1966 Ford Mustero ~ The True Story of the Mustang Pickup

There’s no more unique Ford Mustang than the 1966 Mustero — It was a Mustang pickup and here’s the true story of how it came to be…

For the 1966 model year with Ford’s blessing, Beverly Hills Ford, a Los Angeles area car dealership which permanently closed its doors a decade ago, produced a small run of Mustang pickups – about 50 were produced.

Beverly Hills Ford called these special Mustangs Musteros, which was the combination of the words “Mustang” and “Ranchero”. The 1966 Ford Ranchero was a pickup that was derived from the Ford Falcon.

Since the Mustang was also built on the Falcon platform, it seemed only natural that a pickup truck version of the Mustang should be produced.

Beverly Hills Ford didn’t follow the conventional route, adding a boxy pickup truck bed to the Mustang. Instead it modified the roof by moving it forward a few feet. It then created a pickup bed where the backseat and trunk normally resided.

After the conversion, the Mustero was a 2-seater. Since the rear quarter panels and rear taillight area kept the stock Mustang appearance, the Mustero was a very stylish pickup. A vinyl tonneau cover not only kept the rain out of the rear pickup bed, but it also helped the Mustero to maintain the Mustang’s streamlined look.

Only 50 Musteros were produced for 1966. The Mustero added a hefty $6,500 to the Mustang’s price which brought the total base delivery price to a little over $9,000, as a comparison that was over $2,000 more than a 1966 Lamborghini Miura…