The Most Elusive Mustang-1966 Mustero

The Mustang world brims with limited editions and rare cars, but none are more intriguing than the Ford Mustero.

It’s a pony car, a pickup truck, and a unicorn rolled into one. If you’ve never seen one, take solace. A Mustang truck never rolled out of a Ford plant.

Ford authorized an outfit doing business as Beverly Hills Mustang Limited to produce the odd machines for just a year or two. The Southern California outfit was the single producer of the Mustero. Nobody knows how many of these unique Mustang trucks were custom-built—all based on the 1966 model year.

The best estimate pegs the number at 50 examples, but others argue that only about seven were made. The cost for the conversion, back in the day, added approximately $6,500 to the donor Mustang’s MSRP.

The dealership came up with the name by jamming together “Mustang” and “Ranchero.” The Ranchero, Ford’s postwar sedan-like pickup truck, was built on the Ford Fairlane platform with Ford Falcon exterior body panels and interior trim.

But the ultra-rare Mustero is elusive. A 1966 example in Springtime Yellow showed up on eBay Motors in 2017—with a Buy-It-Now price of $100,000.

Mustang Pickups Are Rare and Impractical
The Mustero is arguably America’s most impractical truck, a customized Mustang with a cargo bed so tiny it struggles to carry more than a few bags of mulch. While there’s not enough room to haul a motorcycle, a mini-bike might fit. But you’ll need a buddy or two to lift it up and over the fixed tailgate.

The builders in Beverly Hills transformed the Mustangs by slicing, trimming, and reattaching the Mustang’s roof—while adding custom windows. The altered roof allowed for more cargo space by eliminating the rear seat. While most of the
cargo beds featured fiberglass construction (which didn’t bode well for hauling capacity), at least one of the earliest vehicles featured a steel plate bed.