Or perhaps it’s an easy fix, because access is so generous. I’ll leave it up to our readers to weigh in on whether fixing this Mustang’s bruises are a walk in the park or painful enough that it renders this ’78 Rallye package a part-out candidate. What do you think?

Comments

  1. Avatar Wayne Thomas

    Always think of the V10 Mustang when I see one of these 70’s cars.

    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PGoZlICY_6Q/maxresdefault.jpg

    Like 0
  2. Avatar jim s

    if it is an easy fix the seller would have already fixed it or posted a body shop estimate on the ebay listing. without the damage the car would have made someone a daily driver. interesting find.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar piper62j

    I actually like this car.. the roof issue doesn’t bother me.. I’ve worked on plenty and the most difficult are convertibles.. Not sure if a T-Top panel is still available.. haven’t looked.. If this engine is tired, it’s worth pulling and overhauling it.. Slap in a turbo supercharger and away you go..

    The colors are especially clean and the body lines look great.. I’d still inspect the floor and trunk pans.. Not only do convertible top owners forget to put the top up when it rains, but so do T-Top owners..

    Nice find and IMHO,, nice car.

    Like 1
  4. Avatar AMCSTEVE

    Automatic, boooo

    Like 0
  5. Avatar DA

    Nice for a sporty Pinto.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar DREW V.

    If you can find a donor car with a good T-top roof panel, it is a fairly easy to swap out the roof panels…. If someone is concerned about the T-top you could always replace the T-Top roof with a solid roof panel (far easier to find in the salvage yard than the T roof panel…

    Like 0
  7. Avatar JW454

    There are two of these T top cars in a junk yard not too far me. One still has it’s tops. The other one has been picked over but the “T” roof sheet metal is still there. My Mustang interest goes from ’67~’70 so this one wouldn’t be on my want list.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar Van

    I suggest a 5.0 from the 80s. In stock form the power would be enough.
    I’m not a fan of mustang IIs but this one looks good. Add 17″ wheels and this would be a fun car.
    These cars were stars on Charlies Angeles. Surely there’s a blonde that could rock a Ferrah Fawcett.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Jesper

    Its not nessesery to cut the roof of it. Cut avay the outer plate, where the dent is, and weld in a new plate.
    Change the whole roof, is foolish.
    There isnt a day work in that repair.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar piper62j

    Glorified Pinto or not.. This one is sharp. (The car,,, not the model)..

    Like 0
  11. Avatar BillB

    Bidding at $2K with 4 days left. The reserve must have been taken away. It could be a steal for someone. Add a built 302, T-5 Trans and subframe connectors. 300hp really moves these cars along.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar ronebee

    Cool

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Richard Brown

    This seller is flipping the car. He just got it from the original owner. He says he has done nothing to the car since he got it…

    Like 0
  14. Avatar BCG 1

    Was it a garage or a carport? Big difference.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar RoughDiamond

    I think the risk in buying any car from a flipper is that in most cases they are not concerned about getting or furnishing specific details. The less they know the less they have to disclose and all they’re looking for is a mark to move the vehicle along.

    Like 0
  16. Avatar Jubjub

    Always liked these gold on white or black especially on it’s German brethren the Capri. Rebuild this 2.8 to good Euro spec. It’ll be alright.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Paul

    In my opinion, as a pony lover, I believe Ford was trying to pull the plug on the Mustang with this body style, they just did not want to do it on their own but have the customers buy Camaro’s instead. Lucky, for some, that was not the case and the Pony Car lived on and Ford got smarter with the styling. Thus, Camaro lovers bought Mustang’s instead.

    Like 0
  18. Avatar steve

    I had a 77 with the same engine and a four speed. For the era of the car, it was quiet sprightly and didn’t handle bad either.

    Like 0

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