[shommel]

veronica i just took my 65 gt fastback in to get re wired(had some instrument cluster gauge problems and such) anyway the vin to the car is 5F09A806188. it has a 289 4barrel carb, fog lights, dual trumpet exhaust, disc brakes, the quick steering gear box ,4speed toploader,when you take off the instrument gauge cluster it has the indentations instead of being flat,it is a plain interior car(black camera case instrument cluster and the correct gt glove box,although i have added some pony seat covers). my question is, is that the guy that works and owns this MUSTANG(hes been around for a long time and does great work) place says that i have an early 65 mustang(he also claims it is a real gt). what i want to know is when did the first gts come out, and being that i have no door data plate how can i tell how early of a gt i have?oh mighty great one of the world of mustangs, surely you have an answer for me. lol

[Veronica]

Hello. You are too kind. There is no way to say 100% for sure that a 65/66 is a factory GT other than an original window sticker, build sheet, sales invoice, etc.... There are a whole bunch of ways to tell if a car is not a factory GT. And it appears that your car does not have any of those disqualifying features. It is a late enough car for the GT package to be available. It is an 'A' code car. It has the dip in the dash for the five-dial instrument cluster, etc... One thing that you could look at would be the ammeter gauge while you have the instrument cluster out. If there are two studs sticking out of the back of it,like the other gauges, that's a 66 style gauge, if it doesn't have the two studs, but instead, has a metal loop, that's the 65 style that only came with the pony interior or GT cars. In the trunk area, on the D/S, there should a rubber plug in the platform beside the gas tank. If you pull that plug out you should be able to see some reinforcement inside the frame rail that was only used on the dual exhaust cars.

Based on what you have said so far, I would say that you have a GT. Hope that helps.

[shommel]

oh mighty great one, the back of the instrument cluster has the metal loop instead of two studs and the reinforcement is in the rear for the dual exhaust. oh yeah if you pull the back seat you can see the extra hangers(or whatever you call them) for the dual exhaust. so maybe YES I HAVE A REAL GT!!!!! GOD IS GOOD BUT VERONICA DEFINITELY HAS HIS WISDOM especially when it comes to MUSTANGS. any more help would be appreciated. is there any way to find a build code on this car anywhere else? ive checked under the seats, dash, backseats, carpet trunk and found nothing. are there any numbers on the block or anywhere else on the car i should look?

[shommel]

is there any numbers stamped on the frame rails(steering coloum anywhere..?) or anywhere else you can think to find the info on this car? how did you know by the vin that it was an early 65 and early enough to be a GT?

[Veronica]

Hi again. If the sequential number of a 65 model Dearborn car is lower than 600,000 it almost certainly isn't a factory GT or factory pony interior car. Those options weren't available until like mid-april of 65, so they would have started actually building them in like february at the very earliest. The car with the sequential number of 600,000 from Dearborn would have had a scheduled build date of about jan17, so lower than that is definitely not a factory GT.

There really aren't any characteristics or codes on the car that will say for sure that it is a factory GT, other than the things already mentioned. The motor of a car with the GT package was identical in every respect to the motor in a non-GT A code or K code. The A code GT would also have had a thicker front sway bar, the foglights, etc... but that's all bolt-on stuff. Their presence means nothing.

[shommel]

the car also has the thicker sway bar(yeah) but how did you deduce that my 65 was an early one and could be a GT by the vin numbers? i dont understand which numbers youre talking bout. once again the vin is 5f09a806188.i am located in indiana so i can imagine the car was built in mich?

[Veronica]

Hi again. Here you go. Scroll down past the torque specs thing and that will explain what your vin means. The Care and Feeding of Ponies

[shommel]

what more can i say other than you are the bomb!!!!!!!!!!!thanks im sure ill have tons of more questions for you thanks very much