Ray Brownfield has owned this 1966 Mustang convertible since 1982, restoring it into a Mustang Club of America National Award Winner. Only 72,119 of the 607,568 Mustangs Ford built that year were convertibles, and national-level judging holds them to a standard most owners never attempt. Four decades of patient ownership is written into every detail, the kind of commitment most restorations do not survive.
We’re looking at a 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible National Award Winner. The car’s Owner is Ray Brownfield. He’s had the car since 1982, and continued to restore it to the point where it is a Mustang Club of America National Award Winner!
Ray Brownfield has owned this 1966 Mustang convertible since 1982, long enough to watch an entire generation of muscle car values rise and fall around him. Rather than flip it or let it fade into a garage, he spent those decades chasing something more specific: turning it into a Mustang Club of America National Award Winner, one of the most demanding titles a first-generation Mustang can earn. That kind of recognition does not come from a fresh paint job. It means the car has to match Fords original specifications down to details most owners never think to check. Four decades of ownership and one national title later, what is left to prove?
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What It Took to Win a National Award
Ford built 607,568 Mustangs for the 1966 model year, good for a 7.1 percent share of every new car sold in America, but only 72,119 of them were convertibles. Those convertibles split further into 56,409 standard cars, 12,520 luxury-trimmed models, and just 3,190 bench-seat versions, meaning this particular body style already sat in a fairly narrow slice of Mustang production before Brownfield ever restored it. Mustang Club of America national judging compares cars like this one against factory build sheets, checking trim, paint codes, and mechanical details most owners would never think to verify.
The Details Judges Look For
For 1966, Ford’s changes were modest but specific: a free-floating pony emblem replaced the previous grille badge, and a five-gauge instrument cluster took over from the old Falcon-derived dash. Engine choices ranged from a six-cylinder up through the 271-horsepower K-code 289, the hottest factory option Ford offered that year, with the GT package adding fog lights, dual exhaust, and disc brakes for buyers who wanted the extra credentials. Whichever combination this Mustang carries, national-level judges would have checked every one of those details against Ford’s original paperwork.
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