1966 Ford Mustang Limousine Conversion And A Possible (New) Mustang Sedan: Stretching An Idea Too Far

Right front 3q view of a limousine conversion of a Tahoe Turquoise 1966 Ford Mustang hardtop, with a white vinyl roof and aftermarket wheels

What happens when you stretch an automotive concept further than it can go? You might end up with something like this oddball limousine conversion, based on a 1966 Ford Mustang hardtop. It’s a cautionary tale for Ford Motor Company, which is once again contemplating the idea of adding a four-door Mustang, even as sales of the current coupe and Mach-E continue to slide.

B&W front 3q view of a full-size model of a four-door Ford Mustang, labeled S-5994-8
1963 Ford Cougar four-door concept, photographed Jan. 4, 1963 / Ford Motor Company

In a 2026 interview with Automotive News, Ford executive Andrew Frick, president of Ford Blue and Model e, hinted that Ford might develop a four-door sedan version of the current Mustang, remarking “We look to expand on the Mustang family as we move forward.” This is hardly the first time that Ford has considered offering a four-door Mustang — in fact, as the adjacent photos show, there was a full-size styling mock-up of a four-door variant more than a year before the first Mustang went on sale.

B&W photo of the right side of a four-door Ford Mustang, labeled S-5994-7
1963 Ford Cougar four-door concept, photographed Jan. 4, 1963 / Ford Motor Company

This styling model (which was built as a two-door hardtop on the left and a four-door on the right) was photographed on January 4, 1963. When it was built, Ford hadn’t yet settled on the “Mustang” name, so there’s no prancing horse iconography, and the badge on the front fender reads “Cougar.”

B&W photo showing the rear 3q view of a four-door Ford Mustang, labeled S-5994-6
1963 Ford Cougar four-door concept, photographed Jan. 4, 1963 / Ford Motor Company

I’m not sure how well the seating package would have worked out with this close-coupled design; the Lincoln Continental, which was also an adaptation of a design conceived as a two-door hardtop coupe had had to adopt rear-hinged back doors to make rear entry and exit practical.

Right side view of a 1967 Ford Falcon XR sedan in a showroom
1967 Australian Ford XR Falcon 500 four-door sedan in Opal Green / Richmonds

Although the four-door didn’t make it for the first-generation Mustang, there were some echoes of it in the 1966–1970 Fairlane-based Falcon. The Australian versions, beginning with the “Mustang-bred” XR Falcon in September 1966, were very successful down under, but the U.S. Falcon sedan was a nonentity.

Press photo showing the right front 3q view of a Ford Mach-E
2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E GT in Cyber Orange Metallic / Ford Motor Company

Ford has of course been offering a five-door Mustang CUV since late 2020, in the form of the electric Mustang Mach-E, which I think has come closer to completely losing the plot than any of Ford’s previous misadventures with the Mustang nameplate. Until quite recently, the Mach-E seemed on track to eventually replace the coupe, which it actually outsold in calendar 2024 and 2025. If it did, it would be the final nail in the Mustang’s coffin as a coherent brand concept.

Press photo showing the front 3q view of a Ford Mach-E
2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E in Eruption Green Metallic / Ford Motor Company

I want to be clear about my objections to the Mach-E: I have no problem with battery electric vehicles, and I’d have no issue with the prospect of a BEV Mustang coupe. (The Mustang has had all kinds of engines over the years, BEVs are where the market is going, and a modern BEV seldom lacks for blistering acceleration.) Also, I don’t actually dislike the Mach-E. It seems competent enough for what it is, and it’s not bad-looking, as CUVs go. I saw one on the road the other day and thought it was one of the handsomer of the current array of crossovers.

Press photo showing the rear 3q view of a Ford Mach-E
2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E in Eruption Green Metallic / Ford Motor Company

However, calling a five-door CUV a Mustang is like calling a Sparkletts water dispenser a tea kettle, and it foreshadows a rather gloomy future for the Mustang brand.

