Let me get this out of the way: I know that many people call this Mustang a 1964.5 (or 1964 1/2) model. Having studied early Mustangs my whole life, however, I just can’t do it; they were all registered as 1965 models, so that’s what I call them. With that being said, one of the rarest of the, ahem, early-1965 cars is this Indianapolis Pace Car Hardtop. One of roughly 190 hardtops built and having had the same owner for over 44 years, it’s for sale on Hagerty Marketplace in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and the bidding has been strong.
As if the Mustang wasn’t wildly successful enough upon its introduction on April 17, 1964, it was also chosen as the pace car for the Memorial Day Classic, a race that ended up being one of the most tragic in Indianapolis history (Art Garner’s book Black Noon is perhaps the foremost word on that terrible day). While 38 convertibles were built for duties at the race track (according to Mustang Production Guide, Volume 1 by Jim Smart and Jim Haskell), they are mostly lost to time because they don’t have the special paint code of the hardtops.
The hardtops were awarded to dealers as a part of special “Checkered Flag” and “Green Flag” promotions that resulted in top-performing dealers getting a Pace Car Hardtop for free or at a $500 discount. The picture above shows the dealers collected at the “Checkered Flag Winners Day” in Dearborn, where they were presented with their cars by Lee Iacocca himself. The “Green Flag” cars were shipped to dealers later.
Unlike the convertibles, the Pace Car Hardtops were assembled in batches, and their numbers were etched on the radiator core support, this one being car number 41. While this car isn’t listed in the “In Search of Mustangs” registry, several cars with similar serial numbers are, and they were scheduled on or near the same day.
Here’s the door tag and what it tells us about this hardtop:
- 65A: Hardtop with standard interior
- C: Pace Car White (this is an important identifier for Pace Car Replicas)
- 42: White interior with blue appointments (all Pace Car Hardtops had this interior)
- 24D: Scheduled assembly date of April 24th (Pace Car Hardtops were built from late April through early May to take advantage of the Indy 500 tie-in)
- 53: District Sales Office of Kansas City
- 1: 3.00:1 rear axle ratio
- 6: C4 automatic transmission
This is the breakdown of the VIN:
- 5: 1965 model year
- F: Dearborn assembly
- 07: Hardtop
- F: 164-horsepower 260-cubic-inch V8
- 119460: The car’s unit number, which is obviously fairly early in production considering that cars were being assembled around or before March 5th. Serial number 100001 has belonged to Henry Ford Museum since 1966.
All Pace Car Hardtops had the 260 engine, and all of them had power steering. This car had an “engine refresh and reseal” way back in 1983, and the transmission was rebuilt in 2008.
This is a listing of some of the work that’s been done on the Mustang over the years. Notice the tire size, something that catches many people off guard. Fourteen-inch tires didn’t become standard on Mustangs until the late-1965 cars started coming off the line in August 1964, and yes, even some early V8 cars had thirteen-inch tires.
The interior is standard Mustang, and it looks like it’s in good shape. This one has the accessory “Rally-Pac,” and a lot of trinkets that are peculiar to early-1965 cars, such as a white “A” on the knob for the driver’s air vent and window cranks that are held on by clips rather than Allen screws. Also, the passenger seat on early Mustangs was not adjustable; it was fixed in its position.
The undercarriage looks extremely solid, and we can see the newer stainless steel exhaust system in this photograph.
This car was refinished in 1983, and its age is starting to show in spots, but it’s still a very nice example of a car that I’ve only seen in person a time or two. With its catchy decals and stripes, this pace car replica is bound to draw attention wherever it goes, and people will love to hear the story about its history.
The Mustang is so popular that the tales of its origin are more well-documented than most, and the little tidbits of its creation are endlessly fascinating. How many Pace Car Hardtops still exist? It can’t be many, so this might be your only chance to jump on one.
