Photo: YouTube/Dennis Collins
1967 was a turning point for Ford Motor Company's latest superstar: the all-too-popular Mustang was starting to lose its luster and slip below the half-million sales mark it had achieved the previous two years. The debut of the Chevrolet Camaro that same year could have cut into a large chunk of the pony car market that the Mustang had inaugurated in 1964. However, Ford executives weren't resting on their laurels.
In 1967, Ford made some big changes to the Mustang, and I mean big. First, the company introduced big-block power to the pony car segment with the 390-cubic-cubic 'Thunderbird Special' V8. Finally, a factory Mustang could break the 300-horsepower barrier, an attribute previously exclusive to the Shelby GT350.
The Cobra-branded tuner wasn’t sitting idly by, however. Shelby saw Ford’s 6.4-liter big-block offering and upped the ante to 428 cubic inches (seven liters), all neatly packaged in a GT500 package. Ford’s plan wasn’t so much to play the big horse game as to offer decent performance in an affordable size.
The GT Equipment Group was introduced as a lure for those who wanted to give their Mustang a full tank of muscle and muscle. The option package offered a sportier look, with fog lamps planted right next to the galloping stallion on the grille, wide oval F70-14 tires for better grip, front disc brakes, an upgraded suspension, low-restriction exhausts, and flashy stripes.
Photo: YouTube/Dennis Collins
Despite this newfound attraction, buyers didn’t flock to showrooms—not like in ’65 and ’66, anyway: Of the 472,000 Mustangs assembled, only 24,000 were ordered with the GT option. That’s just over five percent of model-year production, about 4,000 fewer than the 390 V8 pony cars sold.
The convertible was a more profitable version of the '67 Mustang; nearly 45,000 were assembled. Oddly enough, however, only 2,341 of those were equipped with the GT package, making these strange birds quite rare today. However, the answer is always no until you ask, and then you get what you want. That's pretty much the case with classic rescuers: they ask around, and every once in a while, their raid pays off.
Check out the video below: The guest star is a one-of-a-kind 1967 Ford Mustang GTA convertible, the only one in a select club that comes with a factory 8-track stereo. According to the YouTuber who found, purchased, rescued, and plans to restore this unicorn Mustang, only six GTAs were painted Lime Gold and had Ivy Gold bucket seats under the folding top.
Photo: YouTube/Dennis Collins
However, this car is rather unusual for several reasons. First, it is a GT, but it has the standard interior. Second, it has the 289 cubic inch (4.7 liter) V8 fed by a two-barrel carburetor. It was the lowest-spec V8 engine Ford had on its roster for the year, producing only 200 horsepower from the “Challenger” engine.
Why would anyone put the entry-level engine in a package that demands a certain level of performance? It's beyond our means and no longer relevant. This Mustang is unlike any other in its class, even though the 8-track is off the dash, above the spare tire.
Nevertheless, this Texas barn find has all the makings of a tidy project car: engine, three-speed C4 SelectShift Cruise-O-Matic transmission (console), power brakes, steering and convertible top, and a 2.79-inch rear axle (conventional, slippery type).
Photo: YouTube/Dennis Collins
The hood is missing, as are other minor details, such as the rain cover over the occupants. However, this is not a big deal for a serious restorer. The worrying part is hidden below: the floorboards are losing the battle against time and are slowly disintegrating into the surrounding environment.
Speaking of rare 1960s Fords, the Texas barn where the GTA (for GT Automatic) was parked also housed another FoMoCo staple from the 1960s and 1970s. A 1964 Ranchero light-duty pickup truck was last driven in 1981, and by the looks of it, it had been driven to the ground. The car is mostly there except for the front wheels, but it's probably just a parts car.
The optional 170-cubic-inch inline-six engine is still inside (a 2.8-liter, economical single that Ford too ambitiously called a “High-Performance Six”). The three-speed, column-shifted Synchro-Silent manual transmission has been standard equipment on the Falcon-based Ranchero since 1964. Just under 10,000 of the base model were sold that year, with another 7,000 ordered as the Deluxe version.
With a whopping 101 horsepower and 156 lb-ft, the Falcon needed all the help it could get to haul 800 pounds of cargo, so a 3.50:1 rear end was standard. A 4.00:1 option for the even smaller 144-cubic-cubic-foot (2.4-liter) Six ensured the base 85-hp Ranchero would get its load wherever it was needed. Sure, it wasn't a particularly quick delivery, but it was easy on the wallet. The 1964 Ford Falcon pickup could also be ordered with a V8, the 260-cubic-cubic-foot (4.3-liter) engine that also powered first-year Mustangs.
