Ford Mustang 1966 – 289 Convertible SWEET survivor

Ford built over 72,000 Mustang convertibles in 1966, but not all of them came with the same heart under the hood – the 289 could be ordered as a mild 200-horsepower cruiser or a genuine 271-horsepower K-code that could actually run with the era’s quicker pony cars. A clean, low-mileage survivor like this one is a reminder of just how much performance range Ford packed into a single model year.

This 1966 Mustang 289 convertible is a cherry high option, low mileage survivor with a great history!

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A “cherry, low mileage survivor” is one of those phrases that gets thrown around more than it should be, but with a 1966 Mustang 289 convertible, it can actually mean something specific. Ford built more than 72,000 convertibles that year, but they weren’t all built the same, and the engine bay is where the real story sits. Depending on which 289 came from the factory, a car like this could be a pleasant weekend cruiser or a genuinely quick first-generation pony car hiding under a friendly droptop body. Which one is it?

Three Very Different 289s

Ford offered the 289 three distinct ways in 1966: a 200-horsepower two-barrel with 9.3:1 compression (code C), a 225-horsepower four-barrel at 10.0:1 compression (code A), and the high-performance 271-horsepower four-barrel running 10.5:1 compression (code K) – the K-code being the one enthusiasts really chase down decades later.

Why Convertibles Like This One Matter

Ford built 607,568 Mustangs total in 1966, and convertibles made up 72,119 of them – split between 56,409 standard bucket-seat cars, 12,520 luxury convertibles, and just 3,190 bench-seat models. Convertibles were always the smaller slice of Mustang production, and clean, low-mile survivors from that slice are rarer still.

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