The Ford Mustang debuted in 1964 and set the market on its ear. The affordable, sporty little car quickly had buyers lining up to place an order, and nearly 1.3 million copies would be sold in less than two and half years. From the car’s door tag, this 1965 Mustang was assembled in April 1964 – just about the same time that the product line was unveiled at the New York World’s Fair. From the seller’s description, it’s not a show car but more like a daily driver which has spent a lot of time in garage storage since 1995.
An ongoing debate in Mustang circles is that the “ponies” built before the Fall of 1964 were the so-called “1964 ½” models. But all Mustangs produced before the little-changed 1966 editions came out were all titled 1965 cars. The seller says this ’65 Mustang has a 289 cubic inch V8 which may have been one of the first cars to have it as the 260 was only offered for the first few months. And this Mustang has a 4-speed manual transmission whereas a 3-speed was likely the biggest seller.
Overall, the condition of this car looks good. There are minimal signs of rust, and the gold paint seems to have held up, though we don’t know if it’s the coat the car left the factory with. The same can be said of the black luxury interior though the original radio has been extracted, leaving a hole in the middle of the dashboard. The seller says the Ford runs and drives, but we’re not told how well it accomplishes these tasks.
You could probably tool around in this Mustang the way it is. Or perhaps it could provide a solid foundation for a restoration if you have the money and time to expend. One unexplained issue with the automobile is that it comes with a reconstructed title. Why did the title have to be rebuilt and when? The Mustang resides in a garage in Alexandria, Pennsylvania, and is available here on eBay where $5,600 is the bid to beat (no reserve).
Salvage title
Reconstructed actually. A little different.
Here in PA a reconstructed title is usually issued when a car that has been totaled by the insurance company is brought back to life. So the question is what caused the car to be totaled? Was it in an accident? Was it in a flood? Or something else? When did this happen? How was the car repaired? These are all questions that anyone interested in this car should be asking.
Exactly.
Buyer beware.
Lots of red bits peeking out from under the gold for starters. Floors need attention … you’d definitely want to check the torque boxes.
Author’s comment that this car has a 289, but only the 260 was available for the first few months makes no sense, since this car was assembled in April of ‘64.
I think 260s and 289s, as well as 170s were available at first, then the 260 was dropped, but I haven’t verified that.
Through 9/24/64 the 170 six and 260 v8 was available. After that, it was the 200 and 289. I also noticed it has a generator.
Looking at the engine and the surroundings, I would say this car was in a flood, the rust on the engine parts is crazy for a car that’s been parked in a garage!
I don’t see a lot of rust, though, some rot underneath and surface rust. And it already has the PA purple antique tag, which means it has had the same owner for awhile, as the purple ones stopped being issued some years ago. The tags can be transferred, however, so maybe not same owner, but that leads to some truth to being sheltered. This one does look like a deal for a driver. It’s located in western half of PA near Altoona. I don’t need another old car but if I did it would be tempting.
It looks OK BUT I think this car is full of surprises for the new owner. The facts just don’t ad up 1965 with a 289, I don’t think so. Four speed what? Thirteen thousand miles and a repaint. I guess at less than 6 K ,the buyer can roll the dice. Do you feel lucky?
The listing says that the car has 96,000 miles on it.
Not sure what you see wrong with it nor where you got the 13,000 miles figure. ” The facts just don’t ad up 1965 with a 289, I don’t think so. Four speed what? “. The VIN clearly identifies it as an early production car with an April of 1964 build date and a D code 4V 289 and it still has a generator. My last one was built a little over a month later on May 26, 1964. The ad claims 96,000 miles not 13,000. Personally I’d be most concerned with the work I see it needs underneath for rust repair and abatement. The photos aren’t great and I suspect there is more work there than is shown. I doubt it a numbers matching engine as it has the wrong timing cover on it. Early cars had the oil filler on the timing cover and not through a cap on the valve cover. My last car also had the wrong cover on it and the casting dates didn’t match the production date. We always assumed it was a warranty replacement engine but had no way to confirm it.
Is that a generator or alternator? That would solve whether this is an early’65 with a 289 from factory.
It’s a generator and the VIN is for a D code 4V 289 built in April of 1964 so that all is correct for an early car. It also has the louvers on the passenger side of the core support which is correct for a generator car. The timing cover is wrong but I’ve seen that happen before on my last car and likely means the engine is not the original.
all you have to do is look at the vin and it will tell you everything
D code 289 4v V8 4
trans code 5 4 speed manual
How do you know if this vehicle was built in April of ‘64 when many of us thought only 260’s were available?
The seller includes a photo of the door data plate. It shows a date code of 17D. That means the car was built on April 17, 1964. It also shows a DSO code of 71. That means that the car was first sent to the LA (California) area. Another question to ask the seller is how and when did the car find its way to PA?
the 289 was available in 1964 with a 2V, 4V, and the 271hp Hipo. This car was production 115702 out of the same plant mine was a month later with VIN 148090. The other ” Tell ” is the build date code is 17D. The letter denotes the month and because legally they were all 1965 models though production began in March of 64` Ford Started the year 1964 with A for January, B February, C March, D April, and continued Mustang build date codes all of the way through to the end of the 1965 so the cars built in the calendar year 65` have codes from the second half of the alphabet.
Tires could use some Pepsodent.
I think y’all are being pretty hard on this car. This is a real 1964.5 Mustang, or at least the data plate is from one 😀. It was Mustang No. 15,702 built at the Dearborn plant. Order received at the factory April 17, 1964 (D17). Mustang production started in March so they were really cranking these babies out!
D code 289 was available alongside the 260, only installed in Mustangs built before August/September 1964, when switch to A and C code happened. Some D codes had alternators and some had generators. Whether this is the original engine, who knows, but the gold valve covers are correct. Exterior color checks out, no chrome on leading edge of hood, etc.
Concerning – no feedback except one as a buyer……
Why a ‘reconstructed title’?
On a car this old a reconstructed title doesn’t bother me, of course a good look at the car is required. Who knows what happened, maybe in 1979 it was lightly sideswiped and the insurance paid out. After all what was this car worth back then? Look at the junk that’s resurrected with clean paperwork.