The Fastback that started it all—that’s what’s sitting on eBay right now awaiting your offer in the form of a 1965 Mustang 2+2. So far, only one person has placed a bid, and that price is $24,900. The auction ends nearly a week from now. The car sits in Oakland, CA, where, according to its profile picture, it’s getting rained on. Should you be the one to save and finish restoring it?

You’ll be starting with what could be a pretty good canvas, though that’s not certain. We all know that white paint covers up bodywork pretty well, and the fact is, this car has just been painted. So the sleuth in you should be willing to hop a plane to San Fran and have a look with one of those paint thickness detectors and a magnet in your hands. If it checks out, then your job is simple: do a good clean-up of a kind of dirty interior to get this little car ready to show.

However, there are two things you will need to further follow up on. First, given the new paint job, you would imagine that the unibody is solid, but you don’t know. There are no shots of the trunk’s inside, including the frame rails, and neither are there any images of the floor/undercarriage. Second, though the ad indicates that the car is a six-cylinder—a slight knock on value, but no deal-breaker—there’s no promise of the original engine being present and accounted for, and again, no image to substantiate what is there. Does the car run? Does it smoke? Is it leaking oil? What is the state of the under-hood area, including the mechanicals and the accessories?

If only cars could talk, we could figure out more easily the true state from which this one was rescued. It is said to need a new carb, brake work, and to have electrical shorts sorted out. Some paperwork to this effect is offered. Perhaps just installing a new wiring harness would be well advised. The interior looks slightly worn but good, though the carpet kit is suspect. Good to see the original radio in the dash, though, and note that the transmission is automatic, with the shifter on the floor in front of an aftermarket console that won’t last your first day if you’re a purist. But then again, that depends on the mechanical fitness of the car. Do you restore it to stock? It would seem that wouldn’t be a long journey after some questions get answered.