289 V8

1966 Ford Mustang Coupe

(Please note: If you happen to be viewing this 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe on a website other than our Garage Kept Motors site, it's possible that you've only seen some of our many photographs of the car due to third-party website limitations. To be sure you access all the more than 140 photographs, as well as a short start-up and walk-around video, please go to our main website: Garage Kept Motors.)

“If one car embodies 1960s Americana, it's the 1965–66 Mustang.” Hagerty, January 2021

Hagerty summarized the changes incorporated in the 1966 Mustang: “Changes in the second year of production were limited, rightly so as the Mustang passed the one-million-unit production mark this year. You can spot a 1966 Mustang from its less cluttered grill texture, chrome hood moulding, redesigned gas cap, new wheel covers, an upgrade from 13″ to 14″ wheels (six-cylinder models only), standard 5-pod gauge cluster, redesigned side scoop brightwork and chrome panels over the rocker panels (deleted on GT). Federal mandates meant that the once optional reverse lamps are now standard. (The prior) year's extensive list of optional equipment was also present in 1966, with the addition of an optional 8-track cassette tape player.”

Offered here is a largely original, 1966 Mustang Hardtop Coupe in light yellow over black. This is a respray from the original Sahara Beige. All other data on the car's riveted-in-place data tag indicates originality on all fronts: year-of-manufacture, body style, engine, bucket seats, black interior trim, 2.80 axle, and C4 automatic transmission. The Mustang's full decoding is shown below:

Vin decodes:
6- Model Year 1966
F- Dearborn Assembly Pllant
07- Hardtop Coupe
C- 289 2V
333043 – Serial Number

Trim decodes:
Body Code: 65A (Hardtop Standard Interior Bucket Seats)
Exterior Paint: H (Sahara Beige Paint)
Interior Trim: 26 (Black Interior)
Build Date: 29D (29 April 1966)
District Sales Office: 41 (Chicago)
Axle: 6 (2.80)
Transmission: 6 (C4 Automatic)

The car's light-yellow paint (close to Ford's Springtime Yellow of the same period) shows very well generally across all body panels. The paint finish is evenly glossy, and the trunk interior, door jambs, and underside of the hood have all been properly sprayed. Panel fit is generally within period manufacturing specifications. A thin pinstripe accents the reverse-C-design on the sculpted bodyside. The black vinyl top is in excellent condition. Chrome work—including the bumpers, mirrors, door handles, window trim, taillight trim, and added rear-deck luggage carrier—is in very-good-to-excellent condition. The simplified-for-1966 front grille is undamaged. All badging—the F-O-R-D letters on the hood, the center-grille running-pony emblem, Mustang logo lower-fender emblems, “298” engine badge, and Mustang-logo gas-cap—is properly located and in overall good-to-excellent condition. Cabin glass and lighting lenses (including on the new-for-1966 backup lights) are clear and uncracked. Thin-whitewall Delta® Steel Radial tires are mounted on factory wheels with aftermarket full-wheel covers in a faux wire-wheel-with-spin-off-caps style.

The car's black interior has been properly refreshed, yet remains fully stock in appearance. Black vinyl seat upholstery with ventilated inserts covers the front buckets and rear, 2-position bench seat. Similarly finished black door-trim panels show light puckering from age; lower door-jamb trim pieces with Ford-script logos are in excellent condition. Fresh black carpets cover the cabin floors. The factory-original, Ford-Mustang logo steering wheel in black (with added leather cover) frames the 5-opening gauge cluster (updated from the '65 model). The black, padded-top dashboard has an aftermarket, period-style push-button AM-FM radio mounted; the passenger-side glove-box cover has the proper Mustang-logo emblem mounted. The car's trunk is clean; panel joints here have been sprayed with rust-inhibitor. An original-style vinyl trunk mat covers the floor.

Under the hood, the 289-cubic-inch Ford V8, wearing correct blue engine-block paint, sports a chrome air-cleaner cover and chrome valve covers. Shock towers and supports are undamaged. Viewed from below, the car's chassis is straight, undamaged, and complete. Rust-inhibitor spray has been applied to a number of chassis and suspension components.

While the more than 140 high-definition photographs and the short walk-around-and-startup video available on the GarageKeptMotors website showcase this '66 Mustangin detail from every angle, including from below, we expect and encourage in-person inspections at our Grand Rapids, Michigan showroom. Please call to arrange an appointment in advance as our showroom is not open to the public. And feel free to get in touch anytime by phone or email if you have questions.

Few American cars have held the attention and interest of the public and the auto enthusiast as completely as the early Mustangs. Since the model's launch was heralded on the covers of both Time and Newsweek, right up to the present day, these sporty cars capture some real sense of the American spirit. No wonder they've become such a valued collectible.