K-CODE CLASSIC
2024 marked the 60th anniversary of the Mustang, so it was highly appropriate that the winning Master’s Class car at this year’s prestigious Intermarque Concours d’Elegance was this gorgeous K-Code Fastback GT. We chat to the Mustang’s owner and look back at these rare and very desirable high performance pony cars.
Words: ALLAN WALTON | Photos: CAM LEGGETT
I’d be the first to admit that I’m not a huge fan of US classics. I was brought up in the UK during the ‘50s and ‘60s, so British and European classics were the cars I admired as a young lad and dreamed about as a young man. Having said that, I’ve enjoyed some very memorable drives in Stateside classics – including a splendid day cruising in a Lincoln-Zephyr V12, a rather scarier drive in a slightly wayward late ‘50s fuelie Corvette, and a frighteningly fast afternoon spent at the wheel of a 600-horsepower classic racing Ford Galaxie. However, looking back at the dozens of US classics I’ve had the opportunity to drive over the last three decades, the ones I’ve enjoyed the most have all carried Ford’s famous pony badge. Indeed, if I were ever to weaken and actually consider owning a North American classic, my car of choice would be a ’65 or ’66 Fastback Mustang – and while the most desirable variant carried Carroll Shelby’s iconic snake badge, I’d be happy to settle for a bog-standard 289 V8-powered Fastback with a four-speed manual transmission. Mind you, even better would be a K-Code GT – and that’s where Ron Macrae and his featured Mustang enter our story. Interestingly, Ron’s tale began at Whangamata’s famous Beach Hop – a very appropriate beginning as, earlier this year, the Mustang’s 60th anniversary was celebrated in style at that very same event.
Beach Hop Winner
Ron Macrae admits that he’s always been into cars, especially older classic cars. But the full flame of his enthusiasm didn’t really burst into life until he decided to take a trip to Whangamata in 2004 for the Beach Hop. The cars gathered for this now world-famous event – which began life in April 2001 – may have been the initial drawcard for Ron but everything got way more serious when he became the winner of that year’s giveaway car – a custom Ford Falcon.
“Thanks to that win and some of the local Whangamata boys, I really got into cars,” said Ron, “and I redid the Falcon, fitting a V8, a C4 auto transmission and a big diff.”
As well, Ron forged a firm friendship with Noddy Watts, the founder of the Beach Hop, and a few years later in 2007 both men travelled to the USA. Noddy was looking for a giveaway car for the following year’s Beach Hop, while Ron was searching for a car he’d always admired – a Ford Mustang. More specifically, Ron was on the lookout for a K-Code Mustang GT Fastback – a rare and very desirable variation of the first-generation cars. Before we find out more about Ron and Noddy’s North American buying excursion, for those not in the know here are a few words on the K-Code Mustangs.
The K-Code Mustang
When it first appeared halfway through the 1964 North American model year, the Mustang was initially available as either a convertible or notchback coupé – with the fastback coupé becoming available in 1965. Engine choices ranged from a 2786cc straight six delivering an uninspiring 75kW (101bhp) to a pair of V8s – 260 and 289ci – with the larger capacity engine producing as much as 168kW. However, a more powerful option also became available – the K-Code.
Originally developed for the 1963 Ford Fairlane, the 289 High Performance – Hi-Po – engine became available for the K-Code Mustang, delivering 202kW (271bhp). Designed for fast road use (and possibly for club racing), the usual Mustang niceties such as air-conditioning and power steering were not available when buyers ticked the K-Code box. As well, these cars were only available with a four-speed manual gearbox, with no automatic option.
To cope with the additional power and torque of the Hi-Po engine, special features exclusive to the K-Code cars included a heavy-duty clutch as well as uprated driveshaft, differential and suspension. With that in mind it comes as no surprise that Carroll Shelby used factory K-Code Mustangs as the base for the famous GT350.
From the outside, the K-Code Mustangs can be identified via a special badge on their front guard – HIGH PERFORMANCE 289.
Production of the K-Code engine ended in early 1967 and it’s estimated that around 13,200 examples were built – some of these would be converted to GT350s by Shelby, while others ended up on the racetrack ensuring a relatively low survival rate and subsequent rarity.
A Successful Trip
As we return to our story, the two Kiwis flew into Los Angeles and Noddy was soon contacting a friend who owned Mustang Country, a dealer based in Long Beach. Once he knew what Ron was looking for, Noddy’s friend informed Ron of a K-Code Mustang that was for sale in Costa Mesa. This car, once owned by a Ford dealer, had been inherited by the dealer’s son and was now being offered for sale. When he got the chance to check it over, Ron was very happy with the Mustang – as well as being in pretty good condition, importantly it was an all original, matching numbers car. Finished in Silver Blue with a light blue and white interior, the fastback coupé’s identification plate indicated that it was a genuine K-Code car that had been assembled at Ford’s San Jose factory – the K-Code Mustangs built there were the ones sent to Shelby at Venice Beach for conversion to GT350 specifications. It was too good to miss, so a price was agreed upon and Ron became the car’s new owner.