Low-angle front 3q view of a 1964 Ford Mustang coupe
“1964½” Ford Mustang coupe in Vintage Burgundy with a black vinyl roof / Bring a Trailer

The original raison d’être of the Mustang, and what’s kept it going through many generations, is that it’s always been a car people buy instead of a four-door sedan, station wagon, five-door hatchback, or other utilitarian vehicle. The Mustang has never been as impractical as a two-seater like the Corvette, but it’s always been impractical enough to feel like an indulgence rather than a concession. Prior to the Mach-E, choosing a Mustang — even a four- or six-cylinder Mustang — was a way of signifying that you were not a slave to utility, and that you still had some youthful dash and pizzazz (whether or not you were actually young). In the pre-child-seat era, you could carry a small family in a Mustang, but it was not a family car, and for many buyers, that was the whole point.

Press photo showing the left front 3q view of a 2026 Ford Mustang on the road
2026 Ford Mustang GT in Adriatic Blue with FX Package / Ford Motor Company

It’s very possible that we will soon reach a point where there’s no longer any sustainable market for that. Child seat laws have made coupes too much of a hassle for people with preteen kids, and most of the coupes left on the market are too expensive for the young people who used to buy cars like the Mustang in great numbers. Also, there are now three generations of Americans of driving age who’ve grown up almost entirely with four-door sedans and SUVs, and don’t see what the big deal is. Mustang coupe sales are not robust (combined U.S. and Canadian sales in calendar 2025 were only 49,028 cars), and since it IS the last actual car Ford Motor Company still sells, if the coupes expires, there’s little chance of it being resurrected on some other platform. The Mach-E is no longer doing well either; U.S. Mach-E sales recently collapsed with the loss of federal EV subsidies, and it sold fewer than 10,000 units in the first five months of 2026, barely half what it managed in the same period in 2025.

Rear 3q view of a 2026 Ford Mustang on the road
2026 Ford Mustang GT in Adriatic Blue with FX Package / Ford Motor Company

Nonetheless, even if sales of both the coupe and Mach-E pass the point of no return, Ford won’t want to relinquish the valuable Mustang trademark, which may lead to some grimmer and more desperate product decisions. Can you envision a “Mustang® Heritage Appearance” package for the Bronco or F-150? I can, and I wish I couldn’t.

Left front 3q view of a 1966 Ford Mustang limousine conversion in Tahoe Turquoise

This brings us, in a roundabout way, to this bizarre Mustang limousine conversion, which showed up on Bring a Trailer in June 2026. No, this probably won’t be the model for the truck-based Mustang of the 2030s — it’s much too low for that — but it’s a particularly extreme example of what happens when you stretch an idea past the breaking point.

Front view of a 1966 Ford Mustang limousine conversion in Tahoe Turquoise

The seller didn’t have a lot of background to offer on this conversion, which was done at least 20 years ago by a previous owner. The warranty plate reveals that the car was originally a 1966 six-cylinder/automatic hardtop. It left the factory in the same color it sports now, Tahoe Turquoise, combined with the standard interior in Aqua.

17-inch alloy wheel with a disc brake behind it

You can tell this conversion was built a long time ago by the fact that it uses 17-inch wheels rather than 22- or 23-inch rims. Along with the aftermarket wheels and assorted structural bracing to keep the structure from being turned to Jell-O by the stretch, it’s been retrofitted with front disc brakes.

289 V-8 with an aftermarket air cleaner and valve covers in a 1966 Mustang with a Monte Carlo brace between the spring towers

The original 200 cid six is long gone, replaced by a 289 V-8 with some typical aftermarket addenda. There wasn’t much information about those either, except to note that the engine has been fitted with an aftermarket aluminum radiator.

Dashboard and front seats of a 1966 Ford Mustang with blue-and-white Pony interior, center console, aftermarket wheels, and aftermarket console gauges

The front cabin has gotten the usual “mild” aftermarket dress-up, with an aftermarket Lecarra steering wheel, white faces for the dashboard gauges, auxiliary gauges on the console, and so on. I’m not too keen on that kind of stuff, but it’s very common, and if this weren’t a limousine conversion, it wouldn’t bear comment.

Front bucket seat of a 1966 Mustang with blue-and-white vinyl upholstery with embossed "Pony" seatback designs

Along with the sports console, the interior has been redone along 1966 Interior Decor Option (“Pony interior”) lines, albeit with F2 Blue and White two-tone vinyl rather than Aqua. Ford wouldn’t combine the blue interior with a Tahoe Turquoise exterior in 1966, but my understanding (which may be incomplete or outdated) is that while you can get replacement upholstery in Aqua or Aqua and White, some soft parts, like the dash pad, aren’t reproduced in Aqua and have to be custom-dyed. So, whoever redid the interior may have decided that blue and white was simpler.

