An average-condition 1966 Mustang convertible in a rather odd paint color with a bland interior: that’s the truth about what’s offered here on ebay. The bid at the moment is at a paltry $5655, short, probably way short, of reserve. But buyers have another week to get in their offers, so probably nobody’s feeling any particular pressure as of yet. When buying fever does strike, the new owner will have to get out to Milford, CT to pick the car up.
Maybe it’s the color. Emberglo is actually a pretty descriptive name for this shade of burnt orange. It’s not ugly so much as unusual, and its relative lack of use makes it rare, but rarity in this case is not desirable as a quality. If you can have just one collectible car, would this be your dream? I’m sure some would say yes, while others would head straight for something in a Candy Apple Red or Springtime Yellow presentation. Add that to what must be the most lifeless interior imaginable, and you’ve got a bit of a marketing conundrum from a used-car perspective. The seller tries to put a shine on it with words suggesting this one is a “standout choice for anyone looking to add a touch of vintage style to their collection.” The words, “not really” come to mind in response.
At least there’s a C-code 289 residing under hood. And if the 70,000 original miles claim can be verified, this is a car with loads of life left in it. But therein lies a bit of trouble. This is one of those “I’m selling this for the family” deals, and I’ll bet if you called on it, you’d hear, “Yeah, there was a box of paperwork, but they threw it away right before I got there.” This is not to say that work hasn’t been done on the car. You can verify for yourself the seller’s list of updates, from brake work to tune-up parts. But how are you going to know that the car hasn’t been much driven for 20 years (500 miles, or 25 per year), as is said? And if it hasn’t, how have so many family memories been created with it?
You do have an indication of the seller’s thoroughness when he lists what’s wrong with the car, including some convertible top issues and some rust here and there, plus the suggestion that the torque boxes will eventually need to be done. The latter is plenty scary, but the images don’t look as bad as all that. Maybe an in-person gander at this one would be worth while, especially if the price doesn’t go much of anywhere. Is there a driveable and decent $15,000 Mustang softtop out there any more? I didn’t used to think so, but this car might prove that too pessimistic. Whatever you pay, you can add some value in an under hood detailing, and keep the rest of the work for later, including paint.
I actually remember this color. It seems, buyers in salty regions went with this color, so as the car rusted, it wasn’t so noticeable. Luckily, so many were made, some that were bound for warmer climates survived, and most of those were ragtops. The Mustang catered to just about all, and a more successful car that appealed to everyone, I can’t think of.
Got to love the air cleaner “front”, really need that? And “Strongfoot” brakes and anyone else remember oil spewing out the oil cap and down the sides? We called it “poor mans undercoating”. This is a great find, and wonderful someone will get to experience what all the hub-bub was about the early Mustangs. No, the new buyer won’t find heated gas pedals, vibrating seats, 6 “power ports” or “ride control”, but just a simple car, derived from the absolute simplist car( the Falcon), and lo and behold, that was good enough.
My Aunt had a Mustang in this color (6 Cylinder of course, she was a Secretary!) She called it “Rust”.
My Uncle had all the cool cars, seems he had a different one every year (was a Parts guy at “Western Auto” remember them??) don’t remember the years, but always with a V-8/4 Speed, GTO that he said stood for “Gas, Tires, and Oil” a 4-4-2 (that was how much he said it cost to replace the Trany) a Back-a-ruda with the Pistol Grip shifter, Mustang with a 428, 70 or 71 SS Camaro with a 396,
Then the poor guy got married and it was Station Wagons…
and my Aunt wasn’t joking about the car rusting, that’s what she thought the color was.
I had a ’66 Mustang this color years ago, a coup with a six and an auto trans. I always thought the color was copper. It was a good daily driver, cheap on fuel and dependable. It was one of the slowest cars I ever had but the only one I ever got a speeding ticket in. Go figure.
I find the color rather attractive. And the tan interior with the carpet which matches the exterior paint looks fitting to me. Lots of early Mustang convertibles out there, find the one which matches your tastes and budget.
It’s a beauty colour but more suited to Thunderbird’s where it was seen alot more often..I do like it on the Mustang though.
Ford had a lot of cars that year that color forgot what they called it ,I was lot boy used ta check all new cars.
The most stunning, classy combo of 1966!! Well, my parents did purchase their first car ever with air conditioning in 1966, a Mercury Parklane 4dr HT with parchment vinyl top, which they held at the highest level of grandeur, specifically to haul my ‘old’ grandparents comfortably on a 4 hour cruise to the seminary my oldest brother was being ordained at. They held that car in such distinction in their life partially because of the color combination! And me at 10 years old crying and whining, “if you are buying a new car – Get A Mustang!” Then, when I actually saw an Emberglo Mustang GT on the showfloor at the dealer – I literally exploded!! It was aesthetically mind blowing!! I instantly had a favorite Mustang!! Shelbys? Yeah their cool, but I guess they are alot of money. Now checkout these Emberglo GT convertible’s!!
