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36k Original Miles: 1985 Ford Mustang GT

Clapped-out foxbody Mustangs are a dime a dozen, but when was the last time you saw a clean low-mileage one? The seller bought this car to perform a Coyote swap, but just can’t bring themselves to do it. That’s probably a wise choice since this car appears to be 100% original with only 36,000 miles on the clock. Bidding is starting to heat up here on eBay where the action ends soon.

Most V8 Mustangs built in 1985 would be carburated, but this one’s air cleaner has the letters E.F.I. on it and they stand for Central Fuel-Injection. So, this must have been an early fuel-injected car. As you can see, this one has air conditioning and a new battery. The seller also mentions new tires, but not what kind. If you wanted to be a real stickler, you could get a set of the re-released Goodyear Gatorbacks just like the ones this car would have worn when new!

Typically, foxbody interiors do not age very well. The plastics become brittle and the cloth surfaces fad. From what we can in the photos though, this car has done very well. The seats and hard surfaces look clean. A thorough vacuuming may have added a few bucks to the final bid, but I don’t think the next owner will be disappointed. Well, as long as the mileage is accurate.

As with any low-mileage claim like this you should always do your homework. An inspection of wear and tear can provide some confidence. Maintenance records and oil change stickers can also help verify mileage. Luckily this car is new enough to run a VIN check on a site like CarFax. We will leave that up to potential buyers though while we look for a Coyote swap candidate…

Comments

  1. Avatar John M.

    A good call on the part of the seller not to swap out the Mustang’s original 5.0 engine for the Coyote engine. Many Fox bodied Mustangs have been hot rodded or turn into drag strip terrors over the years but it’s refreshing to see ones like this pony that are still factory original.

    Like 1
    • Avatar SSPBill

      Agreed. I have a more than a few friends with highly modified fox bodies. Most of them say soon or later they wished they left it closer to stock.
      My ‘89 LX has just a few mod’s to get the balance a little more neutral and I bet it has no more than 300 hp. It’s a blast to drive any place, any time. I have learned over years of open track events I like a balanced car that slides and I can drive with my hips. May not be the fastest but sure is fun.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Tiberius1701

    This is a Throttle Body Injected car, Multi-port did not show up until 1986.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jesse Mortensen Staff

      You’re right, that was a typo on my part. All fixed. Thanks!

      Like 0
      • Avatar grant

        “EFI” Stands for Central Fuel Injection? Since when?

        Like 0
  3. Avatar tigerll

    in 1985, the manual cars had a carburetor. but the automatics came with fuel injection, as a prelude to the 1986’s that would all have fuel injection. in 1989 ford went to a mass air system. these earlier ones used a map in the computer. there is after market updates to turn a map into a mass air.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Jesse Mortensen Staff

      Thanks for clearing that up tigerll!

      Like 0
    • Avatar rjonec

      Note CA cars were the Mass air equipped in 1988. The the 49 state cars went Mass air in 1989 model year. All 85’s with automatics were EFI equipped. These were throttle body systems and were only rated at 180 Hp down 30 Hp to the manual 5 spd. 4 barrel Holley equipped models. Hence the manual trans 5.0’s garner a premium over the automatics.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar Hugh Stauffer

    Not Multiport F.I. Was a single unit injection replacing the carb Common early years

    Like 0
  5. Avatar m vickery

    The fuel injection is not multiport fuel injection, it’s what Ford called C.F.I It was an earlier form of fuel injection which used a central throttle body with a couple of injectors where the carb would go. Probably hard to find parts for it now, since they only used it a couple of years.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Fred w.

      So are these “fuel injection systems” like the Holley Sniper that bolts in place of a carb similar to this outdated system, or more sophisticated?

      Like 0
      • Avatar Mina

        Sniper is more sophisticated, as it should be with the benefit of 30 years. I had an 85 gt 5 speed (4 barrel carb) back in the day….and am just in the process of doing a sniper injected 306 in my BMW e30 Hillclimb car now. Sniper can control timing, do a two step launch control, and has a hand held tuner and a lot of other cool stuff not possible with 30 year old tech

        Like 0
  6. Avatar 86 Vette Convertible

    Not a big foxbody fan, but that one looks pretty good from what I can see.