Related Reading
CCOTY Nomination: 1965 Mustang (by JP Cavanaugh)
1965 Ford T5: How The Mustang Lost Its Name In Germany (by me)
Craigslist Classic: 1965 Ford Mustang Convertible Magic Skyway Car – Peace Through Understanding (by me)
I had forgotten all about these pace car hardtops! And I am not surprised that most of these disappeared into the mists – probably because after the novelty of the pace car status wore off, all of the pace car decals came off and they became ordinary used Mustangs. Here in Indianapolis, there is a fairly high percentage of people who bought pace car replicas who kept the pace car decals on the car, but I doubt that this is true in other parts of the country.
That 64 1/2 BS was and is a marketing term created by people that wanted to add some sort of extra value to the early 65s.
Our family had a 65, 2 66s, a 73, 79, 2 84s and a 2005…..and nobody ever called an early 65 a 64 1/2…..its like when one sees an ad for a “Teacup” Chihuahua etc. Its a huge red flag. A marketing term from someone trying to create extra value where none really exists.
I don’t care about facts like VIN numbers and registration model years. As someone who was just a kid, but old enough to know my cars, the early Mustangs with the fussy chrome trim piece on the side scallops were ‘64’s, later cars with no trim were ‘65’s, and the final first-gen cars with the simpler trim were ‘66. That’s what we called them at the time. The only car that was commonly described as a “1/2” model year was the 1963-1/2 Ford Galaxie fastback.
Of course my 60 year old memories could be wrong 🙂.
I’m no expert, either, but I think the absence of the chrome ‘cove’ moldings were an indicator of a Mustang ‘Sprint’ special.
IIRC, there was an early shortage of the small-block V8 so Ford pushed the six-cylinder Mustangs. It worked, too, because I think there was something close to a 50/50 split between the V8 and six in those first years.
Since the original rollout the Mustang offered an accent paint stripe they encircled the cove and omitted the chrome cove molding.
Yep, cars without the cove trim had the “Accent Group,” which included a pinstripe and rocker moldings (on 1965 cars). In 1966, the rocker molding became standard, so the cars without cover trim had “accent striping.”
Mustang GTs didn’t have coves either, but they also had different emblems and a rocker stripe package (along with fog lights in the grille both years).
IDK. Rocker panels stripes were always an RPO in some way, shape, or form from 1965-67, which might have deleted the chrome cove molding in the process, but I sure don’t recall a ‘C-stripe’ during those years.
Further, the factory-applied ‘C-stripe’ around the cove didn’t seem to make its first appearance until 1968.
The pinstripe was definitely a part of the Accent Group, which was a $27.70 option on coupes and convertibles in 1965, and a $14.20 option on fastbacks (because they had rocker moldings standard).
In 1966, the accent stripe deleted the cove trim and cost $13.90.
I’m not sure what else to say about it, but both options added a pinstripe and deleted the cove trim. I don’t think I mentioned a C-stripe.
This is a brochure image of convertibles with and without the accent group, and the pinstripe follows the cove.
Nice to see this still exists and being loved .
-Nate
I agree with you completely Aaron and also refuse to call the early ‘65 Mustangs “‘64-and-a-half”. They’re all ‘65(s).
I’m glad there are other Mustang fans who feel this way.
Nice post, BTW.
The early cars had the 260 V8 as well as the generator, which this car does. I read that the earliest cars had some differences in the hood and grille opening, but can’t recall the exact differences. I imagine that if the fastback body style had been available, it would have been used instead of the coupe style as the Pace Car. Early Mustangs are still all over the place, and it’s easy to see why. Pleasant styling, fair room in the back seat, affordable, and small enough to easily fit in any garage. My first car was a used ’66 coupe. Also important is good product support, you can get anything, and I mean anything, that you need from suppliers for your first gen car.
Well whaddya’ know: a sweep speedometer. I never knew early Mustang’s had them.
When did they actually go to the dash with the multiple rounded gauges?
The 1965 Mustang had the sweep speedometer, although the GT (which was introduced in the spring of 1965) and cars with the “Pony” interior got a more complete five-dial instrumentation package that was adopted across the Mustang board for 1966.