07-13-06 TMN Staff: Anyone who has restored a vintage Mustang with a center console knows that it isn’t easy. The interior of course is the one area that wear and tear is most evident. The center console is usually a major focal point and gets beat up pretty badly. Restoring them has been the bane of our existence for decades. Various trim pieces for the consoles have been available through NOS and repro sources. You can also find parts and pieces at swap meets, but they usually need some TLC to get them to show quality and can be quite expensive.

Unfortunately the great leveler has been the plastic base. If yours is broken, cracked, warped or just worn you essentially have been out of luck. You have spend multiple hundreds of dollars for used ones that in most cases are still damaged in some way. We have all seen the guy at the swap meet with a broken up, incomplete console he wants $500 for. I have personally built consoles before from the guts of three or four of them just to get one good one. It’s a pain.

Luckily, thanks to the folks at Virginia Classic Mustang parts there is now another way. They have recently introduced reproduction console bases for both the ‘65-66 and ‘69-70 Mustangs! That is right, now you can buy a brand new replacement for that cracked, broken or warped console base.

The part is made of black ABS plastic to an exact reproduction. It’s paintable with any solvent based paint. Luckily, most Mustang parts houses carry interior matched colors already. Virginia Classic Mustang parts injection molds the part just like the original with correct grain surface. Very sturdy and durable, the console has cut lines embedded into the plastic on the underside detailing where to cut for Convertibles and Air Conditioning equipped cars. No cutting templates are needed.

They started with a NOS console to make the tooling 100 percent correct. In testing, they have assembled the console with original and reproduction chrome trim parts, and they fit great.

The ‘65-66 model comes with the plastic plate at rear of front compartment. The assemble retails for around $225.

The ‘69-70 model includes everything needed except Arm Rest Pad Lid, Shifter Plate/Panel, Wiring and Ashtray Light. Assembly includes the following:

•Console base with metal support brackets
•Upper console panel (where shifter mounts) with metal retainers.
•Front ashtray receptacle and holder with die cast lid and rubber lid bumpers.
•Rear ashtray assembly.
•Compartment box (1969 style with cigar lighter)
•Hinge for compartment (arm rest pad) lid.
•Cigar Lighter assembly with correct knob and chrome mounting plate. (To make this 100% correct for a 1970 model, you can install your original console compartment box which came without lighter.)

The ‘69-70 console base retails for a bit more due to the more complex assembly at about $399. Virginia Classic Mustang also offers a myriad of trim pieces and other components to help complete your console restoration too. In all, this is one of the best developments we have heard of this year for vintage Mustangs.

More information: www.VirginiaClassicMustang.com