Not crazy: ’65 Ford Mustang A-code 4-speed
You’ll look at the crappy photos and not think much of this Mustang. And you’ll probably be wondering what got into us because this is so far from Mintworthyness that we must be nuts. To understand why, you had to see the movie A Man and a Woman (1966) with Jean-Louis Trintignant and Anouk Aimee. It is a love story, in French, with subtitles. Jean-Louis plays a French rally racer and his car of choice is a Wimbledon white Mustang Coupe. It is kitted with Ford’s special rally equipment that helped them be a very successful rally car. Those Mustangs were already equipped with the 289 engines from Holmann-Moody and were delivered to England to the Alan Mann Racing Team and the team immediately went to work on the suspension and other stuff. The output of the 289ci was brought up to 285 hp. The suspension was upgraded with bigger stabilizers, a stronger Galaxy rear end, while steering was replaced with another shorter gear ratio. And that brings us to this plain-Jane (apologies to Jane) Mustang. It is a relatively rust-free Wimbledon White Coupe with a 289 4-barrel (A-code) and a 4-speed transmission – a perfect candidate for a rally build. The seller has done quite a bit of mechanical work but for vintage rally duty, you’ll have to follow Alan Mann’s lead and that isn’t too hard. It is a Mustang after all. Getting the looks down is a no-brainer and the price is right at $7,500. You’ll probably get it for less. And, yes, we see the rust around the window and the gaps are a bit dodgy but that is probably the way it came out of the factory (maybe not the rust part). Don’t be so picky. Budget for wheels (American Torque Thrust or steelies), tires, Konis, front-end rebuild with GT350 mods, period driving lights, killer exhaust and some flat black paint. Throw in some rally switches and timers inside while you are at it. We wish we could do it. Click here for the listing.