1968 Ford Mustang California Special 289 Auto ORIGINAL California Car SOLID!!

1968 Ford Mustang

You are looking at a VERY RARE and SUPER SOLIDORIGINAL 1968 Ford MustangCalifornia Special. This carwhile needinga full cosmetic restorationisaSolidCalifornia/West Coast Carandwould make for a very straight forwardresto. It is a GREAT car in a GREAT color combination!!

This is an ORIGINAL1968 Ford Mustang California Specialthatspent it's early life inthe Southern Californiaarea hailing fromLos Angeles, California originally. From the L.A. areathis car found it's way up the coastto Santa Cruz, California; then a little further up the coast to Beaverton, Oregon where I found the car and brought ithere toAtlanta, Ga.This carhad been adriver for a number of years before beingput away and a restoration started on it.Thiscar is justwaiting forthe nextMustangenthusiast to come along and finish restoring this car to its former glory!!

For those who may not be familiar with a California Special I will give a brief rundown here; for those who are in the know please feel free to skip this section and read on.

The Western Region Ford Dealer's wanted to develop a Promotional Mustang to boost sales and they decided to be cost effective touse things they already had on the shelf to do this. They took standard Hardtop Mustangs and used off the shelf 1968 Shelby pieces to make the California Special a reality (Back in the day we used to call them the Poor Man's Shelby) for the Western Region Dealers with Ford building 4,118 units. With the California Special package you got the following Shelby Pieces added to a Mustang Hardtop. Functional Hood Pins, Lucas Fog Lights, Fiberglass Side Scoops, Fiberglass Trunklid, End Caps, and Tail light Panel with Shelby Tail Light Treatment. These cars could be had with any engine/transmission combination from the Miserly gas sipping200CI 6 Cylinder up to the Mighty R-code 428 Cobra Jet Ram Air V8 and everything in between.

This car was aStock Order at Coberly Ford in Los Angeles, California. It was ordered in theLos Angeles District 71 DSO inthevisually stunning and very desirableT-codeCandyapple RedHue withWhite GT/CS Stripes and amatching Red Bucket Seat Interior.

ThisCal Specialwas furtherspec'd outwith a C-code 289-2V,C4 Automatic Transmission, and a 2.79 geared conventional rear end!

This '68 Mustang California Special per the Deluxe Marti Report was originally ordered as follows:

California Special Package

289-2V V8 Engine

C-4 Cruise-O-Matic Transmission

F70x14 Wide Oval WSW Tires

Power Steering

AM Radio

Tinted Glass

Heavy Duty Suspension

The engine is believed to be the original 289-2V V8 and runs well. I do not believe the engine has ever been out of the car. It still hasCOBERLY FORD Stencilled on the radiator support and the stock number stenciled on the shock tower from when it was new on the lot. Itis pretty much all stock under the hood to include carburetor,air cleaner and exhaust manifolds. It will need an exhaust system as the one that is on it isold and worn out.TheTransmission is also believed to be the original and goes in all gears as it should. The brakes do work for yard driving, but will need to be gone through before you put it on the road. This car runs and drives but is not what I would considera driver at this point; however it wouldn't take much to make it one withjust a couple weekends worth of work.
Thecar hadbeen repaintedover the original Candy Apple Red paint and then primered. The body while extremely solid has had some bumps and bruises over the years.As a result of this the1/4's on this car do have somefiller in them. Both panels were very solid with justa small amount of rust on the lower rear 1/4'smost likely fromclogged drains.Both 1/4's have been professionally repaired and just need finish work, but are rust freenow!! This car is avery easy fix for a good body guy.The Battery apron needs to be replaced in the car and needs an outer frame patch all due toa leaking battery.I have a new replacement apron, battery tray and outer rail patchalready to effect the repair.All of the seams on the engine bay aprons are nice andunblistered.This car,showssome wear and tear from its years of road duty; but reallyis not a terrible car to work with.With that said a complete cosmetic resto would be in order.Car really needs to be stripped, straightened, and repainted back to it's originalCandyapple Redcolor again!!
The Body on theMustang whilenowhere near perfect, norpaint ready is avery good platform from which to start with. The Hood,Fenders,Doors and 1/4's are all Super Solid Pieces to work with. Thedecklid and 1/4 extensions are original FordFiberglass pieces and are in excellent shape. The California Special Side Scoops are original (one is NOS)Ford Pieces also; while needing some attention arevery good workable pieces.
The Floors are original and solid as you would expect from a West Coast car as well as theTorque Boxes, Frame Rails, Rockers, TrunkFloors, Drops, Cowl,etc. They are all super solidon this car.
There are manyNEW parts included with this car to be used in its restoration. Here is a partial list of the NEW items that come with this car as part of the auction.
NEW CARPETNEW SILL PLATESNEW DASH PADNEW INSTRUMENT BEZELNEW INSTRUMENT LENS'SNEW DASH BEZELSNEW DOOR PANELSNEW ARM RESTSNEW KICK PANELSNEW STEERING WHEELNEW CALIFORNIA SPECIAL SCRIPTSNEW BATTERY APRONNEWBATTERY TRAYNEW AMK INTERIOR FASTENER KIT
The Red Bucket Seat Interior has had the buckets replaced with a Super Rare Factory Bench Seat which has already been recovered along with the matching rear seat. There are many new interior pieces that will make this car's interior appearance really POP!

This car was originally equipped with 14 inch Steel Wheels; but now rides on a NEW Set of 15 inch American Racing Torque Thrust Wheels with a NEW set of BF Goodrich Radial TA's on it.

Overall this is a very decent running and driving 1968 Mustang California Special thatis a supersolid restoration candidate.There are lots of picked over,rusted out carcasses out there; but decent do-able cars such as this that are not rusted to death and missing everything don't come along very often.This car has a clean open transferrable title in the prior owners name and is ready for transfer. If you have been looking for aSolidCal Special to restore then don't hesitate on this one; as is it may be some time before anothersolid resto projectsuch as this comes along again!

Please be realistic in your expectations of this car as a nearly 50 year old project car that has been around the blockand bumped and bruised a littlethat needs a complete (albeit simple) restoration to include body work, mechanical work, and cosmetic reconditioning.
Please look at the pictures and ask any questions BEFORE you bid!! I want you to be sure of what you are bidding on and for us both to be satisfied with the68 Mustang California Special's described condition and its sale. I expect a deposit within 24 hours of auctions end and balance of payment within 7 days of auction end. This 1968 Ford MustangCalifornia Specialis anearly 50year old project car and as such is being auctioned 'as-is where-is' and 'as-described' with no warranties either expressed or implied. I have described this 1968MustangCalifornia Specialproject car accurately so please read the auction text and look at the pictures carefully to make sure this is what you want before bidding. Please do not assume anything, ask a question! If you are not sure please do not bid. I take my auctions seriously and so should you. Good Luck and Happy Bidding!!
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• Condition: Used
• Make: Ford
• Model: Mustang
• Year: 1968
• Mileage: 100,000
• VIN: 8R01C1XXXXX
• Color: Red
• Engine size: 289
• Transmission: Automatic
• Drive type: RWD
• Interior color: Red
• Vehicle Title: Clear
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