Few cars have had the success of the Ford Mustang. You would be hard-pressed to find any domestic automobiles that would best the sales year that the Mustang had in 1966 – 607,568 units. That works out to 1,665 Mustangs being delivered every day of the week on average. This 2+2 fastback is in exceptional condition and has a laundry list of some rather obscure options which surely made this a specially ordered car. And, yet the buyer opted for the standard inline-six engine rather than go for at least a 289. Located in Wyandotte, Michigan, this Candy Apple Red survivor is offered here on eBay where the bidding has reached an impressive $25,200. But the reserve has yet to be triggered.
Everything that goes up must eventually come down, and sales of the Mustang would trickle down from 1967-on as competition flooded the market and the novelty of a sporty compact car would begin to wear thin. But in 1966, Ford could do no wrong. While the coupe was the clear favorite of the body styles the Mustang come in, 34,708 of them would be the fastback, and of those 7,889 were considered the luxury edition with a fancier interior. We believe the seller’s car falls into that last bucket.
When the original owner went into the Ford showroom to buy this 1966 car, he either found just this one car that happened to be on the lot, or he placed an order for it. I, too, had a ’66 Mustang and my car didn’t have any of this stuff. The list of rather specific “nice-to-have” kinds of items include the following, although some could have been added by the dealer:
- Pony emblem in the front grille that lights up, along with bumper-mounted fog lights
- Mustang hood ornament and fender-mounted turn signal indicators
- Lights under the hood and inside the trunk
- Rally Pac instrument cluster
- Pony interior with headrests (never saw those before)
The air conditioning could have been dealer-added as they were both under-the-dash units either way through 1968. The seller has repaired or replaced several items before putting the 96,000-mile car up for sale. That includes a Flowmaster dual exhaust (does that help an inline engine?), completely new brakes, alternator, water pump, bearings, and voltage regulator, to name a few.
This is a very solid-looking car inside and out. The seller, who has owned the Mustang for about five years, tells us the car received a repaint about 20 years ago. Since he’s had it, it’s primarily been used for car shows and the like. I still can’t get over my surprise to find the six under the hood. Not that it’s a bad engine. My Mustang had the same motor and I put tens of thousands of miles on it. In Excellent condition, Hagerty pegs one of these cars at about where the bidding currently lies. I suppose all the extras could help goose the value a bit, but a 289 under the hood would put it in a different kind of territory, I believe.
Oh, this one should have had a 289! Weird optioning. Nice car, but that six takes away from it, I think.
All those “rare” exterior accessories seem really tacky
to me,& ruin the clean lines of the car.
All of those “rare” accessories,to me,ruin the
clean lines of this car.
Sorry for the double post,but my post didn’t show up until
after I did the second one.
Ford was ahead of it’s time by using those oversized Sony bluetooth speakers as headrests
In the 80’s and early-90’s adding options was a big thing when restoring 60’s cars. Even now people like to add various popular options. This car was likely built in that manner, unless paperwork shows otherwise. Though unique, many of the obscure options do little if nothing to increase the cars value. It’s like whoever built it was trying to hard to get attention, a little more restraint on their part wouldn’t have hurt.
Steve R
Were those wheels available in ’66? And how did a 6 cyl Mustang end up with 5 lug wheels?
They were added at the same time the other options were.
Steve R
So they changed the drums/spindles and axles just to use those wheels? Strange.
Considering that there were no decent looking OE 4 lug choices available, it was a wise move.
Steve R
The styled steel wheels were V8 only from the factory, per the brochure. So someone has modified this 6 cyl car to take them, as the sixes came with four-lug, not five-lug, wheels.
It needs the 289 to be worth the 25K
No, it does not.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1965-ford-mustang-convertible-70/
It’s already bid to $31,100 with the reserve not met – so the market is telling us it’s worth considerably more than $25,000 without a 289.
Does no one else see this as a car with a bunch of tacked on after market parts? Back lit Pony grill? Head rests, Citroen style headrests, bumper mounted bold on fog lights? Bunch of JC Whitney gear on this one……
Reproduction, perhaps, but not aftermarket. The Ford accessories catalog shows the illuminated grille emblem, headrests, spotlight, and fender-mounted turn signal indicators.
I’m inclined to believe that the vast majority of the accessories were added during restoration, including the styled wheels (not available from the factory with the 6) and the deluxe interior.
Looks to me like the dealer had aJC Whitney catalog on the sow room floor.
This is an exceptional car. All of the accessories that are giving so many of you vapors can be easily removed.
The six doesn’t bother me at all. It’s the over the top add-ons and the questionable changes that may have been made.
I would say the 140 mph speedo in combo with the strait 6 makes this the rarest mustang on the face of the earth! lol Factory mistake?
I would have thought the motor has 2 sets of 3 pipe headers. Would be loud with those mufflers, i would think.
What is a translok shifter?!
Is THAT type of AM – 8 track radio rare?
I see some sort of release lever to the left of driver’s seat on the floor – either for the gas cap(is that really a locking one?) or for trunk release.
Glad there’s no vinyl roof. Or fender skirts …
http://www.mustangevolution.com/attachments/imageuploadedbymustang-evolution1420608064-329281-jpg.173074/
All 1966 Mustangs came with 140mph Speedo, regardless of engine installed.
The “enhancements” are pretty bad, though I do like the 5-lug hubs and wheels…it’s well out of my price range, though.
The fender skirts have to be the worst thing I have ever seen !
Stephan, you are comparing it to a convertible, of course the convertible is worth more. I’m sorry but a true pony car should have a V8
Brian
No, in the case of 65 and 66 Mustangs, the fastbacks command a premium over convertibles.
Please don’t misunderstand, I think the rest of the car is beautiful
I guess to each his own, but we have both seen people pay more then a car is worth at times, all you need is a guy that used to own the same car when he was in high school and then all bets are off. I’ve seen two guys at Barrett Jackson get into a bidding war and the price jumps way up past its true value.
Again anyone who buys it can drop in the 289 and the car would be outstanding.
A car is “worth” what the highest bidder pays in a free market.
This car will be “worth” comfortably > $30,000. If it had a 289, comfortably >$40,000.
BaT is a reasonably fair and efficient market. If you do a 65-66 Mustang results search on BaT, the numbers will speak for themselves.
$31,000. Reserve not met …