Sydney Sweeney’s 1965 Mustang “Britney”: The Car That Inspired Project Britney

Sydney Sweeney is one of Hollywood’s most recognizable young actors. But among Mustang enthusiasts, another part of her story has become just as interesting: a light-blue 1965 Ford Mustang she calls Britney.

At first glance, it would be easy to dismiss Britney as another classic car owned by a celebrity. Look closer, though, and the story becomes far more interesting.

Sweeney did not discover old Fords through a sponsorship deal. Long before Ford turned her passion into a national campaign, she was already learning how cars worked, spending time in garages and documenting her own restoration projects.

And eventually, Ford noticed.

Nearly sixty years after the original Mustang arrived, Britney became the inspiration for a pair of one-off 2024 Mustang GTs built with Sweeney to celebrate the nameplate’s 60th anniversary.

But what exactly is Britney? Is it really an original 1965 Mustang GT? What engine is likely under the hood? And why is a 1965 Mustang routinely described as Brittany Blue when Ford did not introduce that color until two model years later?

The closer you look at this Mustang, the more questions it raises.

And that is where its story really begins.

A Passion That Started Long Before Hollywood

Away from movie sets and red carpets, Sydney Sweeney grew up with a very different interest: old cars.

Her family included mechanics, and automobiles were part of everyday life. She learned to drive in her great-grandfather’s old Ford F-100 and was expected to understand basic maintenance rather than simply know how to turn the key.

That interest grew stronger through her relationship with Rod Emory, best known in the collector-car world for Emory Motorsports and its highly regarded Porsche restorations. Sweeney grew up with Emory’s son, and the family workshop became an important part of her automotive education.

Over time, she learned to take things apart, diagnose problems and understand how the different pieces of a car worked together.

For years, that part of her life remained largely private.

Then came Syd’s Garage.

During the pandemic, Sweeney began documenting the restoration of a largely original 1969 Ford Bronco on TikTok. The videos did not simply show a finished celebrity-owned classic. They followed the process: suspension work, drivetrain components, interior restoration, paint, troubleshooting and eventually the satisfaction of getting the truck back on the road.

By 2022, the Bronco project was largely complete.

But another old Ford was already waiting.

Meet Britney

On May 24, 2021, a very short Syd’s Garage video introduced a light-blue 1965 Mustang.

“Meet my new baby Britney,” read the caption.

The car appeared only briefly, accompanied — appropriately enough — by Oops!… I Did It Again.

Sweeney said she planned to begin working on it soon.

Then, surprisingly, Britney mostly disappeared.

For more than two years, the Mustang remained far less visible than the Bronco had been. By late 2023, however, it began returning to Syd’s Garage and gradually became one of the most recognizable cars associated with Sweeney.

Visually, Britney is not an extreme restomod.

There are no oversized wheels, modern bodywork or obvious attempts to turn a mid-1960s Mustang into something it was never meant to be. Instead, the car retains much of the character that made the first-generation Mustang so successful in the first place.

Chrome trim, period-style wheel covers, bullet mirrors, a Pony interior and numerous vintage-style details create an appearance that feels coherent rather than over-restored.

It looks like a Mustang meant to be driven.

But for Mustang enthusiasts, several details invite a closer look.

Is Britney a Real 1965 Mustang GT?

This is probably the most interesting question surrounding Sweeney’s Mustang.

Britney wears several pieces associated with the GT Equipment Group offered by Ford during the 1965 model year.

Up front are the familiar fog lamps mounted through the grille. At the rear, the gas cap carries GT identification. The car also appears to have front disc brakes and dual exhaust, while a Rally-Pac sits above the steering column.

Taken individually, none of those items proves anything.

Nearly every piece of Mustang GT trim has been reproduced for decades, and countless standard Mustangs have received GT-style conversions during restorations.

Taken together, however, the equipment makes the possibility much more interesting.

The fog lamps, front discs and dual exhaust in particular are consistent with a genuine 1965 GT configuration. The Rally-Pac adds to the period sporting atmosphere, although it was not exclusive to the GT package.

So is Britney authentic?

At the moment, there is no responsible way to say for certain.

Without access to the car’s VIN, Data Plate and supporting history, calling it a factory GT would go beyond the available evidence.

What can be said is that Britney presents many of the characteristics expected of a 1965 Mustang GT.

And that raises another question.

What Is Under the Hood?

If Britney really did leave the factory as a Mustang GT, the engine possibilities narrow considerably.

