840,000-Mile 1965 Ford Mustang GT K-Code Fastback Owned Since 1967
It might be a surprise to read that an original 1965 Ford Mustang GT K-Code Fastback has clocked over 840,000 miles (trust us, we were surprised, too!), but after learning that the car had been purchased in 1967 and used as a daily driver up until 1994, the math starts to make more sense. It made even more sense after we heard of all the places the Mustang has driven across the country and saw the detailed service and mileage records taken by its owner.
This 289 HiPo powered Mustang was purchased new from Smith Motor Co. in Garden Grove, California, in May of 1965, reportedly being used as a weekend road-racer by its first owner. After being sold back to the dealer in 1966, the car bounced through two more owners before being purchased by Mark Mosteller, also from Garden Grove, California, in July 1967.
Mark used the fastback Mustang as his daily driver, taking him to work every day as well as road trips with his family every summer. It even brought Mark, his wife Martha, and their daughter Carrie cross-country to Charlottesville, Virginia, where they lived through the winter of 1969. Keeping with the theme, they drove just about everywhere on the East Coast while living there, even going as far as South Carolina. Then, in the summer of 1970, the Mustang took the family all the way back to Garden Grove, just in time for the birth of Mark and Martha's second child, Tim.
The K-Code-equipped GT was on the road from the day Mark bought it right up until 1994, when the unthinkable happened. He had the Mustang parked on the street in front of his home in Garden Grove while working in the garage when the careless driver of a meat truck ran straight into the back of his beloved GT. As unfortunate as the situation may have been, it was the springboard Mark used to begin a much-needed restoration of the 1965 Mustang GT. With its original, numbers-matching 289 HiPo engine and Toploader 4-speed, it was the perfect candidate for a show-level overhaul.