I like the color. I go for having something different and not cookie cutter.
Put me in the camp of loving the color combo. So bored of red with black interior. This is actually really visually interesting.
When I was a junior in HS in 1969 my dad bought an Emberglo 1966 Ford LTD, 2-door, black vinyl roof, black interior, 390 auto. My brothers and I finally talked him into putting on Chrome Reverse wheels with air bags in the rear coil springs to give it a little lift. Everyone in town knew who it was when they saw that car. I love Emberglo!!!
My second new car was a ’66 Fairlane GTA, in Emberglo with the beige interior, wood-trimmed steering wheel and rally wheels, absolutely gorgeous! I passed on the green GT four-speed next to it on the showroom floor. $3400 OTD… With that great C6 automatic, It ran 14.30s at 99 mph all day long at the Ramona and Carlsbad drags in BS/A – right in with the 383 Mopukes and 396 Stovebolts. High insurance, $97 a month car payments and graduate school separated me from new car ownership a year later. Never saw another one like it, just a few Mustangs and one LTD with a white padded roof. Great color!
I now have a 1966 Thunderbird convertible, yellow with a black top and a white interior. My Thunderbird immediately before that was also a1966, but it was a Landau hard top that was Emberglo x 3-the exterior paint, the vinyl roof, and the complete leather interior w/recliner, all powered by a big, beautiful 429. It had every option offered that year with the exception of the luggage rack. We lived in the Chicago ‘ burbs, so the other thing it had was matching rust-everywhere. I had the engine rebuilt-man that thing flew-but I could never win with the rust. I finally parted it out on eBay. The only thing that generated no interest, surprisingly to me, was that sweet 429. It went off to the junkyard with the carcus of the Bird.
I have the Emberglo leather reclining passenger seat in excellent shape.
….1968…21yo….barely landed in Chicago from France for my very first “real” job….my new boss gave me the keys to his Mustang, identical as the one listed here, for the entire weekend…..never mind the color, never mind this was my first experience with an automatic…cruising down Lake Shore drive, top down, with my then girl friend (my wife today)…we thought we had reached heaven…😁….Mustangs are still extremely popular in France, in Europe actually.
I like the earthtones used on this car and find both the exterior and interior quite attractive. When I was in elementary school, their was a ’66 Thunderbird Landau in this color with parchment vinyl roof and interior in our neighborhood.
“Odd color with bland interior”!? I think what you meant to say is “rare and highly sought after one year only special order color with perfectly contrasting interior!” Somebody needs to do a little Mustang homework! If it were in a little bit better cosmetic condition this would go for over $30,000.
Ah, you beat me to the comment I was about to make! In fact, at the ripe old age of 14 in 1967, I was so obsessed with this color that I bought some cans of Dupli-Color and resprayed my Rollfast 3-speed bicycle in this color (and then added cut-down chrome fenders and a Bendix “shift knob”)! I still have that bicycle, but I never ended up with a FoMoCo product to match! ;)
It’s chestnut came out in 1962
1962 Chesnut has more red in it than 1966 Emberglo has. Related, maybe, but a totally different color.
Emberglow is quite similar to Chestnut; a bit darker IIRC.
I always liked this ext/int color combo. When new and shiney, it was pretty stunning!
Not to be jerky but whoever wrote this doesn’t know much about the market for Mustangs or how popular Emberglo is. Definitely a premium for 66 Mustangs.
Emberglo/parchment is my absolute favorite color combination on the Mustang! My 74 Nova SS was originally “Lime Yellow”, my absolute least favorite GM color of all time, with black interior. Took it to paint shop a couple of weeks ago and told ’em to paint it Emberglo…got cold feet after a couple of days and changed to GM color Marina Blue. Hope I didn’t make a bad decision!
I had a ’66 Mustang coup 289 4bbl. 4-speed . Burnt Orange w/ burnt Orange carpet & White interior.. Sure wish that i still had it.
I’ve got a 65 coupe, Caspian Blue with blue interior. Original owner was a Tar Heel. Kinda rare one year only color, but not my favorite.
Suggestion for Brian K: perhaps confine your writing to the description and facts; leave your opinions aside? I’m just a casual reader of BF and I’m with the others who find this colour combo very striking.
It was around 1982 or ‘83 I had a ‘71 Camaro painted “Emberglo Polyester”. The car had a fawn interior, and the color complemented nicely
Emberglow is a beautiful color Ford also offered a parchment and emberglow interior emberglow being the predominant of the two. It was a stunning combination. I’ve seen this combination in mustangs LTD Galaxie xl and Thunderbirds all usually with a parchment convertible or vinyl top. Much sharper than the all parchment on this listed car.