My ’65 Mustang multiplied after I left it in the spectator parking lot at the 2013 Pure Stock Musclecar Drag Race. There’s just no leaving that thing alone. I actually passed the nice ’69 Sportsroof (with 302 callouts on the hood) earlier in the 175-mile round trip, while the ’03/’04 “Terminator” Cobra and ’85/’86 Fox hatchback both showed up a little later in the day.
If we were drag racing, the Terminator would annihilate its “competition,” packing a 390-horsepower (minimum) supercharged 4.6, and it would likely be a close race among the rest of us. With 2.79 gears and a C4, a last place finish for me and my beloved family heirloom (COAL coming on Thursday) would not be shocking; but speed isn’t everything, even when one is parked at a drag strip. So, which interpretation of the classic ponycar do you like best?
I will take the original, please. While I prefer the 1967-68 version to the 65-66, I would not turn any of them away. I sure wish I had kept my 68 hardtop with the six and the three speed.
There’s always been something about Mustangs that I could never quite wrap my arms around, though part of me likes really likes them. Perhaps it’s my Chevy-bias…
However, I appreciate any old car that has been so well taken care of, regardless what OEM it may be, and I hope to see more of Principal Dan’s Mustang on here again.
The Jennings Elementary school gym teacher happened to live at the top of our street, and he and his wife bought one of the first Mustangs. A real impressive car, as there was not another car like it on the road – compared to most other cars, it was as if the Jetsons landed on our street! Just a basic 6 cyl. auto – no console, but at the time I REALLY wanted one!
Ironically, my first ride in Mustang was when I was 15. A friend of the family’s son just got out of the army and bought a maroon w/black interior 390 automatic tranny 1967 Mustang. That was one fine ride and introduced me to a new generation of cars, as dad still had his ’60 Impala.
That car even had an AM/FM radio! Of course, it would be several months before a whole new generation of music came to my ears on FM with the advent of radio station KSHE-95 in the STL area began day broadcast of “underground” rock!
When I met the girl I was to marry, she drove a reddish-brown 1970 Mustang 302 auto convertible. Even had A/C. We sold it in spring, 1979, as rust and mileage was taking its toll.
In any event, the Mustang was the right car at the right time, and Ford managed to beat GM at its own game! Personally, I prefer the 1967/68 years.
Hey! At least GM came out first with frameless glass…
The 1967 and 1968 Mustangs speak to me and seem a little more daring than the earlier generation. The fastbacks are my preference but they bring stupid money today.
While my collection is primarily GM, love for this design combined with my wife’s begrudging tolerance have allowed three examples into the family — only one is really worth fixing but the most recent parts car is a diamond blue 289-powered ’68 with a lot of options…. ugh.
Yeah 67 is my fave (although I’m biased, duh) and I hate the “Falcon” dash in the 65s. Not enough character and differentiation for me. Imagine the fit Camaro/Corvette owners would have if their cars had the interior from the Cruze or Sonic…
The ’65 boxtop, please. I’ve always gravitated toward notchbacks over fastbacks, and the Mustang is no exception.
The early Mustang was just right first time though I think the 67 fastback looks nicer than the earlier ones.I’m still kicking myself for walking away from a red 64 6 cylinder auto coupe for £650 in 1980.It had a bad bash on the drivers side but drove well but my boyfriend couldn’t get the hang of driving LHD cars solo.3 weeks later he dumped me and I bought a 64 Mercury Comet 4 door 6 cylinder auto my first American car
Hatchback.
Are we limited to the options in the pic? If not, Mustang II Ghia. I enjoy it both ironically and seriously. If the Elite was the mini-Thunderbird, the Ghia would be the mini-mini-Thunderbird.
I like the original best. It was a simple, sporty, fun little car and wasn’t trying to be anything else. The 289 was the perfect engine for this car, even though it wasn’t a drag strip terror. I do have a soft spot for the ’69-’70 cars as well.
I suspect preferences here will have a lot to do with how old you are. Early Mustangs were cheap and plentiful when I was a young guy so lots of memories are connected to them for me!
It occurs to me that nobody here has yet remembered just how awful these were in the snow. Mustangs (especially the V8 cars) were so light in the back that unless you had snow tires, the car would be pretty much immobile after a 2 inch snowfall. Snow tires and about 80-100 pounds of weight in the trunk was necessary for any sort of forward motion in slick weather. Of course, it often didn’t matter since the locks would be frozen, preventing you from getting into the car in the first place.
