Ford Mustang 1967 – S-Code 390

Only 28,800 Mustangs left the factory in 1967 with the S-code 390 big block, out of more than 400,000 built that year, making this Candy Apple Red example a genuine rarity hiding in plain sight. Its one-year-only GTA badge and factory 320-horsepower rating set it apart from the small-block Mustangs most buyers actually chose. Read on to find out why values on these cars have stayed surprisingly reasonable.

Pop the hood on a numbers-matching 1967 Mustang and you can usually guess the story before you even check the fender tag. But an S-code car changes the conversation entirely, because Ford buried this one under a wave of small-block Mustangs that most buyers never seriously considered. Only 28,800 Mustangs left the factory with the 390 big block that year, out of well over 400,000 built — a small slice of the run most casual shoppers walked right past on the showroom floor. So what does that single letter “S” on the fender tag actually unlock, and why do sharp-eyed collectors quietly call these the smartest buy in the entire 1967 lineup?

What the S-Code Designation Really Means

The S-code designation marks a Mustang built with the FE-series 390 cubic inch V8, the largest engine Ford offered in a 1967 Mustang and a direct descendant of the big block already doing duty in Thunderbirds and Galaxies. Factory paperwork put it at roughly 320 horsepower and 427 lb-ft of torque, numbers that don’t look dramatic next to later Cobra Jet cars but felt entirely different in a pony car this light, especially once the tach needle swung past 3,000 rpm and the torque curve really started pulling.

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The One-Year GTA Badge

Order the automatic version and Ford stuck another badge on the car: GTA, for Grand Touring Automatic — a one-year-only designation for 1967 that landed on any automatic-equipped GT, small block or big block alike, not just S-code cars. That makes a documented automatic S-code GTA a genuine two-for-one rarity: an uncommon engine wearing a badge Ford used for exactly twelve months before retiring the naming convention entirely the following year.

The Big-Block Squeeze of 1967

None of this was possible before the 1967 redesign. The first-generation Mustang’s engine bay was built around small blocks, and Ford had to widen the whole front clip for ’67 specifically to make room for FE-series power. That single design decision is the reason S-code cars exist at all, and it’s why the 390 option didn’t show up until Mustang’s second model year, arriving alongside a broader restyle that gave the whole car a lower hood line and a more aggressive stance.

Why Most Buyers Still Chose the 289

Once the 390 became available, most buyers still checked the box for a 289 instead — cheaper, lighter over the front wheels, and plenty quick enough for daily driving. That left the big-block cars as the minority they remain today, a choice that had more to do with insurance premiums and purchase price than outright performance appetite. Big-block insurance surcharges were already becoming a real consideration for younger buyers by the late 1960s, well before the industry-wide crackdown that followed in the 1970s.

A Quiet Sleeper in the Market

Ask any Mustang guy about 1967 and the conversation usually goes straight to the K-code 289 or jumps ahead to the 428 Cobra Jet a year later. The S-code 390 gets skipped over almost every time, and that’s exactly why its values have stayed comparatively sane while flashier codes climbed out of reach of everyday enthusiasts.

S-Code vs. K-Code: Two Different Missions

Compare an S-code to a K-code 289 High Performance car and the difference in mission becomes obvious: the K-code was built to rev and handle, while the S-code was built to simply out-muscle anything else in a straight line. Both approaches worked, and both still have devoted followings today, but the S-code’s straightforward, torque-first character makes it an easier car to live with on a daily basis than a high-strung small-block ever was.

Verifying the Real Thing

Because an S-code shares its basic silhouette with thousands of six-cylinder and small-block Mustangs, verification matters just as much here as it does on any rare muscle car: matching engine and rear-end codes, a legible fender tag, and ideally a Marti Report to confirm the car left Dearborn exactly as ordered rather than receiving an engine swap somewhere along the way decades later.

An Honest Bargain, For Now

It’s real factory muscle, genuinely rare on the ground, and still priced like the market hasn’t caught on yet — which, for now, it hasn’t. A driver-quality S-code remains one of the last honest bargains left in the 1967 Mustang world, a car built for buyers who wanted the badge without the wait for a Cobra Jet a year later. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Shared FE Parts Make Ownership Easier

The FE-series 390 in this car shares its basic architecture with the engine found under the hood of the 1968 Torino GT and countless full-size Fords of the same period, which means parts commonality is better than a buyer might expect from a big-block this specific to the Mustang. Camshafts, carburetors, and ignition components generally interchange across the wider FE family, a practical advantage for an owner who wants to keep an S-code running correctly without hunting down Mustang-only reproduction parts for every repair.

A Color That Announces the Engine

Candy Apple Red was one of Ford’s more popular color choices across the 1967 Mustang lineup, and on a big-block car it does something a subtler color can’t: it draws attention to a body that already looks different from a small-block Mustang thanks to the widened front clip and the slightly deeper stance the 390 demands up front. Enthusiasts who know what they’re looking at can often spot an S-code from across a parking lot before ever reading the fender tag.

Where Values Are Headed Next

The gap between S-code values and K-code or Cobra Jet values has narrowed somewhat in recent years as documented FE-powered Mustangs of any configuration have grown harder to find in honest, unmolested condition. That trend favors buyers who move now rather than buyers who wait for the market to fully catch up to what these cars actually represent: genuine, rare Dearborn muscle from the single year Ford first made big-block power possible in a factory pony car, a distinction no later Mustang, however powerful, can ever claim.

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