AKA Rusty Green I have liked Fords and especially Mustangs since I was about 15 in 1977 mostly of which was because of some of my neighbors that were a 2-3 years older that were always working on their Mustangs for drag racing. I have the same birthday as Henry Ford so maybe it was just destiny for me to be a Ford fan. As I write this in 2026 I have ONLY owned Ford vehicles. At that time in 1977 compared to now cars were not JUST transportation. They defined who you were to some degree and very likely who some of your friends were. The allegiance and loyalty to a car brand was massive as a FORD guy or Chevy guy especially in High School. Even back then there was a lot less Ford fans. The General Motors brands dominated the car culture. Just look in the student parking lot at that time to see the cars driven. All of the path less followed and very much a “dare to be different” philosophy which would later become a huge part of my personality. Even with my Ford Fandom 1960s Mustangs as daily drivers and at times my only car needed much more maintenance. I was frequently going to work just to earn the money (under $160.00 a week gross) to buy the parts needed to install on the weekend to make it drivable again to get through the next week without much money left over. After a few years of that it got to be really old and annoying. Constantly working on them to have a car to drive burned me out. I literally hated it and never wanted to do it again which eventually did happen for about 30 years.

Further the restoration of my 66 convertible was a constant money drain especially after getting a complete floor and frame rail replacement. Then there was the rear ending accident repair in 1987 which was not done correctly. The passenger side quarter panel was compressed and pushed upwards. It was supposed to be put on a frame rack and straightened but that did not happen. The car was welded together crooked with very expensive NOS Ford parts. The body gaps on the trunk lid were awful from almost touching on one side to ½” wide on the other. You had to slam it to get it to shut. I tried to sue for a bad repair job but I learned a life’s lesson that even though it was a BAD job it still had to be paid for. I could spend $5000.00 in lawyer’s fees to win $1000.00.

I had enough. Wrenching on Mustangs completely burned me out. So cars came and went as they usually do in life.

Mustangs and other vehicles I have owned in the order of purchase

This is every vehicle I have owed in my life. Again note that they are ALL FORDS. The exact bought and sold dates are long gone to my memory. During the 1980s and 1990s I frequently had 2 vehicles at the same time.

1965 Coupe bought in the spring of 1980 - 6 cylinder body with a 302 in it when I bought it. It was not roadworthy in time for me to drive to my senior year in high school. I later completed the 5 lug front suspension conversion.

1973 F150 AKA Orange Crate

1966 Convertible bought from my father’s boss in about 1981. I may have very briefly owned the 1965, F150 and 1966 at the same time.

1969 Grande I traded a friend even up for the F150. I had the 1966 convertible and 1969 Grande at the same time for maybe 5 years as my best and most reliable Mustang time period.

The 1969 Grande became a giant leak of everything. I stopped driving that waiting for repairs that never happened leaving my 1966 convertible as my only daily driver for a year or so, and accelerated its demise. The paint was failing. With heading into another winter the awful Mustang heating system I wanted something new, more reliable and capable of driving in snow.

I got my first brand new vehicle - a 1988 Bronco II. The 1966 convertible was being driven less and eventually not at all. That sat for years before I decided to sell it in about 1993 leaving me with no Mustangs and ending that era for me.

The Bronco II was not overly reliable as well. 2 transmissions – the first failed at 70,000 miles when I was still paying the loan on it. I installed a new motor at 210,000 when the transmission failed for the third time at 230,000 miles ending that.

2003 Escape I bought new and still have has been beyond extremely reliable.

Bucket List #1

Even though I did not have a Mustang for many years as time went on I always wanted another one with the expectation it would be bought 100% restored. In the absence of having a Mustang my obsessive train buying habits kicked in BIG TIME. The dream of a Mustang was there but not really pursued. And the buying prices of Mustangs ZOOMED especially for the 1969 Mach 1. What was $40,000.00 10 years ago is now (in 2026) $90,000.00 or more. That is still not going to ever happen for me without a real lottery win.

In December 2025 I went to the repair shop I have been dealing with to discuss work needed on my Escape. The owner I knew for many years retired with an employee buying him out. After a short time we were discussing Mustangs. Tom said he had 1 for sale and invited me to go look at it. It was sitting for 3 years TWO BLOCKS away from my house. I am not sure if I saw it before.

