Tag: Fox Body Mustang

Fox Body Mustang: The Complete Breakdown – Sam Weber @Steeda

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There hasn’t been a new Fox Body Mustang in a Ford showroom for almost 30 years, but this third-generation pony car remains popular with enthusiasts and tuners for several reasons. The Fox Body Mustang runs from 1979-1993 model years. And, Mustang lovers appreciate that the Fox Body is:

Plentiful: Despite Fox Bodies going back to 1979, cars and Fox Body Mustang parts are readily available.
Affordable: The Fox Body offers a reasonably priced Mustang experience for both collecting and modifying.
Uncomplicated: The straightforward nature of the Fox Body platform and mechanicals makes for easy repairs and mods.

With this in mind, let’s look at the history of the Fox Body Mustang and its origins. We’ll answer your “what is a Fox Body” questions on Ford’s longest-running generation of Mustang.

The Beginning Fox Body Designs Conflict Through The Years

With this in mind, let’s look at the history of the Fox Body Mustang and its origins. We’ll answer your “what is a Fox Body” questions on Ford’s longest-running generation of Mustang.

1976 Mustang Fox Body Concept Car

Let’s head back to the mid-1970s when the U.S. had just come off the first oil embargo that caused oil prices to increase by 300%. At the same time, the effects of the federal Clean Air Act were imposing stricter emission standards and limiting engine performance. The initial waves of the Japanese auto invasion also gained strength as consumers could choose from import sports cars like the Datsun 240Z.

Add in that the Pinto-based second-generation Mustang II was underwhelming consumers, and Ford executives were undoubtedly enjoying heartburn and sleepless nights. So, the need for a re-invigorated Mustang was paramount for the automaker to stay competitive. The race was on to develop the third-generation Mustang.

It began in 1975 when Ford veteran Jack Telnack was tasked to be the chief designer of the third-gen Mustang. Fresh from his company assignments in Europe and Australia, Telnack had visions of a completely new Mustang with design influences from the Old Continent. At the same time, company honcho Henry Ford II mandated specific body characteristics like a blunt front end from earlier Mustangs.

Fox Body Designs Conflict With Henry Ford II’s Instructions

“Thou shalt never do a slantback front end. Henry Ford II only wants vertical front end, and he’ll show us the door if we ever try anything like it.” Ford vice president of design Gene Bordinat was quoted saying in a 2013 Road & Track article. Further complicating Telnack’s task was the requirement that his new creation uses the new Fox Body platform that would first appear in 1978 with the Ford Fairmont and Mercury Zephyr.

Three separate design teams were formed to develop new looks for the Mustang. This included one group based out of the company’s Ghia design studios in Italy, which Ford had acquired in 1970. Design concepts ranged from a fastback coupe to a Mustang station wagon with “woody” body panels. Yes, there could have been a Mustang wagon.

In a HowStuffWorks story, Telnack recounts how he had to convince Henry Ford II of the proposed Mustang’s aero looks as a better choice than the boxy designs of old Mustangs. “I consider the ’79 Mustang a breakthrough car. It was the first project I worked on when I returned from Europe. It was such a departure from anything we were doing here.” Telnack would later go on to design the groundbreaking 1986 Ford Taurus and its jelly-bean body style.

Fox Body Mustang: Through The Years

The 1979 Mustang launched the Fox Body era for Ford’s pony car. We’ll take a year-by-year stroll through history as we explore Fox Body Mustang specs and other essential details. We’ll also point out many of the horsepower and torque numbers, but if you’re looking for more detail, check out our full breakdown of Fox Body Horsepower & Torque Numbers.

1979 Mustang: Details

Indianapolis 500 Pace Car

Ford opened the third generation of the Mustang for the 1979 model year with a dizzying array of engine choices and a completely new car inside and out. Top power comes from the venerable Windsor 4.9L V-8, making 139 hp and 250 lb-ft of torque with a reported 8.3 second time for a 0-60 run. At launch, other powerplant choices include the Cologne 2.8L V-6 with 104 hp and 150 lb-ft of torque and a 2.3L I-4 with 89 hp and 120 lb-ft of torque. A turbo version of the four-banger was offered, which produced 130 hp and 165 lb-ft of torque.

Midway through 1979, the Cologne V-6 was swapped for a 3.3L straight-six with 89 hp and 143 lb-ft of torque. The Mustang was offered in both notchback and fastback body styles. Be sure to check out the Steeda article revolving around the Notchback vs Hatchback when it comes to Fox Body Mustangs.

Special editions for 1979 include the hatchback-only Cobra, which had the turbo-four under the hood, and the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car replica. The first Mustang Indy pace car since 1964, buyers could choose from the V-8 or turbo-four.

