A slotted grille
The 1965 grille has a honeycomb pattern. The 1966 grille is slotted, with horizontal bars.41415
Class of '66 · Ford Mustang · 1964½–1966 body · first generation
1966Ford Mustang
The last year of the original body, with 607,568 cars built.
The year in brief
Ford built 607,568 Mustangs for 1966. That is more than the 559,451 listed for 1965, but fewer than 680,989 if the 121,538 cars of 1964½ count as 1965s. No later first-generation year reached 500,000.1236sources disagree
Hardtops made up 82.3 percent. The fastback fell to 35,698 cars from 77,079 in 1965, and the convertible to 72,119 from 73,112.123
For 1966, Ford built 25,517 Mustangs with the GT package.4one source
Shelby built 2,378 GT350s for 1966, the Hertz rental cars included; how many went to Hertz is disputed. They are not in the Mustang total.278sources disagree
The story of the year
The millionth Mustang
In March 1966 the one-millionth Mustang came off the line, less than two years after the launch.91011
Ford used the occasion to get back Mustang serial number one. Stanley Tucker, an airline pilot in St. John's, Newfoundland, had bought it on 14 April 1964, three days before the launch, although the pre-production car should never have been sold. When Ford asked for it back, he refused.1213
Ford then offered a trade: serial number one for the one-millionth Mustang, built to Tucker's order. He covered the option sheet with a single large X and left off only the High Performance 289, which carried a shorter warranty. On 2 March 1966 he collected a Silver Frost 1966 convertible in Dearborn and met Lee Iacocca.12one source
Serial number one went to The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. The millionth car fared worse: Tucker drove it hard, and according to Motor Trend he sold it to his mechanic in the 1970s. Its papers were lost.1213
How to spot a 1966
What tells it apart from a 1965.
A floating horse
Both years have the running horse in its corral. On the 1965, four bars reach out from each side of the corral; on the 1966 they are gone and the emblem floats in the grille opening.414
Three bars on the side trim
Behind the door, the 1965 hardtop and convertible have a single vertical piece of chrome. The 1966 piece is smaller and has three horizontal bars reaching forward. GTs and fastbacks lack this trim, so on those, look at the grille.41415
Round gauges as standard
The standard 1965 dash uses the Falcon's sweeping instrument cluster. The 1966 has round gauges as standard, as the 1965 GT had.414
Production123
607,568 cars, by body.
Every trim line
| Body | Trim | Built |
|---|---|---|
| Hardtop | Standard | 422,416 |
| Bench seat | 21,397 | |
| Luxury | 55,938 | |
| All hardtops | 499,751 | |
| Convertible | Standard | 56,409 |
| Bench seat | 3,190 | |
| Luxury | 12,520 | |
| All convertibles | 72,119 | |
| Fastback | Standard | 27,809 |
| Luxury | 7,889 | |
| All fastbacks | 35,698 | |
| Total | 607,568 | |
Maine Mustang and CJ Pony Parts give the same rows. Wikipedia's table does too, but it copies Maine Mustang.
Engines145
4 engines. The letter is the engine code in the VIN.
Price when new1one source
Base retail prices in 1966 dollars, before options.
Colors16one source
16 factory colors, by number of cars. The color names are confirmed by two sources116; the swatches are approximate screen colors, not paint matches.
Candyapple RedT
Wimbledon WhiteM
Ivy GreenR
Springtime Yellow8
Nightmist BlueK
Silver BlueY
Vintage BurgundyX
Sauterne GoldZ
EmbergloV
Tahoe TurquoiseU
Raven BlackA
Arcadian BlueF
Silver Frost4
Signal Flare Red5
Antique BronzeP
Sahara BeigeH
CJ Pony Parts lists 16 colors that add up to 591,650 cars, 97.4 percent of production; the rest are not broken out. Maine Mustang lists all 16 names. It also lists Brittany Blue, and Dark Moss Green marked «late 1966», which are not in CJ Pony Parts' 1966 list, and four «additional available colors» that CJ Pony Parts does not list. CJ Pony Parts gives the same count, 34,767, for Vintage Burgundy and Sauterne Gold. The counts come from one source.
Reading the VIN1one source
A 1966 VIN has 11 characters. Type one in, and the decoder reads it against the code tables on this page.
6T07C100001 · Constructed from the code table: a 1966 Metuchen-built hardtop with the 289 two-barrel. Maine Mustang writes its sample «6TO7C100001» with a letter O.
