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Author
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Topic: Right-hand drive Mustangs
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Zoomzoom
Journeyman Posts: 9
From: Triangle, Virginia, USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 06-04-2003 12:33 PM
   
Hello,
I did a lot of research in order to bring into the country two Falcon XB GT Coupes which I have described in better detail in a post entitled ��Falcon GT�� in the Mid-Size Fords Forum.
In that research I discovered that 209 right-hand drive Mustangs were produced between 1965 & 1966. As far as I could tell, these were the only right-hand drive first generation Mustangs ever built. They were actually unassembled left-hand drive Mustangs that were shipped to Australia for final assembly, at which point they went through the conversion process. I��ve seen later first generation Mustangs (67 thru 73) that were right-hand drive, but they were all conversions of original left-hand drive Mustangs that were privately shipped out the USA.
I was just wondering if anyone knows if Ford sold new first generation right-hand drive Mustangs anywhere else in the world?
I found no evidence that they sold in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, or any other country that requires vehicles to be right-hand drive.Zoom
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SteveLaRiviere
Administrator Posts: 32479
From: Saco, Maine
Registered: May 99
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posted 06-05-2003 07:51 PM
I bet T5owner knows. Wolfgang, are you out there?  ------------------
'70 Mustang Mach 1 - '72 Mustang Sprint - '94 F-150 Please remember our sponsors,
Mustangs Plus, NPD, Osborn Reproductions, MyFordPerformance.com, and FordRamAir.com
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Fastback68
Gearhead Posts: 1529
From: Sucat, Paranaque, Philippines
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 06-05-2003 08:46 PM
Zoom, are you monitoring all Mustangs or only those made in the US and then exported? Your numbers seem very low.
I thought some early Stangs (maybe not 65-6) were actually built as right-handers in Australia, rather than just conversions. And I'm 97% sure there was a company contracted by Ford in the UK to do conversions.
I knew one guy who had a Grande that he said was an original Australian car.
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mustangs68
Moderator Posts: 17365
From: Hampton,Virginia,USA MCA#39406 M&M #12
Registered: May 99
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posted 06-05-2003 09:39 PM
http://www.hammar.dyndns.org/~mexmust/More than 200 1965-66 Right-Hand Drive Mustangs were assembled or converted at Ford's Homebush, Australia plant (about 10 miles west of Sydney), according to "Aussie Bob" and a Ford Historian in Melbourne. These cars were apparently shipped from one of the U.S. plants, either as pre-assembled "bare bones" vehicles or as "knock-down" units. Ford of Australia then converted them to right-hand drive to meet Australian legal requirements, using a fair number of parts from the existing Australian Falcon and Fairlane assembly lines. A plate was installed on the right (now the driver's side) door sill declaring the vehicles "Made by Ford Australia," and another "Australian Compliance Plate" was affixed to the firewall. Though Ford of Australia lost most of their early production data when converting over to modern computer systems (sound familiar?), the monthly production totals survived Breif search on the Net didn't bring up much..but the above was interesting.
sam
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Zoomzoom
Journeyman Posts: 9
From: Triangle, Virginia, USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 06-05-2003 10:28 PM
I tried to focus my research on all Mustangs, those assembled in other countries as well as those shipped out from the USA.
My research on Australian Mustangs is not perfect , however, I have spoken to a few different Australian Ford enthusiasts that told me the same thing; Mustangs were assembled in Australia from ��bared-boned�� units that were shipped from the U.S.A. in 1965 & 1966 for final assembly and right-hand drive conversion. There were no new Mustangs sold in Australia after that until 1998.
I was also told that since there were no new Mustangs in 1967 Ford Australia decided to make the Falcon into a Sports Car which later evolved into a Muscle Car in the 70��s.
��Dave's 1966 Mustang Tech Site�� states the production numbers (which matched the total I was quoted from other sources) :http://www.hammar.dyndns.org/~mexmust/index.html#aussie I had e-mailed Dave a few months ago but never got a response. The XB Falcon (which was built from 1973 to 1976) strongly resembles a 1971 to 1973 Mustang from the front bumper back to the windshield, Ford designed them like that because the Mustang was not available in Australia during the 70��s, so they were able to get away with using the same styling cues. At least that��s the way I understood it.
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