1966 Mustang

The 1966 Mustang was an evolutionary change to the now solidly established first generation platform.

Several styling changes were made to both the interior and exterior of the car making it easy to distinguish the 1965 and 1966 pony cars just as long as they were either a coupe or a non Mustang GT car.

Both the 1966 2+2 Mustangs and the convertible were designed without the coupe's chrome "comb" which was located in the scooped area just rear of the doors on each quarter panel.

But the 1966 Ford Mustang exterior did have several changes that help differentiate it from the 1965 model year.

Exterior Changes:

Side Trim:

The side scoop trim by the back of the doors were lengthened and new lower rocker panel trim was added. One of the early nicknames, was the "three toothed comb".

Front Grille:

The front grille was changed for 66 from a honeycomb style to a rectangular look. The horse and corral design were floating. Also, the grill paint color went from a kind of bluish argent, to black.

A chrome trim strip was added to the front hood lip, completing the oval trim in front.

Rear valance mounted backup lights became standard equipment.

The 1966 convertible model was a beautiful car to behold, with it's clean styling and available high performance V8 power, it was snapped up by 72,119 excited new owners!

And following their huge success in the late 1965 model year, Ford continued with the aerodynamic looking 1966 Ford Mustang fastback to appreciative new owners, and which was of course, the basis for the amazing and quick 1966 Shelby GT350.

Fold Down Rear Seat

Along with the standard rear seats, buyers of the 1966 Mustang fastback cars were provided with a cool looking and functional option, a fold down rear seat.

















This not only provide significantly more useable storage space, it also made the car look like a two-seater.

1966 Ford Paint Colors

Ford made some changes in color availability for the 66 model year, including adding some spring specials. Check out the 1966 Ford Mustang paint colors section, which has all of the 1966 Mustang paint codes, data plate location and pictures of the colors available to help you identify your original paint colors, in the event that over the years it has been changed.

My 1965 coupe had just this issue. From what little paint was left on the body, when I got the car, I'd assumed that it had been Poppy Red, yet as I began my restoration and started pulling the car apart, I found that it had been repainted that color and the original color was in fact the darker Rangoon Red.

Had I had the original data plate, I would have had no problem figuring it out, with the data plate decoder, but the plaque was missing.

Interior Changes for 1966:

Changes on the inside of the car made it easy for enthusiasts to distinguish them from the 1965 model.



The standard 1966 Mustang interior went from a simulated tuck and roll upholstery to what looks like a simulated woven cloth detail which was applied in the appropriate interior color. The standard door panels remained unchanged.

A new instrument panel featured a prominent round speedometer in the center and gauges on either side, refining the previous Ford Falcon piece from 1965.

Engine and Drivetrain Specifications

Other than the addition of some rear differential combinations there were few changes for 1966.

The base engine, was a 200 cubic inch six cylinder, producing 120 horsepower.


























Ford offered two V8 specifications for the 1966 model year, including a 289 cubic inch V8 with a 2 barrel carburetor which made 200 horsepower, and it's high compression, 289 V8 known by many as the Hipo.

This powerplant also identified by it's identification code as a K Code engine, featured high flowing cylinder heads, a revised camshaft profile and higher compression, allowing the little V8 to produce 271 horsepower on premium fuel.

Solving Engine Overheating Problems on a 1966 Convertible

Recently, a reader had some questions regarding overheating problems on his 66 convertible. Here's a link to solving common overheating problems on a 1966 Convertible.

66 Mustang Parts:

Find specific applications and other information for 1966 Pony car parts here .

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