Where are the Koupes???

tspiers_old · January 6, 2011 at 3:21 PM

Been visiting this site for many years and recently have noticed that only the 'verts and fastbacks are coming to market. Being without a mustang going on 10 years, I now am once again able to afford a k-code, and my simple needs can not be found. Looking for your basic 4-speed koupe. Would be nice if numbers were matching, but we all know the koupes were the first to be raped and pillaged for the almighty shelby's. Please reply to post if you know of any decent koupes for sale.

Tom

GT Joe_old · January 6, 2011 at 6:23 PM

Sorry you feel that way about Some Shelby owners. We are not all in that category.

Joe

Edited by - GT Joe on 01/06/2011 18:23:56

round2K_old · January 6, 2011 at 7:41 PM

There have been many coupes for sale on ebay the during the time frame you have mentioned, and a lot of them have been listed here.

Jack65K_old · January 6, 2011 at 8:41 PM

There are original drivetrain Koups out there and one will turn up. I just found mine about 18 months ago - so just keep looking. If I hear of any I will let you know.

Jack

2-farout_old · January 7, 2011 at 11:42 AM

Hi. I'm doing ground up, numbers matching 65 G.T. Koupe. It may come up for sale. Give me call. Thanks, Al.

2-farout_old · January 7, 2011 at 11:51 AM

Sorry, looking back at my last post, I left out a kouple of a's.

zray · January 7, 2011 at 2:12 PM

I'm happy someone is restoring a K code coupe, or any other K code code for that matter.

Since you mention that it might be sale, I do wonder however how a person can expect to get their investment back out of a coupe restoration? It's hard enough to to break even on the fastbacks & convertibles.

Z.

tspiers_old · January 7, 2011 at 3:36 PM

No disrespect to the shelby owners, it's just what the hobby was doing in the 80's and 90's. I did see a few koupes on here the past year, but it was only a few and some needed a bit more work than my capabilities and some were missing some valuable k-specific parts. And...although beggars can't be choosers, I just am weary of ebay sales. This site has genuine enthusiats who likely fully disclose all benefits and defects of their kars for sale, and it is because of this trait that I have been a frequent visitor for 3 - 4 years now.

Tom

jwc66k · January 7, 2011 at 5:53 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

Been visiting this site for many years and recently have noticed that only the 'verts and fastbacks are coming to market. Being without a mustang going on 10 years, I now am once again able to afford a k-code, and my simple needs can not be found. Looking for your basic 4-speed koupe. Would be nice if numbers were matching, but we all know the koupes were the first to be raped and pillaged for the almighty shelby's. Please reply to post if you know of any decent koupes for sale.

Tom

I've stripped a lot of cars over the years, almost all makes, many different models, and a coupe of "K" hartops were included. The usable parts were sold to the guys with the money. I think that's still the way it works. Do I feel bad? No. Most of those cars were beyond drivability and certainly a restoration at that time would have been out of the question. Keep in mind that Mustangs in the mid 60's to the mid 70's were designed and built to be a car with a ten year life span. So were all the others in that era. You got to learn to live with it. Rapist or pillager? I prefer capitalist pirate.

Jim

CharlesTurner · January 7, 2011 at 6:18 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

I've stripped a lot of cars over the years, almost all makes, many different models, and a coupe of "K" hartops were included. The usable parts were sold to the guys with the money. I think that's still the way it works. Do I feel bad? No. Most of those cars were beyond drivability and certainly a restoration at that time would have been out of the question. Keep in mind that Mustangs in the mid 60's to the mid 70's were designed and built to be a car with a ten year life span. So were all the others in that era. You got to learn to live with it. Rapist or pillager? I prefer capitalist pirate.

Jim

That's kinda how I feel about it. Ford made a crapload of these cars.

SixfiveGT · January 7, 2011 at 6:24 PM

with respect to Zray's comment about recovering one's investment in a K coupe let alone a convertible or fastback... having just finished a K coupe I can attest to the fact that I will never recover the investment I have in the car... but I knew that going in... I hope that anyone who does a restoration of this type of car fully understands that even with the rarity of a "K" that most will never attain the value of a similar or later year Shelby or some of the other more desirable Mustang models like a Boss 302 or 429.

I did my car for purely nostalgic reasons. In 1965 I ordered a brand new HiPo GT coupe and waited just over 8 weeks for the car to arrive.. but fate was to play a hand and the day the car arrived I received my draft notice.... Uncle Sam wanted me and I knew that as an E1 in the army I couldn't afford to pay for a car that had sticker price of just over $3500.(a lot of money in 1965) Thankfully the dealer understood and I didn't have to take delivery of the car. In 1978 I had the opportunity to buy the coupe that I have now but like most "K's" it had been rode hard and put away wet. It took me another 33 years to finally finish a full ground up restoration...you know things like family, homes,college etc delayed getting the car done. But this past summer I was finally able to get the "brand new" car I missed out on in 1965. I admit I could have bought a very nicely optioned 2010 GT for what I have in this car... but it wouldn't have been the same and I wouldn't change a thing. I did it for the satisfaction, my wife and son helped with the restoration and I have memories that I will forever cherish. The car will go to my son when the time is right so that alone says no monetary recovery... even if he didn't want the car (and he does) I did it for me.... So having said all that.. I hope that anyone who does one of these cars does it for the love of the car and with the full knowledge that full investment recovery will probably never happen.

jwc66k · January 7, 2011 at 8:22 PM

All I can say is - a 49 Merc, chopped, channeled with a "flames" paint job and a flathead Ford tri-power. You don't do that for the resale.