You are right, though about how plentiful they were. When I started driving, they were everywhere as 8-12 year old used cars, ranging from pristine to battered, rusted hulks.
My current daily driver is a 2011 Mustang (V6/auto) and I don’t even attempt to drive it in snow/ice. There were stretches this past winter where it stayed in the garage for over a week. I have owned several other Mustangs in the past and they ranged from undriveable in snow (’88 & ’96 GTs with the Goodyear Gatorbacks) to marginally acceptable (’84 GT with 5 speed manual). The ’84 had the Michelin TRX tires which were likely better in low traction situations than the Goodyears. I have never put snow tires on any vehicle because we just don’t get enough snow here to be worth the cost and effort. You only have to go about 50 miles north of here to be in the “snow belt” but here the ice that can cover roads is more of an issue.
Wifey carried a Trailways Silver Eagle bus brake drum in her Mustang in the winter for that express purpose!
Before the advent of common FWD cars, everything was lousy in the snow except for VWs and Corvairs. I drove a ’65 2+2 and a ’68 notchback through the Pittsburgh winters of ’77-’79 and most of the problems were easliy addressed with a good pair of studded snow tires and a 50lb bag of sand in the trunk.
I have to disagree here. Mustangs and GM A bodies were awful in snow. But most of my driving of cars from that era were full sizers – Galaxie, Fury, Newport, and so on. A pair of snow tires and most American big cars ran through the snow pretty well. I had studded snows on my 63 Fleetwood, and it was as good of a snow/ice car as I have ever had. But Most people my age were driving the smaller cars and there was a big difference.
My Mom commuted in her ’88 GT convertible with Gatorbacks. She did something like three accidental donuts in a five-mile trip one day in the snow. Dad immediately went for some all-season tires.
She did drive this ’65 year round from ’68-’75, but she used snow tires in the back. They were still on there when I started playing around with it.
Pretty much all ponycars were awful in snow, but I had to laugh when I read the comment about frozen door locks. “Preheating” keys with a Bic lighter used to be just part of winter! You had to be careful with Ford keys, they got hot in hurry.
I’d go for an early model with 289 and 4speed the bloated models were uninteresting to me when new and the later even worse, When Ford cancelled V8 Falcons in the 80s Aussie Ford racer Dick Johnson imported 2 Roush prepped Mustangs and described them as too gutless to pull a sailor off your sister so the only later models I ever saw being raced didnt exactly set my world on fire, sorry but thats just how it is.
I really don’t care much for any of this area of sports cars but my favorite would be the 66-67 Mustangs. My uncle has one, and I remember them fondly for nostalgic reasons.
If I were in the market for a 60s car, it would be a suicide door Continental, probably a convertible to boot.
Leaving specialty models like the Shelbys, Boss 302 and big blocks out of it I would have a very, very difficult time picking between a ’66 GT Fastback and a ’69 Mach 1. If you were to put it to a vote those two would surely tie for 1st with the runner up a distant 2nd.
I absolutely hated the ’67-68 (except the fastback) and the ’70 everything. I’ve never seen a front end go from best to worst in one year like that. Usually they get better like the ’77 Seville.
I’d go for the 65 coupe or the 69 fastback, it would depend on performance level of the suspension and running gear as to which one I’d prefer.
I used to think a 65-66 coupe with a V8, 5 speed and running LPG would be a nice daily driver, but it would depend on what environment it was in. The inner city these days would present too much of a parking challenge (have to pass up too many parallel parking spaces on the street that you wouldn’t fit in compared to a small hatchback), and I wouldn’t like to subject it to door dings in parking lots.
The first Mustang that caught my attention was my 6th grade teacher’s 1971 Mach 1. Once I got a little older, I started to prefer the 69-70 models and had a 70 coupe (302-2V with a C4). We also have a 70 Mach 1 (351W-2V/FMX) that has been in the family since 1984. We are the second owners. 75K miles, original paint…. picture was from a car show last year that a friend put on.
I can tell you that I would NOT choose the Cobra. The ’94-’04 bodystyle is only a notch above the mustang II abomination.
As they sit, Id go with the ’69. Ive always been torn between the fastbacks and the notches on these early Ponies…but the Magnum 500 wheels seal the deal.
ALTHOUGH…Ive never liked the ‘facelifted’ fox with the aero-look. The foureyed Fox always looked just right to me. That one with the recessed grille that looks like a direct knockoff of the ’84-’86 Dodge Daytona/Chrysler Laser is the best of that bunch to my eye. For that car Id pirate a set of the ‘turbine’ wheels from an ’88 or ’89 though….