Cruisin' with Hobbs and his 1966 Ford Fastback
Jul 27, 2024
Nothin beats a summer cruise with a buddy. Except maybe a summer cruise on a Monday morning when you both should be working behind a laptop but instead you're out ripping up your local streets pissing off the neighbours.
These were the circumstances the first time we got to see our good buddy Hobbs' new 1966 Ford Mustang GT 289 Fastback done in Ivy Green with classic white racing stripes.
Though it was more or less a humble Falcon beneath its sporty skin, Ford's new Mustang still looked like nothing ever seen before when it burst onto the scene in April 1964. More than 417,000 were sold within a year, a new Detroit record. Bucket seats and a floor shifter were standard, and either a six-cylinder or a 289-cid V-8 power was available under that long hood.
Ford's K-code High Performance 289, rated at 271 horsepower, remained the hottest optional engine up through 1966. And naturally, that's what Hobbs was on the lookout for when he decided he wanted to get behind the wheel of a classic Ford.
If you ask us, there's just something about these small body style Mustangs. Lighter, trimmer and tighter than its younger siblings, its stance is decidedly more understated, which, in the universe of American muscle cars, is a rare pleasure.
Unveiled right after the so-called “1964½” run morphed into the traditional 1965 model year, this even sportier 2+2 fastback pushed the Mustang's body count to three, joining the carryover coupe and convertible. Another choice offered in all three shapes, the Mustang GT, debuted in April 1965 to help mark the first birthday of a new genre called the “pony car”. Various details set a 1965 Mustang apart from its 1964½ predecessor. The easiest to remember was Ford's switch from archaic generator to a modern alternator.
Hobbs' 1966 marks the last of the small body Mustangs. They were redesigned for 1967, primarily to make more room up front for an optional big-block V-8. Though the 271-hp 289 “Hi Po” small-block remained available for one last year, it was overshadowed by the 390-cid FE-series big-block, rated at 320 horsepower.
If you ask us, there's just something about these small body style Mustangs. Lighter, trimmer and tighter than its younger siblings, its stance is decidedly more understated, which, in the universe of American muscle cars, is a rare pleasure.
Shot on 35mm Kodak Gold 400.
