Specialty Press

Ford Mustang 1964 ½ - 1973

MusclecarTech Series

by Pat Covert

Reviewed By Steve Jahnke, #34991

MSRP: $22.95 USD

When it comes to reference material for replica scale automotive modelers there are certain undeniable rules: rule #1: You can’t have enough reference materials, rule #2: There isn’t a rule #2.  This new reference book from Pat Covert nicely bridges the gap between the large format, glossy coffee-table style reference books and the restoration books directed towards the 1:1 automotive rebuilder.  Pat Covert is a long time car modeler and writer/ contributor to Scale Auto and Fine Scale Modeler (as well as a long-time member of IPMS/USA and our former Pubs Director), and therefore well up to the task of presenting material pertinent to the car modeler.

The soft cover book contains 112 heavyweight paper pages jam packed with 200 color and 50 black and white photos of each model year Mustang from 1964 ½ through 1973, the last year before the “Mini Mustang”.  As a Mustang owner, aficionado and general car nut, I learned a thing or two from this book I hadn’t known before, such as what was Ford’s T-5?  You don’t know either, please read on.

The book is set up such that there is a complete chapter for every model year of the Mustang from 1964 ½ through 1973.  Each chapter starts out with a narrative of the changes and highlights of that specific model year.  The narrative is further broken down into sections covering the following topics: Body and Trim, Interior and Trunk, Power train, Chassis and Undercarriage, Wheels and Tires and Variants.   Additionally, there are several sidebar tables covering “19xx Mustang at a Glance”, reproductions of the actual factory color chip charts and other statistics of the Mustang for that year.  One of the neatest features of the book is a page showing the front, side and rear view photographic perspectives of the car printed in 1/24th scale.  This feature is extremely helpful for anyone making modifications to the body or checking proportions and measurements, and for the correct measurement and placement of trim pieces.  Railroad and military hobbyist books have had this feature for years but typically done in line art instead of photos… kudos to Pat for bringing this feature to the automotive hobbyist.

What really blew me away was the quality of the photographs in the book, particularly engine bay, trunk and undercarriage views.  The photos clearly show the details of the subject matter.  That is what makes this book a standout aside from its technical standpoint, and the artwork, colors and printing are just superb, to say the least.

At $22.95 this book is definitely a must have for your references library or general enjoyment, especially if you are a Mustang fan or fan of muscle cars from this era. This book definitely earns a 5 out of 5 lug nuts recommendation.  By the way, the T-5 was the official name of Mustangs sold to our GI’s and others in Europe.  Another manufacturer had legal rights to the Mustang name, therefore Ford deleted all references to the name Mustang on the car, although the galloping horse logo remained.  The book includes pictures of this unique variant, tantalizing the hobbyist to replicate this rare pony.

The book is currently available by ordering directly from Specialty Press at 1-800-895-4585 or via the internet at www.specialtypress.com.

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