Few U.S. nameplates have sold more than 600,000 copies in a single model year. And one of those would be the 1966 Ford Mustang. Everyone at the company must have been working overtime to produce 607,568 of them along with Falcons, Fairlanes, Galaxies, and more. The seller’s convertible has been laid up for the past 20 years but looks fine except for the paint (which was a color change). It’s a California “black plate” registration from Simi Valley and the Ford is available here on eBay for $21,000 OBO.
Introduced at the New York World’s Fair in April 1964, the Mustang proved to be an instant hit. A small, sporty car that has seen a variety of iterations over the years and is still in production more than 60 years later. Ford built more than 72,000 Mustang convertibles in 1966 of which three-quarters were the “standard” model like this one. The seller calls it a “semi” barn find because it’s been in storage for two decades, but not necessarily in a barn.
To help it get back into the daylight, new parts have been added including the radiator, fuel pump, and battery. It still needs a fluids change, tune-up, and tires, but will run and drive the way it is (for short hops). For some odd reason, a previous owner dumped the original, gorgeous Tahoe Turquoise paint in favor of a rather uninspiring coat of grey which has seen better days (I’d go back to the turquoise).
The black interior in this Mustang looks original and quite nice and the car has a power top which we’re told works as it should. If you were to purchase this Ford, you’d become only its fourth owner in 58 years. This is one of the nicer first-generation Mustangs that we’ve seen unmolested, and we assume the 289 V8 and automatic transmission are original.
That quarter panel looks like it has a gallon of bonds on it!
Don’t hit any potholes!!!
The doors have been replaced. You can kind of tell that the exterior paint doesn’t match but the white paint on the interior side is a dead giveaway.
$21k is to much for this stang. There is definitely something lurking under that paint. You are going to have at least another $10k if not more to finish this one. You can get a nice Fox body convertible for that money.
Well that’s kinda apples and oranges. There is a strong chance that someone looking for an early mustang has zero interest in getting a fox body. The fox body generation was and is still somewhat popular, but anyone being honest about it has to admit they look the least like mustang than any other generation. People slam the mustang ii all the time but at least it actually looks like a mustang with its styling.
The Mustang II looked like an early Mustang the same way a Match Box car does. If you want to go classic the first gen is the only way to go, but if you want value for your money, plus modern amenities and driveability, and a V8 with EFI that’s trouble free then Fox is the way to go. But you know I was going to say that. 🦊
To Fox Owner. Your comment about modern fuel injection, drivability, and affordability was true about 10 years ago, but now newer generations have better fuel injection, drivability, and have become as affordable as the Fox considering that most fox body cars are so old now they will need work, with a bonus of significantly better engine designs and horsepower.
While not the worst Mustang offered, it is not that special other than being a convertible. The paint being worn is the understatement of the year, and the poor quality pictures do not show how bad it is. Looks like it was painted with spray cans. The left rear corner looks like it was sculpted out of clay. I think this would need a personal inspection to verify the complete body and underside condition.
Being a black plate car means nothing to me, but perhaps to someone in California it does – but not enough to add value to the sale.
Where are the chrome pieces that belong on the rear quarter ?
They were not on all the cars in 1966, just most. You could order the exterior decor group that deleted that piece and had a pin stripe instead. With this being a repaint it could have been one with an original pin stripe instead, or the holes were filled in or quarter panels replaced at the repaint time. But just because it’s missing doesn’t mean it was ever even there.
On this car i say filled in and i have a all orig. 66′