• Tom Petty’s 1965 Ford Mustang will be auctioned off this week in Monterey.
As part of the ongoing Monterey Car Week, a number of renowned vehicles are paraded before enthusiasts. Events include the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Quail exhibition and several auctions.
One car going up for auction is a 1965 Ford Mustang. In itself, there's nothing extraordinary about that model - Ford produced tens of thousands of units from that vintage. What's special is that the model belonged to another American icon, this one of the musical variety. Tom Petty enjoyed a prolific career, but died too young in 2017, at the age of 66.
The description of the car being auctioned states that Petty owned it for 20 years. It’s said to still be in good working order. It had been delivered well equipped, the description adds, though there no specifics about what exactly was added to the car when bought new.
The car is equipped with the 289-cubic-inch V8 Ford was offering with the model at the time, and here it’s wedded to a 3-speed automatic transmission.
In all, Ford produced 73,112 convertible versions of its Mustang in 1965, but including those assembled in 1964, identified as 1964 ½ models by fans, we're talking about over 100,000 very similar units. The model isn’t rare, in other words. It's its provenance that adds to its value.
Tom Petty's ’65 Mustang will be offered at auction on Friday, August 16 as part of the sale held by the Bonham Group. The Bonham Group estimates the sale price at between $25,000 and $35,000 USD, which is about what it's worth on the open market. If the price climbs above $50,000, we'll know that the buyer was a fan of Tom Petty.
In addition to the car, Bonham will be auctioning off several personal items that once belonged to Tom Petty.