[Guest]

I just talked to a guy about this and he swears that it's true. I was with a buddy who has a Daily Driver 65 coupe, When this older fellow came over and started to admire his car.He tried to tell me that his late father had a 66 coupe, (and wished that he had kept it), which was bought new by his father in August 1966, said the car was loaded, 289 4v( A-code) auto, PS,PBrakes,Console ,Pony-int,Air-cond,8-Track, Cruise Control,Remote Trunk release,(TILT STEERING), Parking Brake Lite, Rear arm rests,Vinyl roof,Ralley-wheels,Trunk rack, and so on and so on. It was not until he talked about the fact he was a Ford Mechanic at the time and he owned a 65 Mustang also at the same time that I started to pay a little more attention to him. He said that the car had been a factory order for the owner's wife of the Dealership, but she liked the look of the 67's better. So the dealer sold the car to his dad. He said that the price was $2600.oo plus he traded in a 64 Falcon hardtop. Then he proceeded to tell me all about the Falcon. Now I can sort of believe the fact of a loaded out 66 Mustangs. But the Tilt Wheel thing??? Is it possible? Could a late 66 have a 67 tilt added at the factory. The guy was quite imformative on the early cars. I am kicking myself for not getting his name/number, but you run into people all the time that tell stories, just who do you believe.

 

[DaveH]

The tilt-away wheel and Cruise Control were factory options for the 1967 cars, though Kevin Marti's database has shown that the only cars equipped with the latter were a handful of early promotional vehicles. And while Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca had their early Mustangs equipped with cruise control (and a host of other amenities), it seems highly unlikely that the factory would have made such modifications to a 1966 ordered by the wife of a dealer. A far more plausible idea is that these would have simply been added by the mechanics at the dealership itself, as all the items listed (with the exception of the console and deluxe interior options) were available through the service department as dealer-installed accessory kits. However, without actually seeing the car, this'll have to go down as yet another horse story.

 

[Smokin_Joe]

I suppose someone could possibly retrofit a 67 column in a 66 but I could only imagine it as a mechanical nightmare. 67 columns were collaspible and contained the steering shaft, so that would require a different steering gear at least. I would also wonder about the reinforcements and bracket arrangements on the dash and firewall. Would take a lot of work.

Vintage Burgundy 1966 Mustang GT Fastback (Midlife's younger brother)
MCA member #46447
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1582316&a=12039610&p=44141294.jpg

 

[Guest]

Early model 67's had the same solid shaft output as the 65-66's - my coupe is equipped this way, while my late build convertible has the rag joint. I remember reading on a definitive switchover date (kind of like the 8/17 64 thing) for the steering shaft but I don't remember what it was.

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