1980 Mustang: Details

M81 McLaren Mustang

The second year of the Fox Body Mustang saw no significant changes other than saying goodbye to the Windsor V-8. This powerplant was replaced with a small-block 4.2L V-8 (a neutered version of the Windsor) that offered only 119 hp and 194 lb-ft of torque.

Special editions for 1980 included a tweaked Cobra that had elements from the ’79 Indy pace car: modified grille, hood treatment, and rear spoiler. Thanks to a $25,000 price tag, only five copies of the M81 MacLaren Mustang were sold. However, the M81 did serve as the foundation for Ford’s special vehicle options (SVO) unit

1981 Mustang: Details

For 1981, Mustang carried with no virtually unchanged other than the addition of a t-top roof option and that the turbo-four was entirely dropped from the engine lineup. Cobra power now comes only from the 4.2L V-8. Interestingly, hatchback sales have now exceeded notchback sales for the first time. The trend will continue for the remainder of the Fox Body generation.

1982 Mustang: Details

To the relief of enthusiasts, 1982 Mustang specs include the return of the Windsor V-8, now called the 5.0 H.O. (high output) engine. At the same time, the Mustang GT is relaunched. This legendary combination is one of the hallmarks of the Fox Body Mustang, although the 5.0 could be ordered as a stand-alone option. All things seemed right with the world as the new engine was rated for 157 hp and 240 lb-ft of torque. Ford reworked the Mustang’s trim levels with the base L available only in the notchback, while the upscale G.L. and GLX could be ordered in either body style. The 2.3L four-cylinder and the 3.3L straight-six carried on unchanged.

1983 Mustang: Details

Turbo GT

1983 marks important updates to America’s favorite sports car. After a decade-long absence, a Mustang convertible is returned to the lineup, while a mid-cycle refresh included a new front end and updated taillights. Improvements continue for the Fox Body Mustang as the 5.0 engine now makes 175 hp and 245 lb-ft of torque. The Essex 3.8L V-6, with 112 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque, becomes the sole six-cylinder engine for the Mustang.

Special editions include the Turbo GT, which saw the return of a boosted four-cylinder engine making 145 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to less power and a higher price than the 5.0, the Turbo GT never took off.

1984 Mustang: Details

20th Anniversary Fox Body

There were no significant changes for 1984 among standard Mustangs. The base L model could now be ordered in either notchback or hatchback body style and the mid-tier G.L. and GLX models were blended into a single LX trim. In addition, the Essex V-6 became standard equipment for the convertible.

1984 is perhaps most memorable for special-edition Mustangs. Beyond the carryover Turbo GT, buyers could choose the memorable SVO Mustang (with a turbo four-cylinder making 175 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque) or the 20th Anniversary GT (with a choice of non-SVO turbo four or the 5.0L V-8).

One man’s quest to gather the lowest-mileage Mustangs of the ’80s and beyond – Terry McGean

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We humans have an odd tendency to collect things: coins, stamps, shot glasses… When we find some object that appeals to us, we seem to want to multiply the joy it brings by finding more of that thing, and in whatever variations may exist. Chasing down those variations often becomes the continuing challenge that makes the collecting exciting — the thrill of the hunt and the conquest of capture.

Following that logic, if desirable items that bring joy and that come in many variations are the basis for a fulfilling collection, cars are a natural focus, and car collecting has been going on since the time the earliest automobiles were deemed “classics,” once they’d become old enough to be somewhat scarce. Traditionally, that has meant at least a few decades beyond manufacture, but a shift seemed to occur in the early 1980s as the muscle cars of the ’60s and early ’70s started to become sought by enthusiasts. In most cases, the favored models weren’t even 20 years old yet, but a couple things happened to hasten the movement: The muscle car era ended rather abruptly in the early ’70s, and the original buyers of those cars started to feel the tug of nostalgia.

We’ve been celebrating those same cars ever since, but what about the second coming of Detroit’s performance wars? That next wave of factory-built hot rods began right around the time the earlier muscle cars first began to climb in value thanks to enthusiast interest. Shouldn’t those later models have followed suit?

1992 SAAC MK1

The 1992 SAAC Mk 1 was a special edition produced to honor the efforts of Carroll Shelby during his Ford period while also yielding a Mustang that outperformed standard 5.0 models. Only 62 were produced, and this one has just 13 miles.

“A good friend is into ’40 Fords; he used to make fun of these cars,” Dave W. says, standing in the building that houses his gathering of Mustangs from Ford’s Fox era. That sort of sentiment was not unusual from traditional auto enthusiasts, who still tend to view cars of the ’80s as “late models” that don’t warrant collector interest. Perspective plays a role — some people may not recognize that an ’83 Mustang is about to turn 40. To others, these cars were produced in numbers too great to be considered “rare.” But to Dave, there’s a vast performance history to highlight from this period of Ford’s past. Plus, a whole new generation of fans are now getting nostalgic.

