Here is a project car which hasn’t seen the light of day in decades, it has just recently been uncovered for the sale. Being sold by the grandchild of the owner, it is located in Indianapolis, Indiana and listed here on eBay with a current bid of $9,100 with reserve not met.
This is definitely a project for the experienced restorer. The pictures don’t really show the car properly. It is listed as having rust in all the usual places. I’m not sure what that means with respect to a car sitting for decades. Pitting on the rear bumper may indicate damp storage. Even though the floors are said to be good, the expression trust but verify could be applied. This car would have to be examined in person to evaluate the torque boxes, floors and cowl area. A simple test for the hidden cowl is to pour a bucket of water down the opening and see if any leaks into the passenger compartment. The pictures do show some concerns with the doors, which could lead to similar problems on the bottom of quarters as well. Surprisingly the interior looks like it may clean up well.
The engine has not run in decades but the seller states it should not take much to get it up and running. I have my doubts, but you won’t know without checking it out closer. Worse case is the engine is seized, but most likely the entire fuel delivery system will need to be rebuilt/replaced. There is no word if the engine turns by hand, so there’s a lot of unknowns. The good news is with this being a Mustang, all new replacement parts are available, many at a local parts store. This car is advertised as a disk brake car, however, the master cylinder has been removed. Moisture has most certainly entered the system and rebuilding the entire brake system should be expected. The engine picture lacks resolution but looks to me like an engine was removed at some point and then placed back in without being hooked up. The car is missing both shock tower braces, rad hoses, belts, and radiator. It is difficult to confirm, but I think the engine is a later 302, with a vent return line on the oil filler cap, and what looks to be a truck water pump. Regardless the engine doesn’t look promising to get it up and running.
I’m not sure of the significance of the word “Chrome” in the title listing. From what we can see, it looks like all chrome needs replacement. To be fair to the seller, they may not have been familiar with cars, but were tasked with selling someone else’s car. Pictures and presentation of the car are poor and assumptions are made that may not apply to this car.
Early Fastbacks are more difficult to find than either coupes or convertibles, but they are out there. The reserve has not yet been met on the auction but bidding has reached a point where it may be more economically feasible to pay for a more road-ready driver which requires less bodywork. Not to discourage any potential buyers, it can be a frustrating hobby to tackle a seemingly never-ending project only to realize it was financially doomed from the beginning. What are your thoughts though?
When you create an eBay Motors listing, there’s a place to enter the “trim.” While most Barn Finds readers would know this means “trim level” and would write “GT” or “SL” or whatever, many sellers seem confused and write “chrome” or “cloth” or some other descriptive term for the car’s interior or exterior trim.
Kevin, great listing, and you hit all the important places where these rustangs live up to their name. Especially the cowl plenum. Ask me how I know..did up a 62 falcon 2 dr wagon, all finished and was working underneath the dash, looked up and saw daylight. humina humina. Bring your fine tooth comb, this one looks good on the outside and I hope its not bad underneath. Good luck to the new owner. Caveat Emptor.
Cheers
GPC
spen-sah!!!
This is absurd; it’s a $2000.00 car maybe or certainly less, not more than that.
$2,000?? Did you just arrive from 1982? Where do you see ANY fastback mustang that cheap??
Im no Mustang expert, but even a casual search on the west coast wont find anything under 10k as even a project. I simply dont understand the rants of over pricing but no references to anything approaching rational fair market prices.
There is many search tools for the internet, at least cite something to support your claims!
Largest swap meet west of the Mississippi is in April here in Portland Oregon, Take a couple days and walk thru both facilities (PIR and Expo) Around 8,000 vendors total + or – and see for yourself, Or other events. Ive been going to events up and down the West coast and aint no Fast back mustangs at even 2x the price.
Car is rough, but given the prices for clone and tribute cars I am seeing, Its a decent start for a project car. FPI needed of course.
Cars.com has 4 of these all solid and nice drivers with great paint. 21-25k now you tell me how this is a 10k car. Just restoring drive train and interior you would be upside down on this pony. I do body work now for 40 years. No way is this car worth over 4k
Well Bobby, As I said, I dont follow the Mustang market closely but fair enough, I spent some time this morning checking your claims.
I used a popular search tool last night (64-68) for ebay and CL and covered 35 states (Didnt bother with east coast and known rust states). I didnt see any projects in the neighborhood of the $2,000 claim, and you bumped it up to $4k, but thats okay cuz I didnt see any there either. Given the volume of resto rides and Eleanor clones in the $35k to $60k range, I am still confident that car has legs up to $10k as a core/project. (Bidding ended north of $10k btw, lets see if it completes the sale, important benchmark)
Now, to be fair, I DID NOT use Cars.com, never have, they dont sell projects that I am aware of. But lets give it a whirl!
So I did this AM, and first try, in 1965 only I ran across a price drop at a dealer for $23k blue & white fastback…hmmmm, maybe you have a point? However that was an outlier. I couldnt find any others near that. I tried multiple searches, (1964-69) and again, tons of the upper end, and did not see much in the $30 k range there, but most $40k and up. After multiple tries I finally gave up because the searches brought up a lot of listings but the site was buggy and a pain to navigate. After 15 min I was done. So I will submit, it is POSSIBLE there is a good driver with passable paint in the $20k to $30k range, but not common. I only saw one and who knows with that one?
As for background? Mines pretty long, FAA licensed and I also cert for teaching. I have been doing body and paint, as well as customs and restos since 1980, Both as side business and professionally. Cars & trucks, airplanes, and mostly high end classic motorcycles the last 15. (You can do 4 bikes in the same space a car takes up). I also volunteer at a museum and put on events. If you are ever in the PNW stop in for a beer and Ill show you our museum complex. We have 12 museums on site and if you get tired of the Car & MC museum, just walk to the next one. The Trucking museum will take you all day alone.
See: http://www.antiquepowerland.com/
(We welcome supporters, new members and if you hold still long enough, will sign you up as a volunteer)
Cheers!
If I had THAT car bid at 9100 I’d take the money and do run run, not to be rude but comon now, thats got all the earmarks of a crusty critter.
Correction to my reply to Bobby,,I ran out of time to edit, But its got 16hrs and is now up to $10,800, But buyers and sellers are not obligated to complete the transaction on vehicles anymore which, IMHO is bull puckey so the point here is,, there is bids but will it actually change hands?
Midwest rust bucket.
Does Robert Urich know his car is missing? Would make a Spencer For
Hire clone out of it just to be different.
Wouldn’t take much and my neice would
be happy too!
I thought the same thing myself!