Side view of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Ford Mustang in Tahoe Turquoise with a white vinyl top, with all the side doors open

The limousine’s rear doors are Mustang front doors, mounted backwards (with the hinges at the rear).

Rear area of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang, with blue carpet and blue-and-white upholstery, and a backwards white-and-aqua Mustang front door at the side

In the rear, a lounge area has been constructed from surplus and reproduction Mustang parts. The seats are Mustang rear seats, upholstered in the same replacement F2 Blue and White vinyl trim as the front. Obviously, with a conversion like this, “factory-correct” quickly ceases to be meaningful, but in areas where you can see the blue upholstery next to the turquoise paint, it becomes clear why Ford didn’t offer that combination.

Rear-facing back seat of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang, with blue-and-white Pony interior upholstery

To me, the horrifying thing about this limousine conversion is that it’s sort of clever in a kitschy way, like a Spencer Gifts novelty item or one of those retro diners whose booths look like cars.

Forward-facing rear seat of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang, with blue-and-white Pony Interior upholstery

However, all the exposed bolt heads in the massive slabs of vinyl siding seem cheap, and while a Mustang hardtop doesn’t have rear armrests, they wouldn’t go amiss here.

Headliner and pop-up sunroof in a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang

This contraption is registered in Florida, and even with the pop-up sunroof, rear ventilation is probably not so great. (It looks like the vent windows are fixed.)

Package shelf with speakers and air conditioner controls in a limousine-conversion 1966 Mustang

To compensate, there’s a rear air conditioner with the controls on the package shelf.

Trunk of a 1966 Ford Mustang

Under the decklid boomerang antenna, the trunk is the same old poorly finished Mustang trunk, with the plaid vinyl mat that adorned many a cheap Ford, and with the potentially very hazardous drop-in fuel tank.

Vast expanse of white vinyl roof broken by a closed pop-up sunroof

The seller believes that the vinyl top was added some time after the original conversion, which makes me wonder why. For stretch jobs like this, a vinyl top can be like throwing a blanket over an old couch, covering all manner of scars and structural problems. Since this conversion is a platform unit body stretched to 257 inches overall (more than 6 feet longer than when it left the factory), I wouldn’t be surprised to find that the roof is wrinkling under the vinyl.

Right rear 3q view of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang in Tahoe Turquoise with a white vinyl roof covering

Is this thing still a Mustang? From a legal standpoint, it’s a Mustang, and it’s registered as one. The philosophical question is more complicated. Is the Frankenstein monster still a man, even though he’s made of corpses?

Rear view of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang in Tahoe Turquoise with a vinyl vinyl roof and a boomerang antenna on the rear deck

There are a bunch of comments on the Bring a Trailer auction that were hidden for being non-constructive, I assume for lamenting the monstrosity of this conversion. A number of other people pointed out that given the huge numbers of first-generation Mustangs Ford built, it’s silly to get mad about someone deciding to turn a random six-cylinder hardtop into a bizarre novelty item. They had a point: This is a Mustang, not a Bugatti Type 57SC, and being outraged about the customization of a very common mass-market car is like getting offended when people paint their sneakers or tie-dye their band T-shirts.

Brochure photo of a Mach-E on a snowy road
A Star White 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E goes into the light / Ford Motor Company

But, what happens if the current Mustang coupe and Mach-E expire without replacement, and the only new “Mustangs” left are “heritage” design cues slapped on vehicles that have no relationship at all to to the Mustang as we know it, other than Ford’s desire to extract another few grand from buyers of expensive pickup trucks and SUVs?

Left side view of a limousine conversion of a 1966 Mustang in Tahoe Turquoise with a white vinyl roof

If it comes to that, the prospect of a conventional four-door Mustang sedan (which I think is probably unlikely at this point, Frick’s comments to Automotive News notwithstanding) might seem like getting off easy — and this Frankenstein-like conversion might still be more Mustang than any future Mustangs we can hope to see from Ford.

 

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