The Venice Beach community of Los Angeles, California is were this 1975 Ford Mustang II Ghia is located. It can be found on Craigslist with an asking price of $1,000. This car was stored in a garage for eight years and is ready for you to take it home to your garage.
Talk about a car that gets no love, here’s a top-ten candidate for sure. I personally like these, but you knew that already. I had a model of a 1975 Mustang II when I was a kid and that cemented (no pun intended) these cars into my psyche. Of course I love rubber-burning muscle cars, but I like oddball vehicles even more, ones that a person doesn’t see every day. This is one of those oddball vehicles. Speaking of oddball, or maybe fireball, I’m not sure what’s going on with the paint color on the front of the hood? Ford sold just under 200,000 Mustang IIs in 1975, the 9th most of any Mustang. 52,320 of those were Ghia models like this one.
This is the only decent photo in the ad, unfortunately, and there are no interior photos at all. But, from what I see here it looks pretty nice. The vinyl top looks a little faded/burnt and if you’re going to have a Mustang II Ghia you’ll want to redo that. Ford made the Mustang II from 1973 to 1978 in both coupe, like this one, and fastback/hatchback body styles like the Cobra version that Jill (Farrah Fawcett) drove on Charlie’s Angels. The Ghia coupe was also featured in Charlie’s Angels, hmm.. Ford was obviously a sponsor of that show.
This is the base engine, a 2.3L 140 cubic-inch inline four cylinder with 88 hp. It’s not a lot of power but luckily this car also has a 4-speed manual transmission to help sort out that power. The blurry engine looks pretty good to me, and spending $250 on a car inspection for a $1,000 car may or may not be the best investment. I would take a chance on this one if I were in the market for a Mustang II. The seller says that this one needs a new fuel pump and hopefully that’s all it needs because they say that it gets 30 mpg and starts right up otherwise. Do you have room in your heart for the much-maligned Mustang II? I do, but I’m guessing that I may be one of the few who out there who actually likes these cars.
I believe the vinyl top is actually missing rather than just in poor shape.
The vinyl top is missing. I had a 1974 Mustang II Ghia. It was the first one purchased in Jackson MI where I lived years ago. My car was the same color, etc. It was loaded with everything you could get on a Mustang at the time. I am so sorry I traded it in for a larger care 3 yrs later.
The actual cost for the Mustang II (1974) was $4982.00
I’d rather have a Pinto.
A teenager with some elbow grease and energy could have a very cool high school driver to be proud of as their 1st car with this one!
My 15 year old son and I are rebuilding the same year right now.. so far we’ve rebuilt the engine, pulled the vinyl and built a hard top, fixed the body now it’s on to a custom interior.
We’re gonna tech it up a bit with 10″ touch screen display, gps, remote start etc..
Wife had a 78 Cobra with the 302 v8 and we loved it, it did great donuts at the end of our street when it snowed, my neighbors kids got a kick out of my antics back then. One thing about these cars no one will hate you for modifying one unless you butcher a 78 King Cobra. There is one sitting on the street a couple blocks from me identical to this except in a faded tan color. Been watching it for a for sale sign since it seems to never move.
I had a Cobra and a King Cobra in the 80s. Both 4 speed cars. They were a lot of fun. Taught my first wife how to do burnouts in one.
1974 to 1978
Hi, Don. Technically, Ford started making them in the fall of 1973 for the 1974 model year, so we’re both right, but you’re more right than I am!
I had one back in 82 bought it from one of Dad’s customer, it would burn donuts also on wet payment or snow otherwise it was a slug. I got rid of it after a couple of years. Never have cared for them since
Not great from the factory, but potential to do quite a bit with one of these. Wouldn’t one of those 300 plus hp V6’s from a late model Mustang make a fun sleeper, for example?
…if we were all smart, we would buy every copy of these cars we could find, stick them in barn, and in 10 years reap the rewards….if history has taught us anything, that is….
Exactly!! If I’m lucky, I might score one for free in a couple days! One of my top 10 dream cars! Please everyone, do not laugh too hard at that statement….
1st, let me say, Venice Beach is an unbelievable place. If you go, make sure nothing surprises you, because it will probably happen at Venice Beach. As for the car, if it needs a fuel pump, I’d wager it needs a lot more. People in Cal. aren’t stupid, especially when it comes to classic cars. Cool car, and make no mistake, the Mustang ll WILL have it’s day. If it wasn’t for the Mustang ll, we might have lost the car altogether. It’s just now becoming collectible, and for years was considered the “forgotten Mustang”. Yeah, it may be a glorified Pinto, but I liked the Pinto too. Can’t go wrong here.
