As you were growing up, you likely heard the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” to the point of tedium.
It’s sound advice that’s applicable to so many things in life. Cars that have had some life experience are certainly items that should never be judged by the superficiality of their exterior appearance.
Recently, JPCavanaugh ran a terrific piece covering model year 1979 (here) as part of his series on Indianapolis 500 pace cars. The Mustang you see above is one of roughly 10,000 examples that were made that year.
Oh, how the shrieks of disbelief can be heard all over cyberspace: “Somebody is just making that claim, Jason. Surely you aren’t falling for it!” In this case it’s not merely a claim, so let’s jump into what makes a ’79 Mustang a pace car instead of just another run-of-the-mill Mustang.
Let’s start with the outside.
All pace cars were painted in this color combination, which is certainly more tasteful than those of some of its predecessors. And yes, now you skeptics are saying, “Dude, the car you are showing us is red–can’t you tell the difference?”
Well, Earl Schieb paints cars everyday, so getting hung up on paint color is pointless. Let’s look at a few elements that are more difficult to change, including the door jamb.
See? The right colors! If you haven’t already guessed, this particular Mustang, which is owned by CC reader Jake, has been repainted. Although you can’t tell by these pictures, the paint was applied over the decals in some spots along the car. (Please note: This was done prior to Jake’s purchasing the car; he is much too smart to do something so silly.) Now let’s continue our exploration.
This particular pace-car replica is powered by a 302 cubic inch, 140-hp V8, one of 23,675,984,248 that Ford would ultimately build. Buyers of a 1979 pace-car replica could also opt for a 131-horsepower, 2.3-liter turbocharged four-banger. Of course, neither engine generated enough power to make an overzealous driver’s eyeballs sink into their head; it was 1979, after all.
Buyers of the 302 version could choose either a four-speed manual or a three speed automatic, but the 2.3 turbo was restricted to shifty people due to its unavailability with an automatic.
This particular example has had a wheel change. Like all pace-car replicas, it originally came equipped with TRX wheels and tires, making such a swap quite wise. The story of Michelin’s TRX tires can be found here.
Let’s look inside:
All the pace car replicas received Recaro seats up front…
and this pattern on both the front and rear seats (just don’t stare at it too long)…
and this nifty logo on the passenger side of the dashboard.
No one here at Curbside Classic is very geeky about cars being numbers-matching, decoding VIN tags or documenting whether a car optioned a certain way is one of however-many. That just ain’t our thing. However, this one’s an exception to the rule, so beware: This part of the essay is where numbers geeks will have very positive physiological reactions; for the rest of us, here’s something to elicit a different positive reaction.
Yes, that is an ID tag, also known as a “data plate” or “VIN tag” (please, don’t say “VIN number”–it’s redundant), might well be the first one ever pictured on Curbside Classic. Treasure it, as you won’t see them on here with any frequency!
So, what does this tag tell us? Let’s start at the top. It says “MUSTANG”, so we are good. Now, go down a line, to the number starting with “48”. The “48” indicates this is a pace car replica, and the last four numbers in the series indicate its birth order.
These cars were built in both Dearborn, Michigan and in San Jose, California. Interestingly, one source claims that due to the way the cars were denoted, it’s theoretically possible for two pace-car replicas that were built at different plants to have the same VIN. That could certainly make for a lively title-history search.
The Mustang was new-for-’79, and serving as the Indy 500 Pace Car was a terrific way for Ford to showcase it. Offering more interior space than the outgoing Mustang II (so couldn’t this be called a Mustang III?), the new ’79 Mustang had been designed by a Jack Telnack-led team. Built on the Fox platform that also underpinned the Ford Fairmont / Mercury Zephyr (as well as a host of other early-’80s models), the new Mustang was on average 200 pounds lighter than the previous Mustang.
Eventually selling over 330,000 units in its first year, the Fox-bodied Mustang was a car that seemed to get better as the 1980s progressed, as GT, SVO, LX 5.0 and Saleen versions were unveiled. Quite the versatile chassis, indeed.
So there you have it, folks, a genuine 1979 Ford Mustang Pace Car. As so many of these pace-car replicas are pampered, many kudos to Jake for driving his Mustang around the hills and curves of the Ozark Mountain foothills.
Note: a rerun of an older post.
Right. It’s enjoyed, not enshined. Love old cars, but if you aren’t driving them and enjoying them, you’re just a museum curator, using it as some kind of investment.
Good that it got repainted. Because it was, it has had a great life.
