Fox Body Mustang

1979 Ford Mustang 1979 Ford Mustang The new Fox Body Mustang was offered in both a coupe and hatchback, with a variety of engines offered in the base model, Ghia, or Cobra. The angled front end with the familiar egg-crate grille and four chrome wrapped headlights gave the car a sporty, aerodynamic look, and the flared fenders gave it a nice wide looking stance. Along the back of the car were a pair of thick slotted taillights which wrapped around to the quarter panels. The base model engine was a 2.3L 4 cylinder boasting 88 horsepower, but there was also a turbocharged variant of the 2.3L offered, and that motor made an impressive 132 horsepower, making it the second most powerful engine in the lineup. The next two engines were a paid of V6 engines; a 2.8L making 109 horsepower, and a 3.3L making 85 horsepower. The "premium engine" was once again the 5.0L V8, making 140 horsepower. The Ghia was still a sort of luxury trim line and was available as either a coupe or hatchback, and the "performance model" Cobra was offered only as a hatchback. The Cobra had a non-functional hood scoop and a set of bright polished aluminum wheels, as well as a decal set to announce that it was the Cobra. Much like the original Mustang, Ford arranged to have the new 1979 Mustang lead the field at the Indy 500, and to commemorate that event, Ford Motor Company produced 10,478 Indy 500 Pace Car Replicas. They were all hatchbacks and were all pewter and black, with red and orange lettering. The Pace Car replicas were different from the standard hatchbacks with the addition of a three bar horizontal grille, square fog lights, a rear spoiler, a handling package, and Recaro race-styled seats with checked flag inserts. There were two engine options, either the 2.3L turbocharged 4 cylinder rated at140 horsepower or the 139 horsepower 5.0L V8, both offered with either a manual or automatic transmission. The replicas were very popular, so many of the features would be offered on the Mustang in the following years. Sales were fantastic in this first year of the new chassis, with 369,936 units sold!

1980 Ford Mustang 1980 Ford Mustang The 1979 Mustang was so popular that for 1980, Ford decided not to change much. The only big change was the addition of a new 4.2L V8 which made 119 horsepower, but to make room for this new V8, the 5.0L V8 and 2.8L V6 were no longer offered. This decline in horsepower ay have hurt the sales of the V8 models, with the 132 horsepower turbocharged 2.3L being the better choice for performance minded enthusiasts. The turbocharged model was even marketed as the performance model, being compared to a Porsche 924 in the advertisements. The only other big news for 1980 was the addition of the "carriage top", which was a vinyl roof attached over the stock coupe roof, giving it the look of a convertible with the top up, but there was no actual convertible offered. Overall, 1980 was still a good year for the Mustang although sales dipped to just over 271,000 units.

1981 Ford Mustang 1981 Ford Mustang This was not a great year for the Mustang, as it saw several more deletions from the engine lineup. The turbocharged engine was gone, and that made the 4.2L V8 the highest performance engine in the Mustang, with only 120 horsepower. The base model engine was still the 2.3L, 88 horsepower 4 cylinder, and the next step up was a mild 94 horsepower 3.3L V6. The t-tops shown on the actual Indy Pace Cars found their way into the lineup, and were a popular option on the hatchback, helping the hatchback to outsell the coupe for the first time. The hatchback would continue to outsell the coupe for the next 12 years. The Cobra received all of the appearance options of the Indy Pace Cars such as the grille and fascia, as well as the interior upgrades. Even with the T-tops, sales slumped again, this time to around 182,000 units.

1982 Ford Mustang 1982 Ford Mustang 1981 brought about the return of the 5.0L V8, this time with 157 horsepower, but this year also saw the absence of the Cobra. The "performance model" was the Mustang GLX, which was basically a Mustang GT with a few added options. The 2.3L, 3.3L, and 4.2L engines were still offered with no change in power. The GT had the appearance package from the Indy Pace Cars, with bold, chromed "5.0" logos on the front fenders. 1982 marked the beginning of the Special Service Mustangs (SSM), which were produced for law enforcement agencies, predominantly as pursuit vehicles. They were all basically stripped out GTs, with the 5.0L engine and a 4-speed manual transmission, but there were no power options, no radio, and no cruise control. This SSM program would continue throughout the existence of the Fox Body Mustangs. Even with the return of the 5.0, there was another drop in sales, this time to just over 130,000 units.

