Located in Martinsburg, West Virginia and listed for sale here on eBay is this 1968 Mustang. Offered with a clear title, the seller has set a BIN of $8,000 but there is an option to make an offer.

I think that the first thing that impresses me with both this car and the seller is that they don’t try to be what they aren’t. The odometer on this Mustang sits at 45,000 miles, but the seller is not trying to hit potential buyers with a “45,000 genuine miles” claim. They clearly state that the car has 145,000 on the clock. They also clearly state that the car has rust spots, but they claim that this old Ford has always been garage kept so that potentially this rust has been kept to a minimum. Of course being a Mustang I would certainly be checking all of the usual places that Mustangs hide their nasty surprises that they can spring on unsuspecting buyers. The paint is showing some signs of crazing in places, but the body appears to be straight and panel gaps are consistent. One variation from the standard is the Cragar wheels. I honestly don’t actually mind them, but I’m glad to say that the owner is including the original wheels with the car.

The interior, which is original, seems to present quite well. One nice touch is that this particular Mustang was ordered with the optional leather seats which are notoriously long-lived if cared for properly. The dash and dash pad looks to be in good condition. The photo quality is grainy, so it is hard to tell whether there are some issues with the top of the passenger side door card, or if it’s a trick of the light. What the photo quality doesn’t hide is the cover on the steering wheel or the seam separation on the edge of the driver’s seat back.

Under the hood resides that sweet little 289ci engine. It is backed by an automatic transmission and also features power steering. The engine is largely stock except for the addition of Tri-Y headers and a Flowmaster dual exhaust. The owner states that the car has been well maintained, but that the engine hasn’t been started for five years. The condition of the engine bay is a pretty fair reflection on both the mileage of this car and the fact that it has been sitting for an extended period. I’m really glad that this Mustang is structurally sound. I’ve looked at some examples where those spider’s webs would be considered structural.

One of the things that I really like when I am looking at a car that I am considering buying either as a daily driver or as a potential project, is to open the trunk and find that any genuine trunk mats, covers or accessory bags are not only intact but in decent condition. As you can imagine the sight of this trunk made me pretty happy. It all looks rather neat for a 50-year-old car. However, I am trying to work out if that’s rust that I can see at the bottom of the left-hand wheel tub just near where it meets the trunk floor.

As with all earlier Mustangs, I would want to check out all of the usual places before I considered buying this particular car. If it all checks out as solid then it could be a sound base for a project car. One thing that I will say is that taking a look at what is for sale in the way of similarly equipped ’68 Mustangs across the USA once again produced a wide variance in prices that I’ve talked about previously. I refined my search down to purely what was for sale in West Virginia and found exactly the same trend. Having said that, if you are a person who is handy on the tools and this cars is in sound condition, it may be a project that you can take on with confidence, and the end result would be a classic car that you can go on to enjoy for many years.