Happy Rustober! If you’re a classic Ford Mustang fan you may want to stop scrolling and read a Lee Iacocca book instead. Ford made so many early Mustangs that they were bound to be used, abused, and left to rust away. It is the nature of rustdom. But a Shelby Mustang? That is the height of a rusty no-no and yet we have one for you to cry over. Even Ferraris are not immune to negligent owners leaving them out to waste but seeing these classic Mustangs too far gone to save still hurts. 

For every 10 Mustang coupes made there was only one fastback. Though not exactly rare, they are more desirable to Mustang collectors for that reason. And also because they look so cool. We suppose anything can be saved but this would be a project for sure. And the longer it lays dormant in this field the more work it will take to bring it back. We give this a one-in-10 chance of that happening.

A Mustang roundy-rounder

What looks to be an old roundy-rounder won’t be brought back. It was a goner way before it landed in these backwoods. If you ever wondered why trees always grow through abandoned cars it is because the rust helps the trees grow. Seriously. We would love to know the story around this racer but the bottom line is this won’t be seeing another track.

This is the second generation Mustang coupe, or what’s left of it anyway. It actually doesn’t look too bad as bare shells go. There is a ton of surface rust but no rust-through that we can see. For someone who has a 1967 coupe that is fairly rusty, this would save your project. You can see where the B-pillar ties into the quarter panel how the factory spot welded them and then used lead to hide the seam. In this case, even the lead is gone. 

Another 1965-66 fastback, this one has fairly extensive rust in the rear quarters but looks restorable. Even the glass looks good. We suspect it still has its engine and transmission by the loose hood protecting the engine compartment. Let’s hope someone rescues this before too many more winters make it unrestorable.

A 1968 Shelby Mustang that is waiting for restoration

Yes, this is a 1968 Shelby Mustang fastback. We think the window tabs and for show, as there is no roll cage or any other indication this was ever actually raced.

It looks like it is all there and displays little rust through. It will be a project for sure but just cleaning it out and getting it onto dry pavement should improve its prospects.

As these got passed down to those with less to spend even a valve job becomes too expensive. That, or with the gas crunch of the 1970s a lot of muscle cars got parked for Pintos and Volkswagens.

Either way that is probably how this ended up in the lower 40 forgotten but not gone.