One of the most desirable engines available in a 1965 Mustang was the 289-cubic-inch High Performance K-Code V8, rated at 271 horsepower.

Britney, however, is equipped with an automatic transmission.

That matters.

The K-Code combination was not paired with an automatic transmission for the 1965 model year, making the legendary Hi-Po 289 an unlikely candidate for Sweeney’s car in its apparent configuration.

That leaves the A-Code 289 as the most logical possibility if Britney is indeed an original GT.

With a four-barrel carburetor and a factory rating of 225 horsepower, the A-Code offered plenty of performance while remaining compatible with Ford’s C4 automatic transmission.

Again, without the VIN or documentation, this remains an informed hypothesis rather than a confirmed specification.

But based on what can be seen publicly, an A-Code 289 with a C4 automatic would make a great deal of sense.

Brittany Blue… on a 1965 Mustang?

Then there is the color.

Britney is routinely described — including in Ford material — as a Brittany Blue 1965 Mustang.

There is only one problem.

Brittany Blue was not a 1965 Mustang color. Ford introduced the shade for the 1967 model year.

That does not mean anyone is necessarily wrong about the color currently on Britney. The Mustang may simply have been repainted sometime during its life in a later Ford shade.

What it does mean is that Brittany Blue cannot be Britney’s factory-original 1965 paint color.

Two earlier Mustang colors are worth considering.

Skylight Blue was available in 1964 and can look remarkably similar to Britney under certain lighting conditions.

Arcadian Blue, introduced for 1965, is another close visual match.

Then there is Brittany Blue itself, which arrived in 1967 and became one of Ford’s most recognizable pale-blue Mustang colors.

Without Britney’s Data Plate, the original color remains unknown.

That uncertainty actually makes the car more interesting. Britney looks period-correct enough to feel completely natural, yet its best-known identifying feature may not have been part of the car when it left the factory.

The Details That Make Britney Hers

Whatever Britney’s original specification may have been, the car today reflects a clear restoration philosophy.

The goal does not appear to have been a concours-level return to an untouched factory configuration. Instead, Sweeney has kept the character of an early Mustang while creating something she can actually enjoy.

Inside, the Pony-style Luxury Interior immediately gives the cabin a more upscale feel. Embossed running-horse seatbacks, woodgrain trim and a center console add some of the visual richness that made Ford’s Deluxe Interior so popular.

Above the steering column sits a Rally-Pac, combining a tachometer and clock in one of the most recognizable accessories of the era.

The wood-rimmed steering wheel also looks familiar to anyone who knows early Shelbys. It closely resembles modern Shelby-style reproductions rather than an original Shelby wheel, although identifying the exact part from photographs alone would be difficult.

Air conditioning is visible beneath the dashboard, another useful feature for a car that appears to be treated as something more than a static collector piece.

And that may be the most important detail of all.

Britney does not feel frozen in time.

It remains a project.

Sweeney has continued talking about things she would like to improve, change or rebuild. That mindset is familiar to almost anyone who has owned an old Mustang for any length of time.

There is always another job.

Another noise.

Another part you have been meaning to replace.

That might be one reason Britney feels more relatable than the usual celebrity classic car.

Why Ford Chose Sydney Sweeney

By the time Ford formally partnered with Sweeney in 2023 through its Built Ford Proud campaign, her automotive interests were already well established.

That distinction matters.

Ford was not introducing a movie star to Mustangs and asking her to pose beside one. It was working with someone who already owned old Fords, documented restoration work and had built an audience around learning how to maintain cars.

The partnership expanded into maintenance content, workwear collaborations and campaigns aimed at encouraging more women to become comfortable around cars.

For Ford, Sweeney represented something broader than celebrity reach.

She also represented an audience that had not always seen itself reflected in traditional automotive culture.

The company increasingly used the phrase “car girls” around the collaboration, celebrating women who wrench, restore, race, modify or simply enjoy cars without treating their presence in the hobby as a novelty.

Sweeney’s existing interest made that message far more credible.

And with Mustang’s 60th anniversary approaching, Ford found a particularly personal way to bring those ideas together.

Instead of starting with a famous racing Mustang or recreating a historic Shelby, the company looked at the car sitting in Sweeney’s own garage.

Britney.

Project Britney: Reimagining a 1965 Mustang for 2024

The challenge was not to reproduce a 1965 Mustang using a modern chassis.

That would have been impossible — and probably uninteresting.

Instead, Ford and Sweeney took the new S650-generation 2024 Mustang GT and asked a different question:

What would Britney feel like if her personality were translated into a modern Mustang?