1983 Ford Mustang 1983 Ford Mustang While there was no redesign for 1983, it was still a big year for the Mustang, as 1983 marked the triumphant return of the Mustang convertible. Ford Motor Company didn't actually produce the drop top 83s, but instead they would ship coupes to a third party company (Car & Concepts) and the company would ship them back to Ford as convertibles. While the convertibles were an exciting option, the price which was nearly double that of the coupe may have driven away possible buyers. The Mustang got a few cosmetic changes for 1983 as well, with a new horizontal style tail light design, as well as a newly designed, narrow grille with the Ford Blue Oval mounted in the center. The GT models all got a thick black stripe which went from the windshield to the grille, blending the black grille in with the hood. Also present was the non-functional hood scoop, which when combined with the black hood stripe, bore some resemblance to the classic Mach1. The bigger news for the GT was the jump in power of the optional 5.0, to 175 horsepower, which made it the most powerful Mustang built since the 1973 model year. The other engine offered in the GT models was the familiar 2.3L Turbocharged 4 cylinder, which was now fuel injected, and made 145 horsepower. A few other performance options for the 1983 model year were the addition of a T-5 5-speed manual transmission, a four-barrel Holley carb, and 3.27:1 gears. However, even with the return of the convertible and a big jump in power, sales dropped once again, to around 120,000 units.

1984 Ford Mustang 1984 Ford Mustang 1984 was an anniversary year, and to commemorate this occasion, Ford offered the 20th anniversary 1984.5 GT350. Offered as either a hatchback or convertible, it came in Oxford White with a Canyon Red interior and stripe package with the vintage G.T.350 logo in the stripe. The engine options were either the turbocharged 2.3L engine, or the high output 5.0. However, there was some controversy over this new GT350, as Carroll Shelby (who originated the GT350 and GT500 names) did not approve of the new GT350, and Ford agreed to cease production of the trim line but only after 5,260+ cars had been sold. Another new trim line to the 1984 Mustang was the SVO. This SVO was intended to rival the small engine, yet great-handling European cars, and with its tuned suspension and powerful 175 horsepower turbocharged, fuel injected 2.3L engine, it did just that. Along with the performance upgrades, the SVO models received an aesthetic upgrade with a functional hood scoop, single headlights, and a more aerodynamic front fascia. This year also marked the introduction of a new "aftermarket tuner" to the Mustang community, by the name of Steve Saleen. His new Saleen Mustang was only an appearance and suspension package for 1984, but that would change in years to come. Thanks in part to the reduction of the price for the drop tops, and the introduction of more power, the sales increased to over 145,000 units in 1984.

1985 Ford Mustang 1985 Ford Mustang While there were no big changes for 1985, there were some subtle differences that would prove to be very popular, and become the norm for future years. The first was the change of the front fascia for all models, as they all had a smoothed grille as was found on the 1984 SVO, although the non-SVO models still had the 4 separate headlights. The SVO kept the 2-light design, but as of mid-year, the SVO single headlights were redesigned to be flush with the rest of the front fascia. That flush headlight look would become the standard look for the fox body in coming years. The 5.0L 4V high output engine offered 210 horsepower, while the standard 5.0 had 165. The SVO also got a kick in the pants, with the performance jumping from 175 to 205 horsepower with the midyear change to the headlights. The Saleen Mustang was still available, and there were also 90 "Twister II Mustangs" produced to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the original Twister Mustang. Sales were back on the rise, this time to about 156,000.

1986 Ford Mustang 1986 Ford Mustang 1986 would mark the end of the production for the SVO, and there were no major changes to it in its final year. The rest of the Mustang lineup also saw no cosmetic changes, however, the 4V high output 5.0 was dropped, and the fuel injected 5.0 was improved to make 200 horsepower. The Saleen was once again offered as an appearance and handling package, and even in light of the drop in horsepower, sales of the Mustang went way up, to shy of 225,000 units.