These are my first photos from 12-21-25.

I was not considering buying it at first. I had a 10 minute look over with Tom when I took these photos. I wanted to see the car on a lift for rust inspection. I really wanted to see it running and driving. But we had some significant snow on the ground for months. It took until April 4, 2026 until the car could be moved to Tom’s shop. That 4 month wait was what did it. By the time April 4 came I was in full obsession mode. I wanted the car.

Photos taken 4-4-26

On April 4, 2026 the long awaited big day happened. Tom moved the car to his shop so I could see it on a lift and try to get it running. I was buying the car. Unfortunately we did not get the car running on April 4^th so I did not get to drive it before purchase. Also there was absolutely NO brakes so any driving would not have been possible anyway.

Of course there IS rust. They are called Rustangs for good reasons. On a scale from 1 to 10 of which 1 is no rust and 10 being extremely rusty I would give it about a 5. Overall the floors are in good condition. The passenger side is worse than the driver’s side. There is rust in places not expected like in the trunk next to the gas tank. I have no plans of doing rust repair. Welding and metal fab are not skills I have. Paying for the rust repairs would make me upside down in the car’s worth. Again this is just satisfying my #1 Bucket List spot.

The factory power steering is really power assisted. Not shown well at right is the control valve. There is a ball stud on the Pittman arm that shifts when steering and actuates the hydraulics. And they frequently leak. I tested that and it did leak voluntarily without the motor running. In theory you can drive the car without the pump running. But I was advised by 2 long time Mustang restorers that in driving the car as manual steering the ball stud can pop out of the control valve and have NO steering. A complete professionally done rebuild was in order here.

In my garage on 4-4-26

There are other huge factors in the purchase. Parts availability is one of them. 40 years ago you were dependant on what Ford dealers had left in stock as they were phasing out 15 year old car parts or you had to go to junk yards. That world has drastically changed for the better. While mostly not local you can get truly everything needed to build an ALL brand new 1966 Mustang (and other 1965 to 1973 years as well) from 20 different places. The parts are truly available everywhere. I have my own house and garage with a workshop. I am not working in a dirt driveway in whatever weather. YouTube is a BIG help in tech help and how to reassurance.

What was a big attraction and very important to me was the car was in extremely original and untouched condition, especially the wiring. Chopped up and spliced wiring would have been a deal breaker for me. That is also mostly not a skill I do not have. This is 60 year old possibly brittle wire insulation. What a nightmare doing repairs that could be.

I believe the 40890 mileage to be original and correct not 140,000 miles which was another purchase attraction. Tom did not drive it at all in his 3 years of owning it. So my 60 year old Mustang has 145,000 miles LESS than my 23 year old Escape. While it is not a 1969 Mach 1 it does fit my current needs perfectly as a driver quality car.

Car History

Decoding the door tag 65A is a coupe with standard interior. Color R is Ivy Green Metallic. Interior Trim 26 is black on black. D.S.O. 26 (where it was sold) is Philadelphia. Date code 22K is October 22 (1965) Transmission code 6 is C4 automatic, Axle code 6 is 2:80 standard differential. I also have factory power steering.

In the VIN 6 is 1966. T is the Metuchen NJ Assembly Plant.

I was lucky enough to get the original owners manual. That had a warranty card inside showing the Ford Dealer that sold it as Rice & Holman Pennsauken NJ, first owner James Hildenberger and sale date 11-6-65. There car was sold 15 days after it was made. There were also registrations and insurance cards for many years of the 2^nd owner Cayrl Amana. She was a judge in Lawnside NJ. The trunk had 2 trash bags full of lawsuit papers from 1980. James and Caryl are now deceased. I made contact with Caryl’s daughter Selassie through Facebook. Selassie drove the car to West Deptford High School as the student parking sticker on the window shows which I am keeping in place. It was last registered in 1989. It had to have been stored indoors from 1989 to when Tom bought it in 2023 or it would have had MUCH more rust than it does now. So the car has had a very local 60 year history which I found to be interesting. I am pretty sure I am the 4^th owner.

Updated 5-25-26

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