Howard, you and flmikey are 100% right on the money! These unloved vehicles will eventually become collector darlings like vintage Japanese cars are starting to be now. Or, any number of others are, those cars that none of us thought would ever be anything but throwaway vehicles.
Howard you and FL Mikey definitely are correct. About 20 years ago I started playing with Metropolitan and King Midgets. They were cheap and surprisingly not that hard to find. Now you can still find though now not so cheap.
Scotty, they probably will become collectible someday (well, after a fashion anyway), if for no other reason than rarity as their number dwindle due to attrition.
But you’d better be younger than I, a lot younger, if you’re going to count on appreciation to make money on these.
Having said that. let me add that I like the odd ducks too, just as you do, and I’d have no problem driving this.
My sister had one of these in the early 90s, identical except for the color (beige/brown in that unfortunate case). It was probably the worst car I’ve ever driven — slow, sloppy and uncomfortable, with no redeeming features whatsoever. I think I literally breathed a sigh of relief once I was finished driving it and could return to my own car.
Any car has fans, and respect to those who consider themselves fans of this one. But for me this is about as desirable as a colonoscopy.
If you bought a new mustang 2 in 1975, you were doing good.
If you bought a new mustang 2 Ghia in 1975, you were in tall cotton.
I almost had to do a double-take on this one! I had a ’74 Mustang Ghia back in the mid-80s. Slight difference in the color, as mine was a dark tan. Plus it had a moon roof. The seller had done a cheap paint job on the car and the first time I took it to the carwash, paint started peeling.
The car ran fine, except that after a month or two it became weaker and weaker. Turns out that it had belonged to a teenage girl who had driven it roughly. The seller was a customer at a retail facility where I worked at the time, so I had no problem in returning the car. If I had had the money at the time, I would’ve kept it and gotten the engine replaced/repaired, but that just wasn’t in the cards at the time.
Price seems to have gone up.
I, too, like the ” oddball” cars when they first came out, while most were saying they were a disappointment, I rather liked them , and, with todays technology, this would be a great car. I agree with you beegee, stuff a v/6 into it, upgrade the suspension , and as said no pics of the interior, cloth seats with ” luxo” carpet, and we have a super car . nothing you’d do street racing with, but passing someone with out stumbling and expressway driving it would be great… and.. the seller really doesn’t know what he is talking about that alone, you could prob get it even cheaper
I hate these! I turned 16 & got my license in ’74 and learned that my great uncle Frank just traded-in his ’68 Camaro RSSS427 for the first year of this car. He bought the Camaro new and it was his pride-and-joy but was getting older & just retired & divorced his wife. He obviously was slowing down lol
The vinyl top is definitely missing on this one. Ford used a filler panel in the rear quarter window opening on the coupes to make the smaller opera window openings for the Ghias. My first car was a 76 Silver Luxury edition Ghia V8 that I still own to this day and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have five other Mustang IIs in my collection including a fully restored t-top King Cobra and a super rare 77 convertible. As for the whole Pinto issue, there is no more and probably less Pinto in a Mustang II than there was Falcon in the original Mustang or Fairmont in the Fox bodies. The donor platforms have always benefitted from innovations that were developed for the Mustang and then migrated back. I think this is a fantastic deal for someone since the prices have indeed started to climb recently.
The vinyl top is definitely missing on this one. Ford used a filler panel in the window opening on the coupe body to create the smaller opera window opening on the Ghias. My first car was a 76 Silver Luxury edition V8 Ghia that I still own to this day and I am currently restoring a 75 twin to it. I have six Mustang IIs including a fully restored t-top King Cobra and a super rare 77 convertible. These cars drive great. As far as the whole Pinto thing goes, there is probably not as much Pinto in a Mustang II as there is Falcon in an early Mustang or Fairmont in the Fox bodies. How many hot rods have Mustang II front suspensions in them? The donor platforms have always benefitted from innovations developed for the Mustang and then migrated back. I think this car is a great deal especially since they have indeed started to increase in price in recent years.
You have to take in account history, the time and place and what was going on car wise in 75. Ford tried with this one but just did not try hard enough.
The deuce Will have it’s day. I had a ’78 mach 1 the same color , code 5 M Medium Chestnut Metallic with 2.8 V -6 and 4 sped really miss it.