The code table
| Position | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 6 | Model year (1966) |
| F · R · T | Plant: Dearborn · San Jose · Metuchen |
| 07 · 08 · 09 | Body: hardtop · convertible · fastback |
| T · C · A · K | Engine code (table above) |
| 100001 → | Consecutive unit number |
Where to find it: Under the hood, on top of the driver's-side fender apron.17one source
Questions about the 1966
How many 1966 Ford Mustangs were made?
Ford built 607,568 for the 1966 model year: 499,751 hardtops, 72,119 convertibles, 35,698 fastbacks.123
How can you tell a 1966 Mustang from a 1965?
Four signs, each explained under «How to spot» on this page: a slotted grille; a floating horse; three bars on the side trim; round gauges as standard.41415
What engines did the 1966 Ford Mustang have?
Four engine codes, from the 200 cu in inline-six to the 289 cu in V8. The engine table on this page gives every code and rating, and the rulings cover the disputed ones.145
How much did a 1966 Ford Mustang cost new?
Base retail prices, before options: hardtop $2,416; fastback $2,607; convertible $2,652.1one source
What colors did the 1966 Ford Mustang come in?
CJ Pony Parts counts 16 factory colors. The most common was Candyapple Red, on 84,173 cars.16one source
Where is the VIN on a 1966 Ford Mustang?
Under the hood, on top of the driver's-side fender apron.17one source
Where the sources disagree
Every conflict we found for 1966, and how we settled it. All rulings.
Settled
MustangSpecs' 1966 shares
Our ruling: 35,698 fastbacks are 5.9 percent of 607,568. The 7,889 luxury fastbacks are 1.3 percent and the 12,520 luxury convertibles 2.1 percent. We recompute every share from the figures.
What each source says (2)
- «almost 5% being fastbacks»18one source
- «The fastback and convertibles with luxury interior were also popular, each making up just over 9% of total sales»18one source
Settled
1966 Shelby GT350 production
Our ruling: We use 2,378, which MustangSpecs and Wikipedia give; CJ Pony Parts' rows add up to 2,380. The number of Hertz cars is not settled (936, 1,000, 1,002 or 1,003), so we give only the total.
What each source says (4)
- GT350 1,365, GT350 Hertz 1,000, prototypes 13, total 2,3787one source
- «Total production for 1966 was 2,378 units, including two prototypes and four drag cars»; Hertz bought 1,003 fastbacks including two prototypes8one source
- GT350 1,438, GT350-H 936, GT350 convertible 6 (together 2,380)2one source
- GT350-H: «Production Numbers 1002»19one source
Sources
- 1966 Mustang Technical Data Maine Mustang · read 2026-10-11
- 1965-1973 Mustang Production Numbers CJ Pony Parts · read 2026-10-11
- Ford Mustang (first generation): production table Wikipedia · read 2026-10-10
- Ford Mustang (first generation) Wikipedia · read 2026-10-10
- 1964-1973 Mustang Engine Codes CJ Pony Parts · read 2026-10-11
- 1964½ Mustang Technical Data Maine Mustang · read 2026-10-11
- 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350 MustangSpecs · read 2026-10-11
- Shelby Mustang Wikipedia · read 2026-10-11
- Ford Mustang debuts at World's Fair HISTORY.com · read 2026-10-11
- Mustang History: 1966 shnack.com · read 2026-10-11
- Ford Mustang Wikipedia · read 2026-10-10
- Stanley Tucker and Ford Mustang Serial Number One The Henry Ford · read 2026-10-11
- The First and Millionth Ford Mustang: What Happened? The ClassicCars.com Journal · read 2026-10-11
- Spotter's Guide: Identifying The 1964.5-1968 Mustang Champion Cooling Systems · read 2026-10-11
- At A Glance: How To Spot Differences In '64.5-'68 Mustang Street Muscle Magazine · read 2026-10-11
- 1965-1973 Mustang Production Numbers: production by color CJ Pony Parts · read 2026-10-11
- 1966 Ford Mustang VIN Information MustangSpecs · read 2026-10-11
- 1966 Ford Mustang Production Numbers MustangSpecs · read 2026-10-11
- 1966 Shelby Mustang GT350-H MustangSpecs · read 2026-10-11
Keep going
Three more years.
1964½Ford MustangThe first Mustangs, built from March to August 1964 and sold as 1965 models: 121,538 hardtops and convertibles.121,538 built (disputed)1965Ford MustangThe first full model year, and the first with a fastback. The 1965 production table lists 559,451 cars.559,451 built (disputed)
1967Ford MustangThe first restyle, the first big-block V8, and almost twice as many fastbacks as in 1966.472,121 built (disputed)See the whole first generation.
Dimensions, production year by year and every ruling, 1964½–1973.