The Beginning of the GT Mustang, When?

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Category: Early Mustang Knowledgebase

Published on Wednesday, 30 November -0001 00:00

Written by Super User

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"Since the beginning of Mustang production, we have been eluded by certain facts and more or less have had to play the “guessing game” when it comes to determining what really was. Take for instance the first day of Mustang production in 1964. You would think that this day would be well documented but in reality we only have some information gathered by people “known to be there that day.” As it is, neither Ford nor any of us can say for sure if 5F08F100001 was actually built before or after 5F07U100002.

These small, but important, nuances leave us yearning for the truth.
The introduction of the GT Mustang in 1965 is another undocumented production change that we have yet to be able to say, “GT production started on (fill in the blank.)” In the past, it has been generally accepted that any 1965 Mustang with a scheduled build date after January 1, 1965 could theoretically have been a factory-made GT Mustang. Through the years, though, it has become evident that this really is not acceptable based on what we know. After careful consideration, it was agreed that the MCA Judging Rulebook be changed to state: “GT Cars: Built after mid-February, 1965. Engine code A or K, exceptions with documentation.” There are 2 main considerations for this change which our members should be aware of. They are described next.
First, an interesting piece of evidence is derived from the Mustang Production Guide, Vol. 1 by Jim Smart & Jim Haskell. Flipping through the pages we see one or two Mustangs noted as “GT” in the far right column during February 1965. Looking onward, consistency can be seen starting around mid-March and later at all 3 plants. Unfortunately, most of the data inserted into the Production Guide is given by owners and unfortunately, every car cannot be verified for 100% authenticity of the information submitted. Even so, we do not have the Ford production information like Marti Auto Works (www.martiauto.com) has licensed from Ford for the 1967 and later years. So, basically, we really cannot say for sure how accurate this information is. From observations of the data in this book, though, it is quite clear that GT Mustangs were built with regularity at all 3 plants starting around the middle of March, 1965.
Second, the most compelling evidence to support the first GT Mustang built later than beginning of January was provided by Allen Cross, owner of FoMoCo Obsolete (www.fomoco.com). Allen has in his possession a Ford Dealer Price Change list for new cars dated March 15, 1965. The price list has accompanied with it a coversheet noting that these are the new options and prices for 1965 ½ cars and that this list updates the previous price list from September 1964. On the price list, Mustang GT option is included and has a breakdown of the GT components as we would expect. Keep in mind that the GT option and Interior Décor group were to be available to the public starting on the one year anniversary of the Mustang introduction, April 17, 1965. What makes this compelling is the fact that dealers would not have been able to order a Mustang GT until they had received this new price/option sheet on March 15th or later. We can make an educated guess that actual GT production most likely did not start until a week or two before this price sheet was sent out by Ford Motor Company. And really, production starting in January would not have been necessary to be so early with an introduction date of April 17. Additionally, though, we need to account for some early GT show cars or demos to have been made as much as a month previous just to be safe. This could explain the light scattering of GT Mustangs noted in the Production Guide with February scheduled build dates.
In conclusion, even though we have been able to narrow the gap of the beginning of GT Mustang production, we still do not know for a fact when it actually began. We might possibly never find out when it really was, but its things like this that keep these cars so interesting. If anybody has information to refute this, please let me know. I will only accept items such as original order sheets, invoices, original window stickers or Ford documentation.
Copyright by Charles Turner"