At the same time and looking further afield, while leafing through a local trade newspaper, Ron spotted a 1966 A-Code Mustang convertible – powered by a 289ci V8 – for sale in Bakersfield. Once contacted, the owner of the car drove it down to LA where Ron inspected it, finding the Ford to be in absolutely mint condition. A deal was struck, and Ron now found himself with two Mustangs: a Fastback and a convertible.
Both cars were driven round to Mustang Country where, along with Noddy’s newly acquired prize car – a 1959 Dodge – they were packed into a 40-foot container along with a fourth car, all of them destined for New Zealand.
A Concours Project
Once in New Zealand, both Mustangs were registered for road use and Ron used the Fastback to drive to several Mustang club events, national conventions and, of course, simply for cruising on a sunny afternoon.
Ron entered the ex-Bakersfield Mustang convertible for judging at the 2017 Ellerslie Intermarque Concours as part of the Auckland Mustang Owners Club Team 1, with his convertible joined by Mike Spray’s ’67 Mustang notchback. The two cars ended the day in third place with a grand total of 1005 points, losing out to the winning Jaguar Driver’s Club team and the AMOC Team 2 partnership of a 2005 Mustang Hardtop GT and a 2008 Roush 428R Mustang.
Ron now began to consider his fastback with a future Intermarque Concours in mind and, although the K-Code Mustang was in excellent condition, Ron knew that it needed that little bit extra to really bring it up to show condition.
“I’m very picky when it comes to the condition of my cars,” he admitted.
With that in mind, prior to the appearance of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand, the Mustang was sent off to Mustang restoration specialist, Matamata Panelworks. The end goal was to freshen up the Mustang with a view to bringing it up to full show standard. Under the watchful eye of Matamata’s Mustang guru, Malcolm Sankey, and as these projects usually go, a simple freshen up eventually morphed into something rather more serious as work progressed on the car. Although the Mustang proved to be mint underneath, the Matamata Panelworks team discovered that the car had been in an accident at some stage during its earlier life and had been whacked in the rear. The subsequent repair, while of good quality, was showing its age and there were a few areas that required further remedial work.
With the entire country winding down, work halted on the car during the Covid-19 lockdown, and it would be quite some time before everything slowly got back to normal, so the project took rather longer to complete than Ron had originally anticipated.
Finally, the Mustang was finished and the next stage was to get it ready for the 2024 Ellerslie Intermarque Concours d’Elegance with some serious cleaning, polishing and detailing. A fellow AMOC member, Will Neal, spent a month meticulously detailing the Mustang, while club vice president Wayne Lack, offered advice and guidance.
On the day, all the hard work paid off with Ron’s Mustang taking top honours in the Master’s Class competition with a grand total of 551 points, just two points ahead of the second placed car, Simon Manning’s 1933 Rolls-Royce Wraith.
Considering the Mustang’s 60th anniversary, it was very appropriate that the Auckland Mustang Owners Club Team 1 – comprising of Chris and Mary Fitzpatrick’s 1968 GTCS Notchback and Shane McCallum’s 1965 Wimbledon White Fastback – took out first place in the Teams Event, with the club’s Team 2 (Dean and Cheryl Hodgson’s 2008 Shelby GT500KR and Warwick and Margaret Mudgway’s 1968 Mustang) finishing in third place.
As well, Shane McCallum’s Mustang emerged as the top scoring car with a grand total of 554 points, with the Fitzpatrick car finishing in third place overall with 538 points. All in all, a very successful day for the Auckland Mustang Owners Club.
Ron’s Stable
As well as his two classic Mustangs, Ron also owns a much more modern example.
“I’ve been to the USA a few times and visited Shelby in Las Vegas,” recalled Ron, “and I wanted to buy a RHD Mustang from them. However, I was told by Shelby that they weren’t building them in US but that they were available from Ford in Melbourne.”
Once he was back home Ron sorted a trip to Melbourne and in 2016 he placed his order for a RHD 800bhp (596kW) Shelby Super Snake – in 2017 when it arrived in New Zealand it was the first one of these cars to plant a tyre on Kiwi soil.
However, Ron’s passion for classic cars isn’t just about Mustangs and he also owns a number of other vehicles – the oldest being a ’38 Chevrolet pickup that was completely rebuilt at Mac’s Speed Shop by Graeme McNeil. Fitted with a Blue Flame motor and artillery wheels, Ron’s Chev also features a custom leather interior by Paul Kelly of Stitches Upholstery.
