If you thought special editions and dealer dress-up was something new, you’d be mistaken. When Ford was rolling out the California Special Mustangs, complete with Shelby-look bodywork and other trim enhancements, it took the same recipe and called it the High Country Special for customers in the western U.S. This example is said to be one of just 251 made and is available here on craigslist for $19,500 OBO.
The High Country was sold to residents in just three states, those being Colorado, Wyoming and western Nebraska. Featuring distinctive colors that were concocted with the geography in mind (Aspen Gold, Columbine Blue, or Timberline Green), the High Country is a curiosity among the landscape of special edition vehicles. As seen here, it wears the distinctive rear tail section and side scoops, along with a custom stripe, just like the California Special. The seller is relocating and can’t take the Mustang with them, which is why this 289-equipped example is for sale.
The seller describes the High Country as needing some TLC, but any weak spots in its condition aren’t immediately obvious to us. The 289 is said to be rebuilt, and with a few tasteful performance upgrades. The seller also notes he came into ownership of the car fairly recently, and while he has parts for the unnamed “areas of improvement,” those fixes will be up to the next owner. The Marti Report is included as well, and the seller has provided a fair amount of documentation with the car. Our favorite part: the advertisement showing how the High Country’s were originally delivered.
Except there was one step before they arrived via transporter: the High Country’s were supposedly carted by diesel locomotive, “…pulling the 22 tri-level railcars loaded with nothing but Mustangs, mostly hardtops, a mere handful of convertibles, and one(!) fastback, over the Rockies.” Credit goes to HighCountryMustang.com for that little morsel of Mustang history. For $19,500, this High Country looks like an ideal combination of rarity, fun and not-afraid-to-drive-it usability.
Nice.
Nice….but trunk doesn’t seem to close properly…
Who puts hood pins on a trunk? Maybe someone else was trying to set a land speed record in reverse??
http://www.autos.ca/general-news/super-7-challenges-speed-records/
Not a bad deal. The trunk should be an easy fix if the quarter hasn’t been clobbered.
I would be very leery of this one. Items to pay attention to; 1) not painted the original color of Gulfstream aqua, 2) top of fender aprons have rusted through, 3) VIN tag on dash looks to be a repop by Marti, 4) rear deck lid is not original and they are using hood pins to get it to seal (fitment on the repops is horrible and mostly not correctable), 5) Hood is not original.
It also looks as though the owner has another similar build in the background of one of the photos and this car could likely be the rusted counterpart or evil twin where they put a little lipstick on the pig to get rid of it and keep the clean one. I’d ask for numerous pics of areas that are prone to rust before I even thought of buying.
You have a heck of a keen eye, I couldn’t see the rust in the shock tower till I looked twice, great eye !
I may buy it just to fix the trunk alignment on the left side. It makes my selective OCD go wild. (Selective OCD – only certain things in my life have to be absolutely perfect…. the rest is total chaos.)
Being from Colorado, I remember the high country specials, I just assumed it was a tag the dealer screwed on to raise the price of the car.
That chrome bar brace from fender to fender has 6 holes for mounting but only has two bolts holding it on. Not very useful IMO, besides I never seen one in the Mustangs back in the day. It looks like a runaway from it as fast as you can car.
It was for sale once before on ebay for 17k. Wonder why it didn’t sell for less than current asking price … The car is close to me here in NorCal. If it is still on the market, a friend if mine is going to look at it this weekend. I will report back what he finds good or bad.