“I have such fond memories of these cars — that’s a big part of their appeal,” he explains, but we couldn’t help but wonder why a Mustang fan had nothing from the model’s earliest days. “I’m not as into the early cars because I didn’t grow up with them; I grew up with the Fox cars — those were the years I followed them.”

Dave started out on the path to the Blue Oval camp early. “My grandfather worked for Ford and took me to the Metuchen [New Jersey] plant a few times when I was young. They weren’t building Mustangs anymore — it was Ranger trucks then — but the Ford influence set in.” Like so many car-crazed kids, Dave saved up his money and was able to buy a 1985 Mustang GT in 1987, citing reasons beyond the Dearborn connection. “The 5-liters were accessible and affordable; the IROCs and Trans Ams seemed expensive.

From there, the hook was set. He bought an ’89 Mustang LX 5.0 later, but when he started a business, the fun cars had to go for a while. Once the business grew, he was able to get back into it. “At first, I focused on ’85s and ’86s, since those were the cars I got started with,” Dave says, but it was just the spark for what he would soon pursue. When a friend and fellow Mustang enthusiast showed him some of the extremely low-mileage examples of the same-era cars, Dave was fascinated by their “Day One” time-capsule quality. It changed the course of his own collecting.

“Then I said, I really want to have a great collection of the best cars of this era. I want people to be able to see what they were like when they were brand new. I often call these ‘no-mileage’ cars, because a ‘low-mileage’ car can have 15-20,000 miles in most people’s view. The cars I am interested in usually have less than 100.”

The precedent established by muscle car collecting helped to create some real gems among the cars that came later — enthusiasts were more aware of the collector appeal of examples that were hardly used, as opposed to those that had been restored to that state. But many of the cars now in Dave’s collection take the “it’s only original once” mantra to the extreme, presenting not simply as they might have been in the showroom, but as they were rolling off the transport truck. An early addition to this gathering exemplifies this and came from Dave’s friend — the one who’d first piqued his interest in essentially untouched cars.

“The ’90 LX notchback is one my friend bought years ago from a Ford dealer’s personal collection. The car had never been prepped and was still on MSO [Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin]. It was in their warehouse, and when the dealer finally decided to part with it, my friend got it — there are still only around 81 miles on it now,” Dave explains. Looking at this specimen will trigger a memory jog for anyone who ever paid attention to Fox Mustangs when they were new. The details of the factory paint surface quality, the single narrow pinstripe, the finish on the “10-hole” wheels, which have never had their center caps installed. It really is a trip, particularly on a model that was not typically saved on speculation of future value — these cars were bought to be driven, yet this one still has the factory crayon markings in the windows.

The Fox-body Ford Mustang is the best blank canvas pony car | Buyer’s Guide – @Hagerty

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Hagerty’s Editor-at-Large Sam Smith takes a look at the Fox-body Ford Mustang and offers a general overview of the highly affordable but highly variable third-generation pony car. With an easy-to-modify structure, Sam not only covers the pluses and minuses of the Mustang’s massive aftermarket, but also the nuances of owning, buying, and maintaining this iconic classic.

Episode chapters:

Buyer’s Guide: The plentiful, affordable, 5.0-powered 1987-93 Ford Mustang – Mike McNessor @Hemmings

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A new Mustang GT hit the ground galloping in 1982 and Ford shouted its return with the slogan: “The Boss is Back!” Hitching the Boss legend to this new pony made good marketing sense, but the Fox was no retro-themed throwback. It would go on to inspire a new generation of enthusiasts and launch dedicated magazines and websites, as well as become a darling of the aftermarket.

Old-school, American rear-drive performance mounted a comeback in the 1980s, ushered in by cars like the Buick Grand National, the Chevrolet Monte Carlos SS, and the Camaro IROC-Z. But, when new, these vehicles were priced out of reach of many young people on entry-level salaries. Also, the GM contingent offered manual transmissions only as exceptions rather than the rule.

Not so the 5.0. Ford priced the Mustang GT affordably and, beginning in 1983, offered a real-deal Borg-Warner T-5 fives-peed manual transmission. For ’86, Ford dumped the Holley carburetor and made multiport fuel injection plus a roller camshaft standard—exotic parts for a low-dollar production car back then.

While Chevrolet charged a premium for all the good stuff, Ford lowered the price by offering the el-cheapo LX with a 5.0 powertrain. Not only was it less expensive, but the notch-window body style, exclusive to the LX line, was lighter than the hatchback/convertible GT.