On a more modern note, proving that his tastes aren’t limited to American cars, Ron also owns a very desirable V12-powered Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, a high-performance Porsche GT3 and, just for good measure, a diesel-engined Mercedes-Benz G Wagon.
Ron enjoys driving all of his cars but during our chat prior to yet another of his trips to the USA, it was evident that the classic Mustangs are closest to his heart – and in that we’d have to agree with him.
The Shelby Mustang 1965-1966
The GT350 debuted as a Fastback in 1965 – all the early 1965-1966 cars came with the 289ci Hi-Po V8 as fitted to the production K-Code Mustang. Early cars were all painted in Wimbledon White with Guardsman Blue rocker stripes, full body ‘Le Mans’ stripes in the same blue colour were optional.
Mechanical changes included the addition of a 4bbl Holley carburettor, high-rise intake manifold and Tri-Y headers for a quoted output of 306bhp (228kW) with a subsequent increase in torque to 446Nm. The GT350 was also fitted with larger Ford Galaxie drum brakes and uprated Kelsey-Hayes front discs.
Shelby built 34 GT350s specifically as racing cars. 562 GT350s were produced in 1965.
For 1966 the Mustang designation was dropped and the GT350 was marketed simply as the Shelby GT350. Changes included swapping out the original factory extractor vents for quarterlights, the addition of brake scoops and the introduction of other body colours other than white. As well, a three-speed auto transmission became available while a Paxton supercharger was also added to the options list.
As a side-note, the first batch of 252 1966 GT350s actually began life as ’65 K-Code Fastbacks.
Finished in black with gold Le Mans stripes, in that same year 1001 examples of the Shelby GT350-H were built as a promotional exercise for the Hertz rental car company, who advertised them as “Rent-a-Racer” cars. Many a GT350-H was subsequently hired for the weekend and thrashed mercilessly around a racetrack before being returned to the Hertz agency on Monday morning. The good old days!
Mustangs carrying the Shelby badge continue to be built right up to the present day, some of the latest being the Shelby GT5000KR, built to mark the Mustang’s 60th anniversary, and the twin-turbo Shelby GT500 Code Red. In 2022 Ford even essayed a fresh take on the classic Hertz edition with the Shelby GT5000-H, a 900+ horsepower Mustang available for rental from selected Hertz agencies.
Mustang: Forging a Legend
Probably one of the greatest-ever automobile industry success stories, the Mustang created a sensation when it first appeared in mid-1964, with Ford dealerships mobbed by potential buyers as well as googly-eyed tyre-kickers. Association with Carroll Shelby – and the iconic GT350 – further ignited enthusiasm for the Mustang and spiced up sales, while the sensational car chase featured in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie, Bullitt, undoubtedly furthered the Mustang legend.
Despite the Mustang’s ongoing popularity with buyers, Ford lost the plot somewhat with the largely unloved Mustang II introduced in 1974, while the Fox-bodied third generation Mustang did little to stir up the same level of enthusiasm engendered by the early cars.
A more modern, cleaner look for the Mustang was unveiled in 1994 for the 4th generation cars. This was followed by the 5th generation Mustang in 2005 and, looking back at the pony car’s heritage, this new variation deliberately echoed the styling of the classic ‘60s Mustang with an overall look that, with a few styling tweaks, can still be recognised in the current 7th generation cars, the latest incarnation of the seemingly immortal Mustang. Previewed at the Detroit Auto Show in 2022 and officially on sale in 2024, these 7th generation cars have since been joined by the all- electric Mustang Mach-E which was first announced in 2019 before going on sale from 2021. Essentially a compact crossover SUV, the Mach-E took its name from the Mach 1 variation of the 1st generation Mustang. The Mach-E won the North American SUV of the Year Award in 2021.
1965 Ford Mustang Fastback (K-Code)
Engine: Ford V8
Capacity: 4736cc (289ci)
Bore/Stroke: 102.5x73.5mm
Valves: Two valves per cylinder/ohv
Fuel system: Venturi 600cfm, manual choke carburettor
C/R: 10.0:1
Max power: 202kW (271bhp) at 6000rpm
Max torque: 423Nm (312lb/ft) at 3400rpm
Transmission: Four-speed manual
Front suspension: Independent via twin wishbones and coil springs
Rear suspension: Live axle, leaf springs
Steering: Recirculating ball, optional power assist
Brakes: Disc/drum
Tyres: 7.00 x 14 4-ply
Dimensions:
Overall length: 4613mm
Width: 1732mm
Height: 1297mm
Wheelbase: 2743mm
Kerb weight: 1360kg
Performance:
Max speed: 207km/h
0-100kph: 6 seconds
¼ Mile: 15.2 seconds
