Prototype or Fake? You decide...

65fsbkhipo · Oct 27, 2004

Found this gem about an hour from me. Owner says its a prototype but I am skeptical. Although I heard about them years ago, I am not sure because I have never seen any documentation of them. Was there ever a Mustang Ranchero? You decide. To be honest, it is interesting!

Mustang Ranchero

HistoricMustang · Oct 27, 2004

Interesting but not a chance!

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

66stangmeister · Oct 27, 2004

i remember seeing a picture of something like that at some car show in california...at knotts berry farm I think? lol

That just looks like a custom job...but i dunno.

65fsbkhipo · Oct 27, 2004

I remember seeing this 'mustang truck' when I was twelve (1967) but never saw anything like it since. Granted, it is probably a resto but it does have those factory welds in the right places!

Ronstang · Oct 27, 2004

It is a fake. Ford had a Ranchero already and didn't even think of making one out of a Mustang. I have seen these since the early days also as I have the station wagon Mustangs but they have all been converted by outside coachmakers/custom shops.

DukeGnarley · Oct 28, 2004

i also saw one at the Knotts show spring of '04

SadbutTrue · Oct 28, 2004

actually, i do think there might have been a prototype of it... whether thats it is doubtful, but I coulda sworn i read about one of those on here.... or I could be stupid...

1320stang · Oct 28, 2004

Well, the piano hinge on the tailgate pretty much threw it off for me. It also looks to have a plexi rear window. Hard to picture the tailgate handle, but it looks later model to me. Put it this way, if it was a prototype, everything used to put it together should be out of the Ford parts bins and shouldn't be later than the year of the car. I've seen one before, they moved that rear glass forward elimitating the rear 1/4 glass. Looked pretty good. I think you ought to buy it George, make a great shop truck.

Years ago, back in the mid 80's my dad bought a 4x4 called the Pinchero. It was a yellow Pinto wagon that had been converted to a Ranchero body by cutting off the top and welding in a Vega Hatch for a rear window/front of bed. It sat on a early Bronco frame that had been stretched to the Pinto wheelbase and had 40" Ground Hawgs. It had a 289/3 speed and a 2 speed transfer case. A guy that worked at Bigfoot had built it and a buddy of my dad's bought it. Then my dad bought it and we used it as a parade piece and general toy. We got it in about '83 and traded it in on a car for my mom after the oil bust in about '86. It went to the Jamboree I think in '83 and came in 11th place, a 4x4 '82 Vette came in first. It had been featured in 4Wheel Drive & Off Road mag in about '81 or '82. It was a fun truck, but a handful to drive above 55.

reenmachine · Oct 28, 2004

1320stang said:
Well, the piano hinge on the tailgate pretty much threw it off for me.

Funny you should say that -- that's exactly what stood out to me too. The whole build looks a bit too ghetto to have come from the factory.

Odd thing is, somewhere deep in the fuzzy memory banks of the hundreds of Mustang books and magazines I've read over the years I seem to recall pictures of a weird Mustang prototype like that. I think it was a wagon I'm thinking of though.

I'm sure it's a fake from the '70s. People did all kinds of stuff like that. One of the mags is building a Mustang sedan delivery (like a wagon) right now, and it looks really well done. Some dude will run across it in a junkyard in 30 years and I'm sure a big debate will ensue...

65fsbkhipo · Oct 28, 2004

You have all passed the test...it is a resto. Very good boys. I especially want to thanks the ones that didn't reply...they knew this was a test!

65fsbkhipo · Oct 29, 2004

But...HOLD ON!!! I have been doing some checking and this is interesting:

Back in 1965/66 a company called Beverly Hills Mustang LTD (9280 Alden Drive Beverly Hills, California) custombuilt some Mustangs into Mustero's, max. 50 were probably made. The company was authorized by Ford to change the body parts as well as engine, transmission and exhaust parts. The modifications were priced at about $6500, an unbelievable sum, as you could buy a Shelby Cobra for this amount. There are brochures of that company.

ALSO...

Some Mustang stationwagons were even built by the Ford design studio, but never made it for production. In 1965 Barney Clark and Bob Cumberford, both writers for Car and Driver magazine, had a better idea. Bob, being a designer as well draw a nice looking Mustang wagon on the board and they teamed up with Bob's friend Jim Licata for financial support to realize their idea. A 1964 289ci engine equipped Mustang coupe was sent over to Italy in March 1965 to a company called INTERMECCANICA. Bob had alreday worked with this company on the Griffith, and Frank Reisner was the guy to lead the new project. They cut off the roof and fabricated a new one, the rear seat was altered to a fold-down-version, the fuel inlet was moved to the left rear fender. The tailgate could be folded downwards and the overall workmanship was excellent, but in the end they ran out of money for additional modifications in the trunk area. In February 1966 it came back to New York and was an instant hit on the Detroit Expressway. Even GM employees thought, Ford was working on a wagon and alarmed their management. Barney enjoyed that a lot. There are rumours that at least 3 were built, at least not more than a handful of these nice looking Mustang mutations are supposed to have been built.
Some information from Car and Driver Oct. 1964 issue.

rbohm · Oct 30, 2004

this particular car is a custom job, as the factory, which may indeed have either built or commissioned(likely the latter as they already had the falcon ranchero finalized for 1966 at this point) a mustnag ranchero, this car isnt it. first the piano hinge tailgate would not have even been done by any factory authorized customshop. it would have been based on the falcon ranchero's tailgate hinge design which is far more elegant. next the roofline would also have been done far better than this one was. the good customizers would have followed the mustang roofline much better than this one has been. this one was just chopped off behind the door. the wheelwells would have been done much nicer, there would have been NO snaps as there would have been NO tonau cover. all in all i call fake on this particular care as being a factory prototype. i say it is an poorly done aftermarket conversion. IF the factory did or commissioned a mustang ranchero, it was ONLY a styling excorsize meant for the show circuit only, never for production. as for the station wagons, they were NOT factory authorized conversions. barney clark thought it would be a good idea to build one and show it to ford and see if they would consider building a factory version of the car, but ford either rejcted the body style outright, or never returned mr clark's calls. mr clark did an excellent job in maintaining the lines of the mustang when building the wagon, but it too would only have been a curiosity in the ford line as the falcon wagon was already available.

DukeGnarley · Oct 30, 2004

yeah, the one posted above is a pos compared to the one that was at the knott's show. It's not really my thing, but since you seem interested i'll post the pics i took.

Snail50 · Oct 30, 2004

there's a resto shop here in Miami, and one of the employees built up something like that. personally, I think it's a monstrosity.

Snail50 · Oct 30, 2004

just so you don't think I have anything against that kind of "modification" being inflicted upon a classic Mustang, allow me to express my tolerance of those sort of endeavors by stating that it makes me want to vomit until I'm so dehydrated that I need an IV.

MustangMatt1966 · Oct 30, 2004

DukeGnarley said:
yeah, the one posted above is a pos compared to the one that was at the knott's show. It's not really my thing, but since you seem interested i'll post the pics i took.

That car is sweet looking.....like whooooo lol

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