I wonder if someone could clear up something for me. I have seen old preproduction
and advertising photos of the 1966 Mustangs which show the tailights to be three
separate lenses embeded in each side of the rear panel. Yet any photos I have seen
of the production 66 Mustang show it has the same tailights as the 64-65's. When
was this change made and why? I hope someone can clear this up!

 

64.5-66 had the same, the switch was made in 67 and they were kept the same in 68 and then switched again in 69

 

I've seen the pre-production photos you're referring to also. It's not the 67/68 concave style tail light at all. It's shaped basically like the '65 but in three separate vertical pieces, right?

There was an article about them in one of the Mustang magazines a few years back. Apparently, this was the look the design team wanted to move on to for 1966; but the higher-ups at Ford thought they'd be too expensive to produce. They were forced to continue using the '65 design.

This article went on to say a pair of these tail lights - housings, lenses, and all - were purchased for next to nothing at a garage sale somewhere near Detroit. Some employee probably took the prototypes home after they were turned down. There couldn't have been too many of them made - so some garage sale shopper got real lucky!

 

Wonder what something like that would be worth? Could your verify that they were "real?" Would they have a parts number on them?

 

Now I'm all anxious to dig out that magazine! Yes - the ones found at that garage sale had part numbers hand-written on them. I remember that specifically...

If I have time over the next few days, I'll sit down and start flipping through some old issues. I'll be sure to post if I find the article.

 

I've been told the proposed '66 tail light specifications were sent to a subcontractor for production. Only after the first batch was made, was it discovered there was a dimensional error on the production blueprints. With Mustang demand so great and time for production so close, the '65 units were carried over. Not enough time to retool and spin up production.

I was going to put '66 T-Bird tail lights in my '66 'vert, but I'm going to try making a set of lights like the prototypes first. It'll be sometime in the next year or so.

 

________
Yourhotgoddess live

 

Somebody find a pic
very interesting

 

So I wasn't going crazy after all. Thanks for the information. I wonder if any
of the 1966 Mustangs with the originally intended tailights still exist?

 

Prototype '66 tail lamps (Don't forget to note the '66 pop-open gas cap!):
[attachmentid=12021]

 

i have seen several of the prototype gas caps on ebay over the last couple of years. the first one i had been watching since the start of the auction and i forgot to bid on it before it ended.............it went for 45 bucks. i was so pissed at myself :bang:

 

Bingo! Those are the ones I was talking about!

 

Whoah! That is a new one on me. Never, ever seen anything about those tail lights (or gas gap for that matter). Very interesting. I think I like the production tail lights better though.

I'm diggin on the 66 fastback with GT exhaust and no back-up lights though.

 

They actually look as if you could use a pair of '69 tail lights and get awfully close.

 

That looks snappy! The only thing that I can think about, though, is 4 more slots for water to leak into your trunk!

Pop-open looks good, too.

 

Um, ew.

I'm kinda glad they didn't make it. But that's just me.

 

I like to look...

too bad they didn't get it done in time