Jim

zray · January 8, 2011 at 12:52 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

with respect to Zray's comment about recovering one's investment in a K coupe let alone a convertible or fastback... having just finished a K coupe I can attest to the fact that I will never recover the investment I have in the car... but I knew that going in... ..................."

I only brought it up as "2-farout" had mentioned his coupe restoration in progress might be for sale. If you know a sale is looming then it makes it tough to keep going deeper upside down with a restoration.

one funny aside, if I still had all the cars I swore I'd never sell,,,,..

Z.

SixT5HiPo · January 8, 2011 at 3:16 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

I'm happy someone is restoring a K code coupe, or any other K code code for that matter.

Since you mention that it might be sale, I do wonder however how a person can expect to get their investment back out of a coupe restoration? It's hard enough to to break even on the fastbacks & convertibles.

Z.

Since the idea of the cost of restoration vs the (resale) value after a restoration is completed is mentioned above, I wonder how that affects the outcome for the majority of those with "standard" Mustangs without the 289 High Performance option. A restoration cost for any 65-67 Mustang is likely to be similar no matter what drive train or body style is involved. Naturally, restoration costs will be different considering that each case varies depending on the specific details involved, who does the work, etc...

xirtam67 · January 8, 2011 at 9:22 PM

What resources are available on this forum to help someone determine what is a fair price for a 1965 K-code, GT, w Deluxe interior? It is a given that there are many variables and that particuliar information about the car would be needed and furnished in the evaluation process. So the baseline or beginning point is the general facts mentioned above.

SixT5HiPo · January 8, 2011 at 9:31 PM

There is a PRICE INFO Section of this site HERE where you can find prices of cars that were offered for sale on eBay auctions. Check there for a start...

CharlesTurner · January 8, 2011 at 9:52 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>

Since the idea of the cost of restoration vs the (resale) value after a restoration is completed is mentioned above, I wonder how that affects the outcome for the majority of those with "standard" Mustangs without the 289 High Performance option. A restoration cost for any 65-67 Mustang is likely to be similar no matter what drive train or body style is involved. Naturally, restoration costs will be different considering that each case varies depending on the specific details involved, who does the work, etc...

I've found the meaning of "restoration" to vary greatly. A high percentage of the restorations being done are with natural appearance paints, catalog parts and replacement sheet metal. The end results are all over the place in workmanship, yet the term "restoration" is so loosely applied.

SixfiveGT · January 9, 2011 at 1:33 PM

Charles has a good point about the use of the word "restoration" and how it applies to a specific vehicle. I've seen a car where the "restorer" used a rattle can to paint the entire car and called it "restored". So the old adage of Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware) is a good motto to live by. The assignment of value to any given car can vary from day to day. Just look at Barrett Jackson and similar auctions.. a car can go for a few thousand one day... and for hundreds of thousands the next. the only difference was that there were two individuals that happened to really want that car.. case in point, at a BJ auction last year a Chevelle convertible went for over $150,000 because of a bidding war... was the car worth that much....IMHO.... no way... but that is what it sold for and does that now set the value for similar Chevelles? I hope not!

I would like to address one point that Charles made... and that has to do with using "catalog" parts to restore a car. There are many of us, that for whatever reason either don't have access to the rapidly dwindling stock of NOS parts or simply can't afford the price of a particular NOS part. As I was "restoring" my coupe (a full ground up down to bare metal restoration)... I used, when I could, NOS parts, some bought in the early eighties from Ford and when I could find them from other NOS suppliers. In some cases that was not possible... so I had to rely on companies like Virgina Classic Mustang and others to supply the parts that I needed that I couldn't otherwise find or afford. Being a mechanic, I used my best judgment as to the quality of the parts being supplied and in many cases when the quality was poor (and that happened more than once) I either returned or didn't use that particular part and went elsewhere to find a better part. (which increased the cost to restore)

The convertible project that we have been privileged to see on this forum is the type of restoration I think we would all strive to achieve but for many of us that don't have those types of resources have to rely on "catalogs" to see us through.

So going back to Charles' original point about restorations being all over the map... I agree that is true and that any potential buyer should do their homework before buying... evaluating the quality of the workmanship put into the restoration should be the primary concern, however, the use of "catalog" parts, while maybe a concern, it shouldn't scare anyone away from a well done car. Just keep in mind that if those type of parts are used the car will never compete in the thoroughbred class at MCA .... but then that isn't why I did my car..I did it to drive and enjoy and to know that what I was driving would be safe, reliable, fun and hopefully nice to look at.

Just some of my thoughts.....

CharlesTurner · January 9, 2011 at 5:16 PM

I didn't intend to disregard catalog parts as worthy of being used, they certainly have a place, but if I restore original control arms and someone else has Moog and we both call our cars "restored", who's right?

jwc66k · January 9, 2011 at 5:32 PM

Good question. But who are we to judge (pun intended)?

Jim

Participate now!