I can only imagine the fervor that arose upon the unveiling of the Ford Mustang back in April of 1964. Despite its modest underpinnings and origins, the '64 1/2 Mustang (the "1/2" for coming out in the middle of the model year) became an automotive phenomenon the likes of which there hadn't been before save for the Model T. Or, since.
When I ran into this delightful little '67 this past weekend, I sprained my neck when I first saw it. And I swear it wasn't because my inner 12 year old said, "Oh. Look! A Mustang". No. It was because this is a seriously cool little car that happens to be, "A Mustang". Alright, the cheap red paint may have also have had a part in this car grabbing my attention but I digress.
My little red Mustang here can be generously referred to as a "ten footer". Meaning, from ten feet away she looks good. To be honest though, the closer you get to her the more you realize that she's more like a twenty footer. Ok. A thirty. Yeah. She's that bad. And that's a shame because Ford's updating of the original '64 1/2 for 1967, in my very humble opinon, made a cool car even cooler. Even this very tired example still oozes gobs of Steve McQueen cool.
He drove a '68 GT390 to imortality in "Bullitt". Legend has it, Mr. McQueen thought so much of this car that he bought one right after filming was completed.
He drove a '68 GT390 to imortality in "Bullitt". Legend has it, Mr. McQueen thought so much of this car that he bought one right after filming was completed.
When I was a kid these cars, particularly the pokey six cylinder models like this (mostly likely a loveless 240) didn't get any respect and where often victim of hacky weekend mechanic "soup ups". This one doesn't look like its had too much done to it and perhaps that's part of the problem. Aside from an older (cheap and OMG shmaltzy) respray, the scattered rust bubbles, sagging front suspension and sliding and missing emblems tell me she's just been flat out neglected. There isn't a straight panel gap anywhere on her ta boot.
Sigh. I didn't take any pictures of the interior. I've found that while folks are fairly luke warm about strangers taking pictures of the exterior of their car, they really freak out when you start taking shots of the inside. But it's really nice. No cracks in the dash. The seats look solid. Whoever has got the dough and a lot of it has what appears to be a car with good bones to start from.
I don't know what I would spend to buy this little car if I was in the market for it but the lesser the better. When you factor in all the body work, suspension and power train work that needs to be done you're probably looking at at least $25,000. I think I'm being conservative in my estimate at that.
Giddyup.
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