Sadly, I was also an owner of a painted over 79 Pace Car. The year was 1988 (a scant 9 years since its birth) and I wanted a fox mustang so bad I could taste it. My all black 79 beauty (a few minor dings and dents aside) popped up in a fresh edition of Autotrader for a mere $1200, and I couldn’t resist a look.
As I was unaware of its origin at the time, in all black with the TRX rims, Marchal fogs and Recaro seats, it looked like an 82 GT with a weird hood scoop. Once I noted the “turbo” badge on said scoop and saw the Indy 500 insignia on the dash, I started to put two and two together. The VIN clinched it.
Being 18 at the time with little cash, I decided to embrace the GT theme. I ended up buying some 83-84 GT Turbo decals for the fenders and trunk (you could still get them at your Ford dealer at that time) and treated it like a 79 GT Turbo. Sadly there wasn’t much GT in that turbo motor. I mean, the little turbo whistle and green TURBO light on the dash was kinda cool, but I was regularly pounced on by V8 Pony cars of the day. Not to mention, it didn’t always run the greatest. I seem to remember a lot of oil burning and spaghetti vacuum line failures. It did have a cool little Sunpro turbo gauge strapped to the steering column and some period correct louvers! Whatever the case, it was my first car and I loved it.
I sold a year or so later as I need something more reliable to commute to college, but that car started my love affair with four-eyed foxes. I’ve owned 3 more since then. All V8’s…I learned my lesson. My favorite was my 84.5 GT. To this day though, I’m still on the lookout for a clean Pace car. You never forget your first love.
The body data tag isn’t a “VIN tag” and two identical cars built at different plants with the same sequence number won’t have the same VIN because the plant code is part of the VIN.
This article was written 12 years ago, so my sources aren’t exactly at hand’s reach. However, I encountered that assertion about duplicate numbers or I would not have written it. Please also note I said “one source” so this assertion was not presented as being an absolute.
Body plate tag, VIN tag, whatever it is you knew what I was talking about. Lots of people also refer to engines as motors, and people still know what is being discussed.
Thanks.
I stumbled across a “7-up” edition Mustang convertible in the junkyard but it certainly didn’t look it at first glance with its chalky yellow paintjob, but the white interior caught my attention, and then the original green paint under the paint chips. I never quite got the appeal of full color changes without matching the door jams or anything, that would absolutely drive me insane!
As a Mustang fan and one who bought a 79 Cobra fastback in July of 1979, it pains me to see one of these in such condition.
My career was going well and I had the ability to buy a TRX equipped, turbo powered car with leather seats and AM/FM stereo with cassette. No A/C of course, hey I’m in Canada. The Pace Car was on my radar but a little pricey. I ended up paying $7,400 for my hatchback which was pushing it on my salary. But what a wonderful car for road trips (Even with crappy fuel consumption, 20 mpg Imperial gallon). It was traded three years later when baby came along but other used Fox Mustangs would follow many years later when baby and her brother got driver licenses.
I’d like to have another 79-93 Fox Mustang, but they are hard to come by now in good condition.
I thought these pace cars were a demand item, why hide one with a cheap scratch and shoot closed door respray, door jambs arent hard to paint a bitch to mask sure but the paint part is easy
I don’t know if I’d call them a demand item, in perfect super low mile condition perhaps, but in general in the foxbody Mustang collector world the 87-93 5.0 LXs followed by GTs are where the demand is. That’s then followed by the Turbo SVOs, then the 85 manual transmission 1985s(last of the carbureted ones) and pretty much all the other V8s fall into around the same value, Pace cars included
“Four eye” Mustangs have always been more niche, the early ones especially weren’t much better than Mustang II performance and though the pace car had some unique body and interior traits, Ford literally recycled all of them in the 80-81 Cobra and most of them(scooped hood rather than cowl) in the 82 GT.
We raced a V8 79 Mustang back in 1981 and 1982. Sports Car Club of America had a Showroom Stock Class for it but it wasn’t very competitive. However at the year end championship race at Road Atlanta in 1981 we got a pretty good finish racing in the rain. Qualified 15th and finished 5th. Road Hugging weight maybe?
When it comes to data plates I know the fellows in my Mopar C Body forum are very much into them and have many of the codes memorized. One guy even keeps track of every single one posted, or found, in a big file for reference.
We also all like to find our broadcast sheets under the seats.
Gotta give credit. This was the first fresh Mustang in 15 years. It looked good. Performance was on par with everything else. The hatch was the only Mustang that could ever carry a cooler and two folding chairs. That may seem trivial but it was important in real life.