In the 1980s it wasn’t uncommon to see unrestored 1960s Mustangs still in use as transportation. It was uncommon by the 1990s. I assume collectors had bought the ones worth saving, and deferred maintenance and rust had claimed the rest. The Fox-platform Mustangs didn’t have the same level of collector interest as fast as the original Mustangs did, so they lingered on the road longer. After 30 years, it’s finally become uncommon to find one doing everyday tasks like waiting in the Kroger parking lot to carry home the week’s groceries.
It shows the effects of time and use: faded paint, a few scuffs and dings, that missing light cover, a little rust in unsurprising places. This car has daily driver written all over it. Just how we like ‘em.
Ford didn’t change the Mustang much between 1987 and 1993. This one doesn’t have an airbag, so it’s from 1987-89. Hard telling what’s under the hood here – this Mustang has been debadged. Every Mustang of this era had a Ford oval on the right end of the decklid. In these years all Mustangs were either LX or GT; based on lack of the GT’s lower bodyside cladding this has got to be an LX. An LX badge would have rested on the left end of the decklid. I think I see two tailpipes here, meaning the 5.0 lurks underhood.
There are a couple other weirdnesses here. First, there’s no CHMSL. Every other photo I find of LX convertibles of this era show a faux luggage rack on the decklid, the CHMSL tucked under the little spoiler at the back. Second, I remember those wheels as being from Mustang GTs of the next generation. But now we’re down the rabbit hole of minutia and not enjoying this car as the survivor it is.
The tell on this one is the tachometer. If memory serves, the four-cylinder Mustangs of these years had a 6,000 rpm max whereas the 5.0 had a 7,000 rpm max. I could be off, but this sticks with me.
Agreed on it being a 5.0.
I’m going to guess some sort of accident a long time ago when it was repaired and, during the respray, all the badging, along with the faux luggage rack/CHMSL, was removed. I say a long time ago since there’s some cancer growing along the door bottom and lower quarters.
The lack of any trunk adornment definitely improves the look, too. But I wonder how the driver’s side front turn signal lens was broken out.
As to the engine, that’s a puzzler. For starters, the V8’s dual tail-pipes are much more obvious. If this one has duals, they’re definitely not OEM. I’m not sure you could get a 5.0L in an LX convertible, either, at least not through all model years.
The glue Ford used on their composite lenses in this time period was crap, the original corner turn signal lens fell off of my Cougar after a wash not long after I got it.
The speedo will tell you too, 85 MPH for the 2.3 and 140 MPH for the 5.0
As an aside, I had a ’92 5.0 liter LX convertible (pretty much the same car). It is the only Ford that I have ever owned. I loved the car but it was terrible, I had so much trouble with it that I filed a Lemon Law claim against Ford and won. It was an odd experience, to say the least.
Not until 1990, coinciding with the airbag. Up to then all Mustangs had the 85mph speedometer(excluding SSP)
Yes, my 1988 Mustang GT had the 85 MPH speedo. Of all the cars I have ever owned this is the one that I regret getting rid of the most. It was my daily driver for 7+ years and in the 93k miles the only major repair needed was one of the clutch packs in the limited slip differential. The Mustang got to the point where it needed several thousand dollars in repairs to put it back to showroom condition and I didn’t have the money. Plus my job then required me to make frequent out of town trips and, in the days before cell phones, I didn’t want to take the chance of being stranded. If I had it to do over I would park the Mustang and acquire something else to drive while I saved the money to get everything taken care of. I traded it away on a base model Mustang and was sorry I did it within two weeks. Oh well, life marches on.
Immediately I picture “Fergie” Ferguson’s droptop. Can’t help sharing this, since I’ve been finding 80’s mashups and remixes of newer stuff as of late. 1:45 for the shot out:
I should clarify here it’s also a lot of the styling going on that links it up for me. Mustard high waist paints and beachwave curl was exactly the girl you’d see behind the wheel of this in ‘91. And now I feel old, lol…
The body-colored side moldings that were introduced for ’92 for a monochromatic look improved their looks. I’m guessing that this feature / repaint on this car + the wheels was intended to evoke one of the last two years of production. Great find.
The pony wheels were of this generation, both LX 5.0 and GT used them, replacing the phone dial and turbine wheels in 1991. Next generation had a similar wheel, but it was 5 lug and a bit more three dimensional in he spokes
I think that it was conscious decision to delete all the filigree. The Pony wheels are much cleaner than the multi-vaned and telephone styles. I remember seeing the four cylinder models sporting wire spoke hubcaps. There were a lot of four cylinder cars on the streets that have mostly faded away. I actually considered a four and spent a lot of time on the forums researching minor engine mods. Short of turbocharging there isn’t much that helps. There’s a guy in my area that has a real nice restored 5.0 LX coupe, I remember how many raggedy Fox Mustangs there used to be.Now there’s a lot of run down SN95s.
The rust resistance seems to be a lot better on the SN95s at least, I too see a lot of run down examples now, but it’s mostly faded paint/peeling clearcoat and yellowed hazy headlights, but I almost never see any showing rust like Foxbodies do in this area
For its purpose seeing its obviously spent many different years as someone’s daily get-arounder the condition is not awful. Far ahead of many of its own peers. It even has the center caps on all four wheels which came as surprise to me! I believe I do agree with the author that the wheels more than likely came off of a later Mustang. In that case taking away a little of my previously bespoke surprise of it having all four centers. From looking at the appearance of the car, then comparing it to the appearance of those wheels speaks loudly to me that those wheels had to come off another Mustang. They simply look to be in much better condition than what I would expect this Mustangs factory set of wheels to look like. Look how clean they are… From the pictures they literally appear to show no wear or tear. No fading or any damage from the sun or various other weather ailments appear to be on the wheels. Just could be an indicator that the car could have recently received a new owner who is in the process of getting ready to restore this old gem. Wheels are in great shape & the tires if you look closely or zoom in look like they are brand new probably having been recently mounted…
A nice find – it’s as if I just now noticed that the Fox Mustangs have gone into collectors’ garages or junkyards.
This one is nearing that great tipping point for any convertible – the need for a top replacement. Hopefully this car is nice enough that the owner will pony up (sorry) when the time comes and it starts to leak.
They may have just not put the emblems back on after a (cheap) respray. It used to be gray or silver based on the paint chips. Usually paint scrapes on original paint show the trademark yellow Ford plastic beneath. Guessing the engine from the pics is tougher because while it has duals, they don’t stand straight out like the OEMs. It has good level spring height, so no common front sag old V8 cars.
(May have new springs or struts) The tires look new so no evidence of rear wheel burnouts. That would be nearly impossible in the 2.3L cars with such thick rubber. Usually people with the 5.0L want to have the emblems on the sides to show it. My gut tells me its a four cylinder because the V8 cars have been so beaten to death they are rare. I have seen ones with fake dual exhaust pipes, one not even connected, to fake the look.
Nice daily driver Mustang in any case.
Carfax identifies this car a 1988 Ford Mustang LX. Thanks for the photos and information. It is interesting the missing badging and lack of third brake light.
I like the blue ford mustang 1989 do you still have it and how much?????