1966 Ford Mustang History
If the average person thinks about the classic Mustang, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is the 1966 Cherry Red Mustang Coupe. 66 Mustang is a smash! Ford sold more than 600,000 of these products, making it almost twice as popular than its competitor that year, the Chevy Impala. Actually, it is the best-selling Mustang of all time! 1966 Fastback is not so popular with coupe. Ford sees this as an opportunity to redesign to attract more mass, so 1966 is the last year for the original design of the original Fastback Mustang. In our day, the low production of the 1966 Mustang fastbacks, as well as the fact that it was redesigned the following year, made it a highly collectible vintage car. What are the differences between the 1965 Mustang and the new 1966 Mustang model? The most obvious difference is trim. The new 66 aircraft is equipped with new front grille, side grille, side trim, gas cap and wheel cover.
Under the hood you will find several new upgrade options like automatic three-speed shipping-o-matic or automatic C4 transmissions. All GTs are adapted from the Ford Mustang V-8 engine version. In addition to the upgraded engine made by Carroll Shelby, GT has some significant differences from the standard 66 Mustang. GT 1966 has a new gas cap and a standard driving light. It also comes with racing lines but it does not have a chrome rocker panel or a recognizable trim chrome scaler that belongs to 66 other Mustang models. In 1966 Ford introduced the Mustang edition of 'High Country Special'. Only 333 were sold that year. A number of countries are equipped with these models, namely Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. High Country Special was introduced to increase sales in low market, especially Colorado. Slightly different from the other 66 Mustang, High Country Special has an ornamental badge and is limited to three color choices: Aspen Gold, Timberline Green, and Columbine Blue. From 1965 to 1967 Ford also produced what is called the K Code Mustang or "Hi-Po".
The name K Code comes from the K letter that appears in all the original K Code VINs and Hi-Po, of course, derived from the term "High Performance". How is K Code different from other 1966 Mustang engines? Many are said by badges that are added to the front fender. It reads "High Performance 289". Yes, K Code is about performance! What are some interesting facts about K Code Mustang? Well, for starters Carroll Shelby chose to use a modified version of the K Code engine to build the first Shelby GT350R. From top to bottom, these cars were built for the show. Engine featuring upgraded pistons, cylinder heads, carburetors, connecting rods and head lifts. Driveline K Code is built with a high-performance clutch, suspension, drive shaft, and rear differential. All this horsepower does not come without a price. If you are looking for stock 1966 Mustang K Code do not expect to find it with AC or power steering. The lack of choice explains the fact that Code K performs at 271 horsepower! One thing you might find is an automatic transmission. Though the previous K Code model only comes with a standard 4 speed, 1966 is the first year Ford offers automatic trans as a standard choice. Ford is still shaken by the profitability of 65 Mustang Shelby.
This is the story of how we came to own our '73 Mustang and why her name is Eleanor. Back in 2002, we were looking for a classic Mustang. We had a Ford Falcon Futura station wagon, but although it was a cool classic car, it just wasn't us. We really wanted an early Mustang. We searched and scoured the ads and leads. We just weren't finding the "one". One day an ad appeared for a 1973 Mach 1, and it just so happened that we actually had to drive past the owner's house on the way home from work! The owner said the car ran, but it needed some work and she didn't have the time or money to do it. We decided we'd take a look, since it was within our budget. The car was sitting behind the house when we went to look, so we couldn't see her from the road. We walked to the backyard and saw a faded yellow Mustang with a HUGE dent in the passenger rear quarter. Although we could tell the car was clearly beyond our ability, we still decided to have a look.
