As soon as I saw this find, I knew I wanted to write it up! My mother drove a 1967 Mustang coupe in the same Wimbledon White color scheme for many years, and I wish I had it now (289, factory cold A/C, beautiful shape). Unfortunately, Mom’s Mustang went for a trade on a 1976 Ford Elite long before I had my driver’s license. This one is listed for sale here on craigslist and is located in New Bern, North Carolina. The asking price is $14,500; let’s see if the car is worth that kind of money!
The owner doesn’t offer much on the history of the car apart from that it’s been in their garage for a while. I did some research on what the “J-code” is on a 1968 Mustang, and it’s actually quite desirable; only 21,683 J-code coupes for the ’68 model year were produced. The code means the car was equipped with a 302-cubic-inch V8 and a four-barrel carburetor. The engine was upgraded from the standard 302 with flat-top pistons, an iron 4V intake manifold, the 4300 4V carburetor, and a specially curved distributor. That happens to be the exact same engine fitted to the early 1968 Shelby GT-350s until a Cobra high-rise manifold and Holley carburetor were EPA-approved. Looking at the car from this angle, we can see that there’s damage to the rear valence below the bumper as well as a lot of dust and dirt. The seller characterizes the body as “straight and solid”; while a closer look is certainly in order, I don’t see anything in these pictures to dispute that claim.
Okay, I admit to including this picture simply for the weird hot dog vehicle behind the Mustang. It does, however, show off the same hood that was on my mom’s ’67 with blinker lights set into the hood for the driver to see. I thought they were cool–still do, for that matter!
The seller points out that the interior is original and in pretty good shape. I would agree, but I really don’t understand why sellers don’t spend a little time cleaning what they are selling. Sigh. You can faintly see the passenger-side vent below the dash for the factory air conditioning (in unknown condition, plan on fixing it). The Mustang is equipped with an automatic transmission, power steering, and disc brakes. While it’s not a GT 4-speed, this is a pretty nice set of options.
While the underhood appearance isn’t tremendously clean, it does look almost completely original. It’s always encouraging when the air conditioning belt is still in place; there’s hope the compressor is still usable. A lot of these cars no longer have the original equipment air cleaner as well, so that’s nice to see. What do you think about this J-code coupe?
Probably worth the money and an EXCELLENT write up! Thanks.
$14,500 would’ve purchased the front row of any dealership in 68—but I get it, times are changing! This is a pretty rare little bird worth restoring back to her glory days.
Remember that was 1968 – $14,500 would be considerbly
more in 2023.
That would be about 124 K in today’s funny money. Wouldn’t even buy the front row of a Hyundai dealership today. Might buy 3 SUV’s…….lol.
Too bad this ‘Stang doesnt have a 3/4 speed., but it sure looks like a good grocery getter.
so true in 1968 I bought a brand new Torino gt fast back 390 4 speed gold black side stripe love that car was $3200 out the door had bucket seats and Firestone wide oval white wall tires plus much more ps pdb great car
Id buy it in a minute for that. These are great little collectors especially with that engine combo, did not see the mileage ?? or did i miss that.
The Craigslist posting states the mileage as 85,000. However, it also states the car’s paint color is blue.
Probably was originally blue. The bright aluminum molding has been painted.
can anyone tell me how many j code 68 falcons were made?
Yep , that’s a Mustang alright.
I have a ’68 J-code convertible, but I’ve never considered it to be all that rare, since about 15% of 1968 convertibles were so equipped. My car also has the turn signal repeaters in the hood, which I still love to see light up. Ford tried the hood-mounted turn signal repeaters again in 2016, but the hood slopes so severely that the right-side light wasn’t visible from the driver’s seat.
Mother in law had one like this . Made a mistake and took it to Earl Scheib for a $29.95 paint job. They painted over moldings and the hood turn signals.
it”s gone!!!
Now, I know what a J-code Mustang is…..