1965 Mustang Fastback, K-code, Hi-Performance 289, Rare!

I am regretfully selling my 1965 Mustang Fastback K-code. This car was a limited production model produced by Ford in 1965 and was the base model for the Shelby GT350 that year. It came with the 271 Horsepower. solid lifter high performance 289 engine. Because of the performance level of this car. in 1965. it was only available with a 4-speed transmission and was NOT available with power steering. power brakes or air conditioning. All K-code (K is the 5th digit in the serial number that denotes the high performance 289 engine) came with a 9" heavy duty rear axle. the only Mustangs that year that came with this axle other than the GT350. They also came with heavy duty suspension that included a larger diameter sway bar. This car also has front disc brakes. The K car high performance Mustangs produced between 1965 and 1967 were the first high performance Mustangs. Out of the over half a million Mustangs produced in 1965. only 7. 73 were K code cars. A fraction of those were fastbacks. and of course. many have been destroyed over the years. These cars are rare and there are a great number of details that set these cars apart from other Mustangs. more so than I can go into in this listing. An excellent resource is The 289 High Performance Mustang by Tony Gregory. This particular car is not a GT model. but did come from the factory with the desirable deluxe "Pony" interior. Interestingly. it did not come with other options such as two speed wipers. day-night rear view mirror and remote side mirror. My car is the original color of Rangoon Red. although it has been refinished in lacquer in 1991 by the previous owner. (I acquired it in 1992). The interior has the original upholstery although the door panels. carpet and dash pad have been replaced. The driver's side upholstery will need to be replaced. I installed a replica 65 GT350 style steering wheel. (I do have the original deluxe simulated wood wheel). Under the hood is an original block high performance. solid lifter 289. The block and heads are correct and the heads have the requisite "19" cast into them. This engine is not entirely original however. It has a rare "SHELBY" lettered high rise aluminum intake manifold with an aftermarket Holley 650 cfm double pumper carburetor. I have replaced the original factory dual point distributor with and MSD unit and I do have the original distributor. The exhaust has been upgraded with Shelby Tri-Y headers with a new aluminized exhaust system that exits through openings in the rear valance under the rear bumper. This exhaust exit was a dealer available upgrade for non-GT cars. The engine was rebuilt around the same time the car was painted in 1991. The previous owner told me that he reset the odometer to zero at that time. It now has 8984 miles on it. which is basically the mileage I have put on it over the past 23 years. The previous owner also told me that the car was drag raced much of its prior life so. the original overall mileage on this car is relatively low. being driven a quarter of a mile at a time. There are weld repairs on the undercarriage where there appears to have been traction bars. It was the owner prior to me who decided to return it to its stock street configuration. In doing so. other dealer available upgrades were added in addition to the GT style exhaust. They were the styled steel wheels (there are 5) and the grill mounted fog lights. Shelby upgrades include an under hood export brace and a Monte Carlo bar. This car is not a perfect #1 show car. It has a few nicks and scratches that you would expect with a 24 year old paint job and some of the chrome isn't the best. There is no rust to speak of except for some light rust on the driver's side rear floor pan. The undercarriage/floor pan has some minor dents and bends as are common with these cars. most notably from jack use. In fact the lack of any significant rust is encouraging since I did some research and learned the car was first registered in New York (The second digit of the serial number. the "T" denotes that it was produced in New Jersey). The 9" axle is refurbished and powder coated. I have installed new rear springs and exhaust. That being said. although this car is not perfect. it is a good solid #2 driver/survivor with some refinishing work. (The previous owner called it restoration. but that definition is subjective. It is not a full rotisserie by any means so you can basically see the patina of this car's life. The value of these cars has risen dramatically. In the current (April) issue of Hemmings Motor News. there is one 65 fastback K car that looks perfect listed at $75K. There is a 66 fastback K car listed at $60K. I know my car is not a perfect restored masterpiece and I will price it accordingly. However. what you will be getting is a genuine reasonably nice K car and they are hard to find. If you have any questions or would like other pictures. please let me know. And. of course. you are welcome to examine the car in advance or have an appraiser come see it as well. Buyer will make all shipping arrangements. Thank you for looking at my listing.