1987 Ford Mustang 1987 Ford Mustang The 1987 model year was almost a redesign, although it was essentially the same Mustang, on the same chassis. The most obvious change was the addition of the SVO-like flush single headlights, and the redesigned fascia on both the base model and the GT. This year also marked the first real separation between the base and GT model, both on the outside, and under the hood. While the base model had a front fascia similar to that of the SVO with a small opening between the headlights, the GT had no opening above the bumper, but instead had an aero package which included a lower fascia with a large cooling opening and a set of huge round fog lights. The GT also had a unique back end, with a set of tail light covers, affectionately referred to as "cheese graters". Aside from the obvious differences to the exterior, the engine also held the base model and GTs apart as the base model was equipped with the 88 horsepower 2.3L cylinder, the GT came with the 225 horsepower 5.0. The Saleen Mustang saw the same changes as the Ford Mustangs, and was still only appearance and handling packages. Sales were good, but dropped to around 170,000 units.

1988 Ford Mustang 1988 Ford Mustang Although there were literally no changes to the 1988 Mustang lineup, the sales improved greatly, to over 211,000 units.

1989 Ford Mustang 1989 Ford Mustang Once again, very little was changed from 1988 to1989. One change to the Mustang was made by Saleen, as they introduced the first of their modified engine Mustangs, as all of the rest had used the stock drivetrain. The Saleen SSC Competition Mustangs were intended to be race cars, and of the 160 made, only one had a back seat. The SSC boasted an impressive 292 horsepower. Saleen still produced their appearance and handling upgrade-only models, and the SSCs had all of the items as the non-SSCs in 1989. Sales dropped a bit for the Mustang to around 209,000 units.

1990 Ford Mustang 1990 Ford Mustang There was no change to the Mustang lineup, and the Saleen lineup remained basically the same for 1990. 1990 was the year that Ford Motor Company chose to release their 25th anniversary edition Mustangs. Every one of the 2000 special edition anniversary models were Emerald Green with a white top, and were referred to as "7-up cars", and there had been the intention to use one of the special edition Mustangs in a commercial for the soft drink, but the contract fell through. Sales dropped a great deal, to only around 128,000 units.

1991 Ford Mustang 1991 Ford Mustang While there were no changes to the Mustang lineup, as well as no special edition models (other than the Saleen lineup, which remained the same as the prior year once again), the price of the Mustang went up as was the trend, and for the first time in the history of the Mustang, no new Mustang could be purchased for under 10,000 US dollars. Perhaps due to this price hike, the production continued to drop, this time to around 99,000; making 1991 the worst sales year for the Mustang, ever.

1992 Ford Mustang 1992 Ford Mustang Again, there was very little change for the Mustang. In a desperate effort to boost sales, Ford offered a 1992.5 Mustang which came only as a Vibrant Red convertible with a white top and white wheels, as well as a special rear spoiler. 3,333 of these were produced, but that was not enough to help sales, as they hit another all-time-low, of just over 79,000 units in 1992.

1993 Ford Mustang 1993 Ford Mustang Ford recognized the steady decline in sales, and in an effort to boost sales in 1993 they released the first vehicle from their performance division, named the Special Vehicle Team (SVT). This first vehicle was the 1993 SVT Cobra, and later in the year, the 1993 SVT Cobra R. They were essentially the same car, but the "R" was intended to be used for race use, with no rear seat, no air condition, and no sound deadening material. While the efforts of SVT upped the horsepower of the Cobra and Cobra R to 235 horsepower, the Mustang GT saw a decline in horsepower to 205. Ford also offered another special edition convertible, offered in either yellow with a black top and interior or a white top and interior, or in white, with a white top and interior. Saleen released another special edition model to mark the 10th anniversary of their partnership with Ford Motor Company. The SA-10 was a high performance GT, with a Saleen supercharger, as well as a heavily upgraded suspension setup and luxury interior items such as a standard compact disc player, special seats, and special gauge cluster. These additions to the lineup and perhaps news that the fox body would not be back for 1994, improved sales to 114,335 in the final year of the fox body chassis.

While the Mustang saw some all-time lows in sales during the run of this Fox Body chassis, it also showed some incredible highs in sales. Also, it has proven to be one of the most popular body style with Mustang enthusiasts as time has gone on, and thanks to the low weight of the platform, they are also very popular with those looking to make a race car and because of that, they are still heavily sought after. The following year would hold the introduction of another huge change to the Mustang, although a similar chassis was used, more weight and no real gains in power made it no better than the Fox Body era in the opinion of many.