The "corralled pony" in the middle of the grille with a horizontal crossbar but no corresponding vertical crossbar tells us this Mustang convertible is a 1966 GT model. Other GT tells are the fog lights, rocker panel stripes, and the (duh) GT fender badges.
The chrome accents make the styled steel wheels pop and the Nightmist Blue is such an attractive color on these clean-looking early First Generation 'Stangs.
The fender badges tell us there's a 289 Ford Small Block V-8 under the hood, and the fact that it's a GT means that it's either the 225 horsepower four-barrel motor or the gnarly K-code 289, rated at 271 SAE gross horsepower. Statistically speaking, it's almost certainly the 225-horse, or "A-code" motor. Of the slightly less than 5,500 K-code Mustangs sold in 1966, something like six percent went into convertibles. A GT convertible is something of a rarity in itself, representing only 12,520 of the over 607,000 Mustangs that sold that year.
This one was photographed in June of 2024 using an Olympus OM-D E-M1X and a Panasonic Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom lens.
There are some cars that are classically pretty just sitting there; this is one of them. A couple of others in my opinion are the Jaguar XK E-type, and the Mercedes 190SL convertibles.
ReplyDeleteAll look completely different, and all are beautiful.
The '64½-'66 Mustangs have such fantastically clean lines and great proportions.
DeleteIf it still exists, there may be someone a bit disappointed in their '65/'66? Mustang ragtop GT in the South NJ area. My dad had one he was trying to flip (sideline of his). I borrowed it, probably for a parts run, and had the clutch disc fail when I got just a little throttle happy while leaving a friend's service station. It moved under it's own power if gently handled, so I drove to the station that I worked at, that had two lifts. Called dad, he said it was my problem to fix. Asked him If I could swap a couple parts with my '65 Mustang, and he said as long as it worked, he didn't care.
ReplyDeleteSo, put both cars on the lifts, yanked both transmissions, put the new clutch in my car (Fastback 2+2, 302 two barrel replacement engine) put the modified shifter on the Top Loader and stuffed it into my car, and my original 4spd into the GT. Then, I swapped the dual-point distributor into my car, and the ragtop got the stock single point, vacuum advance distributor.
Didn't have the time to swap the intake systems, and the heads, or the dual exhaust system, sigh...
This happened about '72 or '73.
The modified shifter was a bolt head welded to the main shift shaft, with a VW valve spring on the bolt. The 2nd to 3rd shift could be made very positive to avoid a missed shift. Tension could be adjusted with an open end wrench by the driver. Peel the rubber boot up for access.
ReplyDeleteWill