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Mustang Specials 64-73
Just like any other car the mustang has know it share of "specials". Sometimes it was to celebrate something, or to boost sales. Some you will know very well and some you never heard of, not even seen one.

This is the first special mustang: the Pace Car Special. As the mustang convertible paced the 64 indianapolis, some 190 hardtop replica's were built.

All in Pace Car wite with V8, autmatic, power steering and back-up lights

 

Offered for 66-67-68, the High Country Special was only sold in Colorado, Wyoming and parts of Nebraska. Special colors were: Timberline Green, Colombine Blue (above) and Aspen Gold. 333 were produced in 1966

1966 Anniversary Gold Mustang . This one is little know with the public. Fewer than 50 hardtops were built to celebrate the millionth mustang produced in March. They had special gold paint, black deluxe interiors and were all produced in the San Jose plant.

1966 Sprint Mustang . These are better know and more are seen ! Basically a dress-up kit available for all three models, Ford threw in popular mustang options like automatics, consoles and wire wheelcovers, the quarter trim was deleted and a pinstripe added. There was also a bit of sparkle under the hood with some chrome parts

1967 Branded Special . Though not really a bonified district special, the branded special was a kit distributed to Ford dealers near the end of the 1967 model year to help move the occasional mustang on the used car lot. This kit had a black floral pattern vinyl top, red or gold side stripes and emblems on the side of the roof that had a lasso with a horse running across it and the word branded above it.

The Branded logo
Here is a Branded Special on a meeting in the Netherlands.

1967 Stallion Mustang . A custom-designed Mustang sold exclusively by Mainway Ford, Toronto . Only 8 Stallions were produced, 4 had the 289 HIPO engine, the others had the 390 big block from the factory. 4-speed manual and C6 automatics could be chosen according to the ad. Special paint, Stallion emblems, rear Cougar taillights and a very unique vinyl side treatment made this mustang stand out !

1967 Ski Country Special . Created by the Denver dealers as a promotional package for hardtops and fastbacks. Colors were: Aspen Red, Vail Blue, Winter Park Turquoise, Loveland Green and Breckenridge Yellow. Incuded equipment: ski-rack, "coffee bar" (luggage rack) limitid slip axle, special medaillons and two snow tires !

1967 Blue Bonnet Special . A Texas special prepared hardtop based on the Sports Sprint and painted Blue Bonnet Blue. All cars had standard interiors. Affixed to each fender were unique Texas shaped medallions with "Lone Star Limited" and a running horse. Sold throughout the Dallas Sales District each had a DSO code beginning with 61.

1967 Indy Pacesetter . Officially it never took part in the 67 Indy 500. This hardtop had double stripes briefly over the door and an appropriate signature on the selector lever

1968 California Special . This one is well know, more than 4000 were built. Based on the Shelby mustang it has the Thunderbird taillights, side scoops, mid-body striping and the louvered hood. Built in San Jose all colors and combinations even with the 6 cilinder. Because the promotion didn't meet the sale goals, some went to Denver and were called High Country Special. It was identical to the GT/CS but had its own badges. Some 251 were built.

1968 Gold Nugget Specia l . It is a Seattle district special only (DSO 74). These Sunlit Yellow (code Y) mustangs totaled 525 and had unique golden plaques on the dashboard with the original owners names ingraved. Aside from the special yellow paint they also received louvered hoods with black stripes.

1968 Cardinal Specia l. Not much is known about this one. Believed to be sold at $3300 at the Virgina and North Carolina districts only it was a white and/or red badged mustang. The emblem had a red cardinal sitting on a branch with the words "Cardinal Special" within the logo, it was positioned on the rear side roof post. The car had the 302 4V, automatic, Firestone tires, a black C-stripe, fog lights, single exhaust and a AM radio.

1968 Sunshine Special. Sold in Florida and painted in a shade of yellow. Those are the known facts

1969 Limited Edition 600 .This one was a promotional unit for the Philadelphia district in May- June 69. It consisted of special order, custom coloured hardtops and sportroofs in Flower Power Red or Groovy Green. 503 were produced. Their DSO code is 16 and have no colorcode. Available engines went up to the 351 2V.

1969 Mustang "E" . E for economy. These sportroofs had the 250ci six, an automatic with special torque converter and a very low 2.33:1 rear axle ratio. Mustang E lettering was found on the rear quarters. 50 were produced. Click here for a story on the only known Mustang E

1970 Grabber Mustang . To promote the new Grabber colors, all dealerships offered a Grabber option. All of them were sportsroofs and there were 2 stripe packages. One  being like the reflective '69 Boss C stripes without the Boss 302 inserts. The other mimicked the '70 stripe but started at the dual sports mirrors. Here the engine disignation (302 or 351) was marked on the leading edge. Other features were blackout trim paint, dog dish hubcaps with trimrings and F-70 whitewall tires. There were 5120 Grabber Mustangs

1970 ARI Pace Car Mustangs . Here is a special that never came to be. Late in 1969 American Raceways Inc (ARI) ordered 100 high performance mustangs all to be equiped with 428 SCJ engines to be used as pace cars and official vehicles at their tracks. Ford accepted the order and disigned a special edition mustang specifically for the ARI order. ARI having just filed for bankrupcy could not pay for the mustangs and Ford was stuck with the unwanted cars. Kansas City Sales District, sponsoring a performance day celebration, bought 96 of the remaining ARI High Performance Mustangs and 90 High Performance Torino 's to create the Twister Special. The mustangs, mostly Mach I's, were sent to a local Kansas detail shop where the ARI logo's were removed and replaced with an oval Ford logo on the front quarter and on the rear quarter a Twister Special logo was applied.

It is believed that 5 ARI Mach I's and 5 ARI convertibles survived.

1970 Twister Special . You all know this one, and how it originated. All 96 were grabber orange and got the special graphics. Since Ford ran out of 428's about half of the Twisters got 351 engines.
1970 Sidewinder Special. We think that 40 of these were produced. Oklahoma had this Dearborn sportsroof built special, all had 351 2V engines. Many colors were available. The decal was put in the trunk and the dealer could apply it if he decided to participate in the promotion.

1972 Sprint USA . It was trimmed in- and outside with red white & blue, with a special decal on the rear quarters. Standard features included dual sports mirrors, hub caps with trim rings, whitewalls, and large USA decalls on the rear quarters. Both coupé and sportsroof were available (50 convertibles were also built) An A and B package was possible (B package: magnum 500's, special tires and the competion suspension)

These sprints were available for Maverick and Pinto also.