The 1966 Ford Mustang
If it ain't broke don't fix it! After closing the year in 1965 with over 700,000 sold Ford had no intention of changing the Mustang (at least for the most part). All of the body panels interchange from 1965 to 1966. 66 Mustang owners are quick to point out that the simulated vent in front of the rear wheels now have three bars so it looks like they are channeling air to the rear wheels. Of course they'll walk you around to the front of the car too, to point out the new grill, honeycomb gone, extruded aluminum in its place. The side bars on the grill are gone to but the pony and corral remain. In case your still not sure check out the dash, the 1966 Mustang now has a 5 gauge cluster and bezel. In 1966 rocker panel moldings became standard, previously only standard on the 1965 Mustang 2 + 2. However, if you got a GT you didn't get the rocker panels.
Emblems: The V-8 cars still have the cubic displacement over the V. The high performance cars had a plate fix behind it with "HIGH PERFORMANCE" stamped into a checkered background. The running horse emblem and the word MUSTANG appear behind the front wheel. Unless of course you get the GT the both those are gone.
Bumpers: The 1965 and 66 bumpers are identical.
Gas Cap: In 1965 the gas cap was completely changed. In 1966 the edges became grooved and the words FORD MUSTANG are stamped around the edges. Right in the center you will find the traditional running horse and three stripes behind it.
Rear Valance: The tail of the Mustang now came standard with backup lights
Mirrors: Optional remote controlled mirrors were available in the visibility group. The Mustang / Shelby Racing mirror is available too but only as a dealer installed option (try getting a dealer to install a different mirror on your 2005).
Trunk: Here is a fun fact. Did you know the trunk mats were plaid or speckled depending on the plant where the car was made?
Inside: You'll see more apparent changes on the inside of the car such as a new instrument bezel, new glove box door, and reshaped dash pad. You also see the 140 mph speedometer in all the 1966 Mustangs, even the 6 cylinders. Three different radios were available in the 66 Mustang, AM, AM / FM tape, and the most rare AM / FM, sorry no CD. The deluxe steering wheel, one of the most coveted options is still one of the hardest parts to get. The Rally pac is still available on all cars even the 6 cylinders the only difference is the tach depending on which engine you got, you either got a 6,000rpm tach or a 8,000rpm tach. Either way you'll see FORD imprinted on the face of the tach. The console remains the same in the 1966 Mustang, parts interchange in needed. A Nice change in the 1966 Mustang is the seats. They received a knit weave upholstery instead of the vinyl upholstery from the 1965 Mustang. The door panels were changed in 1966 but only slightly, the pleats are now horizontal instead of vertical. However the window cranks and door handles are the same.
Wheels: Optional wheels were the styled steel wheel but in 66 the outside rim was black instead of chrome. A beauty ring was added to cover the black. For the purest out there the center caps were red.
Fuel Tank: 16 gallons
1966 Mustang GT: Here is a fun fact about the 66 GT. Did you know that neither of the high performance 289 engines were included in the GT package? However, if you wanted the GT package you had to pay the extra cash to get the hipo 289 engine. You did get GT badges, GT stripe, front fog lamps, dual exhaust through the rear valance, front disc brakes and of course the GT gas cap.
1966 Shelby GT 350: Here is a fun fact about the 1966 Shelby GT 350. Did you know that a very few 66 Shelby's had metal hoods with bolt on hood scoops instead of the standard fiberglass hoods? In 66 the Shelby received a five spoke Crager wheel until the supply ran out in mid 1966, they then got the 14" Magnum 500 wheel painted gray with black centers. You could also get the optional 14" aluminum 10 spoke wheel and a chrome version of the Magnum 500.
Supercharged Shelby: In the middle of April 1966 Shelby offered a PAXTON supercharger! Who's ever seen one of those cars? Shelby claimed a 46% increase in horsepower!
1966 Shelby Convertible: If you have got one you should give it to me! Only 6 convertible Shelby cars were built in 1966, the last 6 to be built! All six were GIVEN to Shelby friends and employees!