The Fox Mustang is a Rising Star; Here’s What to Know Before Buying – Jeff Koch @Hemmings

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Despite the critical drubbing it now receives from the collector community, Ford sold more than 1 million Mustang IIs over its five-year run during largely awful economic times. It would be easy to screw up that kind of sales record, so any new Mustang had a hard act to follow. Luckily, Ford developed a winner that lasted a decade and a half with relatively minor alterations with bones that lived under Mustangs clear into 2004.

Factory-built convertibles returned for 1983

Much as the original Mustang had Falcon underpinnings, the new-for-1979 Fox-platform Mustang used new-for-1978 Ford Fairmont chassis basics, including MacPherson strut front suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, and sections of the Fairmont’s floorpans. Fairmont was Ford’s new bread-and-butter sedan and had been met with strong positive reaction from both the press and consumers for its overall package of cost, room, efficiency, and driving pleasure; it was a no-brainer to base the redesigned 1979-’93 Ford Mustang upon it. Unusually for the era of gas-crunch-influenced downsizing, the Mustang (no Roman numeral attached) managed to be bigger than the car it replaced: Its wheelbase and overall length stood 4-plus inches larger, while overall height, plus front and rear track, all grew an inch. And yet the new Mustang, without the use of exotic materials like aluminum in the body or engine, weighed 200 pounds less than a comparable Mustang II.

A decade after they were discontinued; the ’82 GT signaled that Mustang performance returned.

One of the reasons the Mustang II caught so much flack is that, despite wild-looking stripes-and-spoilers versions like the Cobra II and King Cobra, the top engine was a 134-horsepower 5-liter V-8 —a far cry from the Mustang’s ’60s performance image. In truth, the V-8 was more or less a carryover for 1979, and the hot high-tech turbocharged 2.3-liter four made 132 horsepower. But the style and driving dynamics won customers over. Once the GT reappeared for 1982, Mustang never looked back: It renewed its cross-town rivalry with the Camaro, which was going through its own downsizing and performance renaissance, and quickly became the choice for hometown-hero hotshoes. Mustang’s second life, post-1987 as a late-model cheap-thrills machine, was furthered by its combination of robust simplicity and forward-thinking, high-tech, easily manipulated components. It’s fair to say that these cars are still affordable: Even clean examples of the hottest performance models (bar the limited Cobra R, and the best examples of the ’93 Cobra) remain at or below their original sticker price, and if you go the restoration route, there are plenty of unwanted boneyard specials to donate parts to one that will be improved and cherished. But its legacy, serving as a highlight among generations of Mustang, remains strong today. The Fox Mustang lasted for such a long time and sold so many copies over its 15-year life (2.6 million, not including the hundreds of thousands of Fox-based Mercury Capris built from 1979-’86) that breakdowns for individual model years will be impossible. It also means that there are plenty of examples out there in the wild to choose from, and doubtless plenty more that can be scored for a bargain and picked for parts.

Hemmings Find of the Day: 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra – Daniel Strohl @Hemmings

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Upgraded 1993 Ford Mustang Cobra for sale on Hemmings.com. From the seller’s description:

Black, black cloth, no sunroof

Of the 4,993 Fox Cobras produced, 448 Black/black cars were built. Since there is no breakdown of sunroof versus no sunroof, the most accurate anyone can say is this car is 1 of less than 448 cars.

When you are searching for comparable vehicles to compare price, keep in mind this is a Foxbody Cobra, not a Mustang GT or LX 5.0. Being a Cobra, there are not even 12 that are currently on the market so it should be a quick comparison.

For at least the last 12 years, since I’ve owned it and the previous owner, it has always been garaged. The strut towers and torque boxes are solid with no rust.

The hood has been replaced with an OEM take-off, I do not know why; fenders, front bumper, doors, quarters and hatch are original with VIN stickers. There are small dings and scratches that I cannot capture in pictures. There is also a chip in the leading edge of the drivers door that has been touched up.

Read on

Ford Will Reprint Original Window Sticker For Fox Body Mustang – Jacob Oliva @Motor1.com

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This might be the missing piece to your Fox-body Mustang rebuild.

In 2019, the Ford Mustang was declared as the best-selling sports coupe in the world for the fourth consecutive time, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the pony car gets the same accolade this year.

A new ‘Stang may be due in 2022 buy out of the Mustang generations, the Fox-body Mustang, which was produced from 1979 to 1993 is probably one of the most iconic versions. It was loved for what it was hated for, particularly because of its deviation from the classic look of its predecessors. It’s also substantially smaller than before.

Visit to Richard Edmonds Auctions – Chippenham UK

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Took a visit to Richard Edmonds Classic Car, Motorcycle, Automobilia and Parts Auction viewing day.

Not a great deal of American stuff, but what was there was pretty good 🙂

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Very well run viewing day with some interesting Cars, Bikes, Parts, Automobilia and Tools all ready for auction.

Richard Edmonds website is here

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