When Ford released the more rounded ’87 Mustang, it may have had the largest power gap between its base and optional engines of any car ever made: the 2300 made a paltry 90 horsepower while the 5.0 famously had 225. That was probably a head scratcher back then, but now, 38 years later, it’s easy to forget that the ’87 model’s immediate predecessor had a mid-range V6, Ford’s Essex 3.8. With 120 horsepower, it was a far cry from the torquey small-block, but not as turgid as the 2.3. (Before you get too upset, my friend had an ’88 Mustang with the 2.3 automatic, and there’s no defending it.) I don’t know why Ford canceled the V6 for ’87, but you can buy an ’86 today with a seller-claimed 29,000 miles and “zero rust top to bottom”; it’s on eBay in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, and the seller is asking $10,500 or best offer.

The 29,000-mile claim is almost certainly correct if the engine compartment is any indication; many new cars don’t look this new. The 3.8 Ford has never had a very good reputation, with stories of blown head gaskets being the order of the day, but some people drove them hundreds of thousands of miles with no problems. My dad’s ’94 T-Bird, on the other hand, blew a head gasket at 50,000 miles, and it was a common enough occurrence that Ford paid for the repairs even though the work was done at an independent shop (I believe it was even out of warranty). From what I have read, the rear coolant passages were too close to the head gasket’s firing ring on the back cylinders.

That was probably the last thing on the buyer’s mind back in 1986; the V6 was simply 30 horsepower better than the four cylinder. It used throttle-body fuel injection and had a three-speed automatic (with a 2.73:1 rear axle ratio). Even so, the 3.8’s 23 miles per gallon highway rating was eclipsed by the GT (which was rated at 25 miles per gallon with the five-speed). Maybe it was the lack of overdrive, but that might have been one reason why the 3.8 wasn’t offered for 1987.

The final assembly of convertibles was handled by Cars and Concepts in Brighton, Michigan. Mustangs were sent with their roofs chopped to get their new soft tops and final interior work. Convertibles also got some extra rocker panel reinforcements above and beyond their fixed-roofed counterparts. The interior of this convertible is in excellent condition, although the rear windows need some assistance in going up and down. I recently rebuilt the rear quarter windows in my dad’s ’88 GT convertible; it was an all-day and then some job, and I can only say that you’ll want to bring your swear jar along when it comes time to make the adjustments. If you want to leave the windows up, the air conditioning has been converted to r134a and works perfectly.

The undercarriage is like new. The pictures speak for themselves.

Mustang convertibles with the V6 were a nice compromise for people who just wanted to enjoy some top-down cruising and didn’t need every hooligan in town trying to instigate a street race at every stop light. Insurance rates were certainly lower than they were for the V8 cars, too. Aside from a slightly dingy white top (which is impossible to avoid), this car looks like new; it even has period mudflaps to protect the lower body, for crying out loud. If you don’t need to hear that V8 rumble when you hit the loud pedal, I’d say this is a great way to get into a fashionable ’80s Mustang.