1966 Shelby Rent a Racer: In 1966 Hertz rent a car ordered 1000 (only 936 were ever delivered) Shelby GT 350s. This is one of my favorite Mustang stories. The first 100 cars they took delivery of were 4 speeds almost immediately the car started come back from rental with the clutches "out". OK guys were renting them and racing them everywhere they could find pavement! Hertz then rethought and ordered the rest with the C-4 automatic. Of the 936 cars they took delivery of 100 were white with gold stripes and the rest were black with gold stripes. After Hertz got done with them Shelby bought most of them back, reconditioned them and sold them to Ford dealers to be resold. Believe it or not, at that time no one wanted the cars because they were previous rentals. The Ford dealers at the time were having a hard time selling them for $2,599.00!!
1966 FORD MUSTANG PRODUCTION NUMBERS
Hardtop (Standard) - 422,416
Hardtop (Bench seats) - 21,397
Hardtop (Luxury) - 55,938
Convertible (Standard) - 56,409
Convertible (bench seats) - 3,190
Convertible (luxury) - 12,520
Fastback (standard) - 27,809
Fastback (luxury) - 7,889 1966 FORD MUSTANG VIN NUMBERS - 6F08C100001
6 - Last digit of model year
F - Assembly Plant (F=Dearborn, R=San Jose, T=Metuchen)
08 - Plate code (07=Hardtop, 08=convertible, 09=fastback)
C - Engine Code
100001 - Consecutive unit number
66 FORD MUSTANG BASE PRICES
Hardtop - $2,416.18
Convertible - $2,652.86
2+2 Fastback - $2,607.0766 FORD MUSTANG ENGINES/ENGINE CODES
T - 200 ci 1valve 6-cyl. with 120hp
C - 289 ci 2valve V-8 with 200hp
A - 289 ci 4valve V-8 with 225hp
K - 289 ci 4valve V-8 with 271hp 66 FORD MUSTANG FACTORY OPTIONS
- Power brakes
- Power steering
- Power convertible top
- Air conditioning
- AM Radio with tape system
- Vinyl roof
- Deluxe steering wheel
- Limited slip differential
- GT Equipment Group (225hp and 271hp V-8's)
- Electric windshield wipers with 2 speeds
- Deluxe front and rear seatbelts
- Tinted glass
- Radio and antenna66 FORD MUSTANG INTERIOR COLORS/INTERIOR TRIM CODE
Parchment with aqua - D7
Parchment with Palomino - D9
Luxury blue and white - 62
Parchment with Ivy gold - D8
Luxury red - 65
Luxury black - 66
Luxury Embergio and Parchment - 64
Luxury gold and white - 68
Luxury aqua and white - 67
Luxury parchment with burgundy - F3
Luxury Parchment with aqua - F7
Luxury Parchment with black - F6
Luxury Parchment with Embergio - F4
Luxury Parchment with blue - F2
Luxury Parchment with ivy Gold - F8
Luxury Parchment with palomino - F9
Bench blue - 32
Bench red - 35
Bench black - 36
Bench Parchment with blue - C2
Bench Parchment with burgundy - C3
bench Parchment with ivy gold - C8
Bench Parchment with palomino - C9
Parchment with blue - D2
Parchment with burgundy - D3
Parchment with Embergio - D4
Parchment with black - D6
Aqua with aqua - 27
Black with black - 26
Dark red with red - 25
Blue with blue - 22
66 FORD MUSTANG EXTERIOR COLORS/COLOR CODE
Raven Black - A
Wimbledon White - M
Sahara Beige - H
Nightmist Blue - K
Arcadian Blue - F
Antique Bronze - P
Dark Moss Green - Y7
Signalflare red - 5
Candyapple red - T
Tahoe turquoise - U
Sauterne Gold - Z
Vintage Burgundy - X
silver blue - Y
Embergio - V
Silver frost - 4
Springtime Yellow - 8
Ivy Green Metallic - R
Brittany Blue - Q
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