1965 Mustang, Which Sat Parked for Over 30 Years, Hides the Sad Truth Under the Hood

Pete and his Iron City Garage drive to Pittsburg to pick up a 1965 Ford Mustang with a 289-cubic-inch V8 engine. He knows the car has some transmission issues but doesn't quite know what that actually means. He is to find out that the transmission is not the only one with issues.

The Mustang he bought is one of the first first-generation Mustang fastbacks to see the light of day. Ford started the production of the fastback version in late 1964. The new kid in town took the automotive world by storm. In the first two years of production, Ford sold 1.3 million Mustangs.

The 1965 Ford Mustang is sitting next to the wall of the barn, with the hood popped up. The "289" inscription shows up on the front fenders, above a wide "V," positioned next to the headlights. That was specific to the V8-powered versions. The emblem was identical to the one that Ford used for the 1964 Fairlane.

Rust has bitten off those fenders and in several other places on the car. But they are to see those later, once they remove the fastback from the wall it has been sitting next to.

The model rolled off the production line on May 28, 1965, in Dearborn, Michigan. That was 59 years and one month ago. The two-door fastback is painted in Caspian Blue. It has a standard interior in blue vinyl covering the adjustable bucket seats, rear seats, and door cards. It was delivered to a customer in Saint Louis, Missouri with the very rare blue-on-blue spec.

The V8 has been removed from the engine bay, together with several other components. It sits in a corner, waiting to get its place back into the car. But for the moment, the only place it is going is the trailer, where is the Mustang is going to accompany it soon.

However, the Iron City Garage team is not sure that's the original engine. They are going to check codes and find out. But that is going to happen later. However, things eventually turn out to be easier than they thought.

They figure out that it is a two-barrel, so it definitely isn’t what this Mustang drove through the factory gate with. The "C-Code" V8 with the two-barrel carburetor, generating 200 horsepower, was the base V8 in the Mustang lineup.

Either way, if it runs, it will go into the car. The 289 V8 originally delivered 225 horsepower (228 metric horsepower). As the engine is pulled up on the trailer, the Iron City Garage is amused by its resemblance to the famous R2-D2 astromech droid.

The car still retains the original rear axle, a 3.1 ratio. But it lost the original transmission along the way. It has a four-speed unit instead of the stock three-speed. "It's ten times better," Pete says.

There are doubts about the originality of the seats as well. In the 1960s, Mustangs did not have headrests, but this one does. Furthermore, there is no pony in a running position embossed into the vinyl in what was called "the Pony interior" back then. No sign of those ponies on board this Mustang.

The seats were probably snatched out of some donor car at some point. They resemble a bit with the ones that were in the Mustang GT in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The hood hardly comes down after so many years left wide open, and the car goes up on the trailer. The passenger's side, which was almost pressed against the wall, is eaten by rust. But Pete is optimistic when it comes to getting rid of it.

They drive off with the Mustang and unload it at the shop where the project begins. Looking underneath, Pete says everything seems repairable after a car parts shopping session.

Pete does not disclose the price of the 1965 Mustang. He just says that he probably paid too much for it. However, rebuilding it is going to be the "too much" kind of cost, too.

This 1965 Mustang is going to need more than just some TLC to look good, run, and drive before it can go out there and search for an owner. The average price for a car of that era, as reported by classic.com, is $42,590.

The most expensive currently for sale is a restomodded Mustang in silver with a black top. The model with a 427-cubic-inch (7.0-liter) engine was in a Mecum auction back in May. Even though the highest bid was $400,000, it did not sell.