The answer became Project Britney.

Ford ultimately created two nearly identical cars: one for Sweeney and another to be given away through a national contest.

The most obvious link to the classic Mustang is the paint.

Rather than attempting to match the vintage car exactly, Ford used a custom Robin’s Egg Blue finish with crushed-glass material in the clear coat. Under light, the pale blue develops a depth and sparkle that immediately separates it from a normal factory paint option.

Subtle ghost racing stripes run across the body, appearing or disappearing depending on the angle of the light.

The car rides on bright 20-inch chrome wheels, a deliberate contrast with the darker wheel finishes common on modern performance cars and another visual connection with classic Mustang styling.

The effect is retro without becoming nostalgic cosplay.

A Very Different Mustang Interior

Inside, Project Britney moves even further away from a normal production GT.

Warm tan leather replaces the overwhelmingly dark interiors commonly associated with modern performance cars. The contrast with the blue exterior gives the Mustang a look that feels surprisingly appropriate for a tribute to a 1960s automobile.

Sweeney’s Heart Bolt emblem — two bolts arranged into the shape of a heart — appears throughout the car, including exterior badging and interior details.

Her signature also appears beneath the hood.

But the feature that received perhaps the most attention is above the occupants rather than in front of them. The headliner contains color-changing LED “stars.”

It is an unusual feature for a Mustang, but a very personal one. Sweeney has linked the idea to her enjoyment of nighttime driving and looking at the stars.

It is exactly the kind of detail that separates Project Britney from a typical appearance package.

This was never intended to become a production Mustang.

It was designed around one person’s tastes.

Still a Mustang GT Underneath

Mechanically, Ford showed restraint.

Project Britney remained fundamentally a 2024 Mustang GT, powered by the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter Coyote V8 rather than receiving an elaborate engine build.

That decision makes sense.

The point of the project was never to create something faster than a Dark Horse or more extreme than a GTD.

Its performance already came from the S650 Mustang GT platform.

The customization was there to give the car a story.

In that respect, the modern car follows the same philosophy as Britney herself.

Neither Mustang is particularly interesting because of an outrageous horsepower figure.

They are interesting because of the relationship between the cars and the people who drive them.

From One Mustang Story to Another

There was one final part of Ford’s idea.

Sweeney would not be the only person receiving a Project Britney Mustang.

Ford invited people across the United States to explain how they had challenged expectations while pursuing their passions. Thousands responded, with approximately 5,000 entries meeting the contest requirements.

The winner was Brittley, a Washington State Mustang enthusiast who already owned a 2005 Mustang GT and had learned to work on it with her father.

Her story went far beyond simply wanting a free car.

She had built a career and pursued interests in fields where women were often underrepresented, while learning to repair her own Mustang rather than accepting that the garage was someone else’s space.

In March 2024, Brittley traveled to New York with her father, saw Project Britney in person and became the owner of one of the two cars.

That could easily have been the end of the story.

It wasn’t.

More than two years later, Brittley still owns Project Britney — and she actually uses it as her daily driver. That story deserves more than a paragraph here.

What Happened to the Other Project Britney Mustang?

Winning the car was only the beginning of Brittley’s story. Two years later, she has named the Mustang Daisy, uses it as her daily driver and has personally put around 23,000 miles on it.

We spoke with Brittley about her Mustang family, rebuilding her 2005 GT with her father, winning Project Britney and what it is really like to live with this one-of-a-kind Mustang.

More Than a Celebrity Mustang

At first glance, Sydney Sweeney and Britney seem to fit neatly into a familiar category: famous person owns interesting classic car.

But Britney’s story is more complicated than that.

Behind the story is a young woman who grew up around mechanics and learned that driving a car also meant understanding how to maintain one.

Her 1969 Bronco restoration then turned what had largely been a private hobby into something she shared publicly.

And at the center of it all is a 1965 Mustang whose exact original specification still leaves enthusiasts with unanswered questions.

And then there is Ford, which looked at that car nearly sixty years after the Mustang first appeared and decided it was worth interpreting for a new generation.

Perhaps that is the most Mustang-like part of the entire story.

The Mustang has never belonged only to Ford’s designers, engineers or racing programs.

For six decades, owners have changed them, restored them, painted them, raced them, personalized them and passed them along.

Britney is simply another chapter in that tradition.

It just happens to be a chapter that inspired Ford to build two more Mustangs.

And one of those cars is still out there being driven every day.