I took this photo in 1982, when I was 15. I’ve always kept an eagle eye out for old cars!
Even in 1982, this car was a Curbside Classic. It’s not that first-generation Mustangs were uncommon – it’s that most of the ones still rolling were beaters. It was rare, at least in South Bend, Indiana, where I grew up, to find one in solid shape. Because this one is missing its Mustang badge and aft side reflector, I’d wager that it sported a recent paint job. Someone was giving this car some proper love.
And when was the last time you saw a first-gen Mustang with a vinyl roof? Since 99.8% of remaining Mustangs have been resto-modded into bulging mighty he-man power machines, it’s easy to forget that they could come dressed this way.
1982 was when I was looking for my first car, and an early Mustang was at the top of the wish list. They were pretty much out of daily service by that time though, the rough ones having rusted away and the good ones already being saved and/or restored.
Not all were, of course. My high school best friend had a ’65 box top (302 transplant, automatic) and it was his DD for at least 4-5 years.
(this was from around ’79-83 or so)
I wonder if that passenger side window just dropped on its own. Up until around 1969, Fords had heavy chrome window trim that actually made the windows slowly lower on their own, although it may have only happened with the vibration that occurred when the car was in motion.
It makes you wonder how many of the “experts” would say the vinyl top is incorrect.
A coworker has a ’67 Camaro convertible his dad bought in the mid-70’s. It has a six cylinder engine. He has been told that’s wrong too
Vinyl tops on Mustangs and Camaros were fairly common. Anyone who would think that was “incorrect” really would have to be an idiot. The first 1964.5 brochure shows one prominently.
And the first AMT kit had the vinyl grain moulded into the roof, which was a separate piece. You could build it as the hardtop or a convertible. This was my first model car kit. I spent hours deciding how to build it, with all the various options to choose from. 🙂
First model kit I did was a ’67 Corvette 427 roadster, with kind of a rough grain on the removable “soft” top. Did a pretty poor job on it, too. But it was my first one, so it’s still kind of special.
Spent some time north of San Diego this winter. There are still a few being driven around that look like daily drivers. Driven by younger guys too. The hobby will survive. A friend just pulled her 69 conv. out of storage. Her father bought it new and stored it every winter. Beautiful original car.
I disagree, I see many more original Mustangs than restomod, especially coupes. I want one but not an original or numbers matching model. You would think that would be easy to find but its not. True that I do see a lot of fastback tributes or clones but not coupes.
CC effect strikes again!Just seen a Lime Frost Green one on my way to the shops
Like the one below? 🙂
With no vinyl roof.Nice car and colour
This brings back a flood of memories. I had a 68 hardtop much like this one, black vinyl top and all. I owned mine for about six months in 1979. At the time, it seemed awfully ordinary and I happily straight traded it for my 59 Fury sedan. Dumb, dumb, dumb. In 1979 (as now) I was nowhere near the photographer that a young Jim Grey was.
This photo also reminds me of sagging door hinges, rattling doors, and my very first cassette player that required me to scavenge some chrome radio knobs out of a 64 Dodge that were deep enough to go to the bottom of the hole in the padded vinyl in the console.
I agree with some comments above, by the early 1980s, it was getting hard to find nice ones in rust country.
They were called “Rustangs” for a reason. There wasn’t much from that time that did well in salt country, but these were worse than most.
Nice looking Mustang. I did not like that shade of green back then because it was common. I like it better now because it is uncommon. I also like the Grand Prix in the background.
In the summer of ’71, when I was 15 and was not old enough to have a driver’s license, I got a job at a local used car lot. The first car I drove on the lot was a ’67 Mustang, yellow with black top, off white interior, with a 289 and 3 speed. I don’t remember the second or third cars I drove, but I do remember that first one.
I feel the same way about that light green. My first car (67 Galaxie convertible) had been the very same color combo. If this Mustang had been in any worse condition I would have passed on it for color alone. Now I kinda like it.
I don’t know, Charlie Brown. It’s not such a bad photograph. It just needed a little love.
YouDaMan!
I saw a red with beige vinyl roof 65 Mustang coupe being raced at Bathurst yesterday. Of course these days that means full roll cage etc (not so in 1965!) so it is no casual thing.
Nice photo Jim. Beyond the slight film graininess, I would not have guessed it to be a thirty year old photo. I’m guessing you have color corrected it some in Photoshop? The color is nice. I like the soft light effect as well, it gives it a nostalgic effect. The film could be adding to that. The backdrop and slightly open passenger window, give it a brochure-ready look and feel.
Daniel, I took this with a camera that was old even then – 1950s Kodak Duaflex II. It took 620 film, which is medium format, an enormous negative. It’s really easy to get good quality photographs even with a so-so lens in medium format. I did do some Photoshop correction, as this was just a print scan. The print had faded and color shifted some.
The overall effect is really nice. Adds to the ‘original’ feel. I prefer it in fact to a high res digital shot. Though I imagine it would be a challenge to enlarge it too much. The lighting also really compliments the Mustang’s best styling feature… that perfect body side scallop. I quite like it!
Not quite the same thing, but I always like wearing sunglasses with a little brown tint–so everything I look at looks like a slightly-faded 70’s photograph.
Depending on the lighting, modern digital cameras will often raise their ISO speed, which gives a similarly grainy look. Some cameras are really eager to crank up the ISO speed in anything less than perfect studio lighting, which can make your shots look needlessly mottled. (One of my cameras has a handy control to limit the maximum ISO while still allowing the camera to choose its own speed.)
I know I’m going to catch grief from the Mustang crowd, but I actually like the 67 – 69 Mustangs better than the 64 – 66 Mustangs. They just look better in my opinion.
No grief from me — my favorite Mustangs by far are the ’67 and ’68 models.
I’m with you there. The 67-68 cars seem less like gussied-up Falcons.
Nice color combo and the vinyl top makes it feel like a tiny Thunderbird.
My first car that I could legally register was a ’68 “notchback.” No vinyl top, maroon paint, white vinyl interior (totally falling appart), powered by a 302/4bbl that had a healthy appetite for premium fuel. It also had four wheel manual drum brakes and no power steering either. Never had to worry about anyone wanting to borrow it. I bought it in ’73 from a USAF Officer who had used it from new to commute from N. Arlington,VA to the Pentagon. Every body panel was a different shade. Between the road salt and the DC streets, I pretty much drove that car into the ground.