Picture this. You have a 1965 'Stang that you have finally cherried out to its original condition; now, your employer wants to ship you to a country where people drive on the left-hand side of the road. If you're a purist, you may well want to leave it the way it is and just learn how to deal with it when you get there. Another approach is to opt for a Ford Mustang right hand drive conversion.
The 'Stang was the first in a new genre of "pony cars, " sporty coupes that have a long front end and a short rear deck. The 'Stang, introduced to the American market in early 1964 (making it a 1964-1/2 model), was followed by the Pontiac Firebird, Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Javelin and the Dodge Challenger. There are rumors that it also inspired the Toyota Celica and the Ford Capri. Later, came a more family-friendly model, the Maverick, or "Son of Mustang, " and then the Pinto, the baby of the family.
The conversion of a pony car from left-hand drive (or normal) to a right-hand drive (basically, British and colonial) is far more complicated than, say, a simple gender reassignment. Five major panels on the car need to be removed. All of the original spot welds are drilled out and replaced with RHD factory-stamped panels.
Once the panels are out of the way, the instrument bezel, dash pod, and dash trim can be installed. Some people find that installing a rack and pinion, either manual or power, makes the car easier to handle. Countries where driving on the left is the norm include a few in southeast Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (this includes England, Scotland, and Wales).
As might be expected, opinion is divided on whether such drastic surgery is worth it. On the one hand, if you have spent years and years and thousands of dollars restoring a classic car to its original condition and added a few performance-boosting enhancements, you are not going to want to hack it to pieces. On the other hand, making the switch will make it easier to overtake other cars on the road.
The down side of converting, according to some, is that it will not enhance the resale value of the car and may, in fact, reduce it. Advocates of keeping the car in its native state say that it doesn't take very long to get used to driving an LHD car on the left-hand side of the road. There is a brief period of reaching for the door handle when looking for the hand brake, but you soon get over it.
Australians have laws like the federal governments Vehicle Safety Standard Act and the National Code of Practices to protect car owners from shoddy garages. If you intend to have your car converted overseas, it pays to do your homework first and find out what legislation you will have to fall back on should the unthinkable happen and the mechanic makes a mess of your conversion.
Converting your car to right-hand drive is a massive undertaking, both structurally and financially. Take all the time you need to be sure you are making the right decision before the mechanic wields his scalpel.
The 'Stang was the first in a new genre of "pony cars, " sporty coupes that have a long front end and a short rear deck. The 'Stang, introduced to the American market in early 1964 (making it a 1964-1/2 model), was followed by the Pontiac Firebird, Chevrolet Camaro, Plymouth Barracuda, AMC Javelin and the Dodge Challenger. There are rumors that it also inspired the Toyota Celica and the Ford Capri. Later, came a more family-friendly model, the Maverick, or "Son of Mustang, " and then the Pinto, the baby of the family.
The conversion of a pony car from left-hand drive (or normal) to a right-hand drive (basically, British and colonial) is far more complicated than, say, a simple gender reassignment. Five major panels on the car need to be removed. All of the original spot welds are drilled out and replaced with RHD factory-stamped panels.
Once the panels are out of the way, the instrument bezel, dash pod, and dash trim can be installed. Some people find that installing a rack and pinion, either manual or power, makes the car easier to handle. Countries where driving on the left is the norm include a few in southeast Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (this includes England, Scotland, and Wales).
As might be expected, opinion is divided on whether such drastic surgery is worth it. On the one hand, if you have spent years and years and thousands of dollars restoring a classic car to its original condition and added a few performance-boosting enhancements, you are not going to want to hack it to pieces. On the other hand, making the switch will make it easier to overtake other cars on the road.
The down side of converting, according to some, is that it will not enhance the resale value of the car and may, in fact, reduce it. Advocates of keeping the car in its native state say that it doesn't take very long to get used to driving an LHD car on the left-hand side of the road. There is a brief period of reaching for the door handle when looking for the hand brake, but you soon get over it.
Australians have laws like the federal governments Vehicle Safety Standard Act and the National Code of Practices to protect car owners from shoddy garages. If you intend to have your car converted overseas, it pays to do your homework first and find out what legislation you will have to fall back on should the unthinkable happen and the mechanic makes a mess of your conversion.
Converting your car to right-hand drive is a massive undertaking, both structurally and financially. Take all the time you need to be sure you are making the right decision before the mechanic wields his scalpel.
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