    Like 0
  7. Avatar William Robinson

    Haven’t posted on here in a few years but just got a notification on a 2013 post so decided to come for a look.
    Wasn’t disappointed this mustang is clean as they can get love a four eye but unlike most I would swap this but with a flat plain crank coyote (what did they call it?) And a six speed. I’d leave the top side stock but make the thing peel your face in a corner.. Love it.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Paul Boggs

      The flat plane crank Shelby engine is called the “Voodoo” engine. This engine is a true engineering marvel for a mass production application.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Tony

        I know, I have one. :P

        Like 0
  8. Avatar Tom Member

    Not many original ones left with low miles and unmolested = leave it alone. REALLLLLY too bad it is an automatic. UGH! 5.0 Fox body without a manual trans…….why ??!!!!

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Tom P

    The T-Birds of the same years used the same CFI setup on the 5.0 as well.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar RH FACTOR

    Ford used the CFI setup in lots of years and vehicles. Was never a fan of them. After 30K or more, the systems seemed to lean out and combined with the
    early lock-up torque converters, became what we in the business called”BUCK AND SURGE BROUGHAMS.”

    Like 0
  11. Avatar JamestownMike

    WOW! What a find! An absolute time capsule! This one is SUPER MINTY! I had a black 85/86? Mustang GT with T-tops and a 5 speed manual transmission. I loaned it to a buddy one day and he wrapped it around a telephone pole!

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Frank

    It’s in good shape because the owner never took this Mustang to Cars and Coffee.

    Like 0
  13. Avatar Steve

    Beautiful car. The car would benefit from a coyote swap. The 85 auto, efi cars are terrible. Weak efi motor (non-roller), aod, and small 7.5 axle. All scrap yard fodder.

    Like 0
  14. Avatar Vincent

    Things for which to watch: Droopy horizontal plastic.

    The bumper and headlights had insufficient support under the plastic, and over time you see the results.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Will Owen

    Okay, I am truly confused now. What’s printed on the air-cleaner cover is E.F.I., which might stand for Electronic Fuel Injection or some other adjective beginning with E, but certainly not Central!

    I do like this car, though. I come late to the ranks of Fox-body lovers, but I always did like that platform, even if some of the cars using it did not handle really well at all. I assume these do, because the track program our Alfa Romeo club runs, mostly at Willow Springs, had its racing and TT events pretty well dominated by these for several years.

    Like 0
    • Avatar SSPBill

      Despite the four injector throttle bodies being ceterally located and the air/fuel mix traveling together through a carb style manifold, the injector mapping is still electronics controlled.

      Like 0
  16. Avatar JW

    I don’t care for white cars but this one is fantastic looking. I would make it a daily driver for the wife since she hates manual trans.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Troy s

    My ’86 was the last year of this styling, but it had the hot injected motor and T-5 stick, yet the horsepower ratings on my ’86 was 200, five less than ’85 four barrel I believe.’87 was when the 225 horse version came out, using “truck” heads and a larger throttle body, mass air meter for California in ’88 which replaced the “speed density” system.
    This one here is just too nice to mess with, so many have been run hard into the ground or heavily modified that it is actually nice to see one in such clean shape. People got their money’s worth outta them 5.0’s, fun car to drive.

    Like 0
    • Avatar rjonec

      1985 4 barrel Holley equipped cars were rated at 210 hp. The 86 was rated at 200 Hp partly because the SVO was rated at 200 Hp as well. The SVO was the premium Mustang so Ford was doing a marketing ploy with HP numbers. The 86 had slightly higher compression than the 87 and the throttle body was 5 mm smaller than the 87. We did several back to back dyno pulls between 86 and 87’s when I worked for Kaufmann Products. There was almost no difference in rear wheel Hp between a 86 and 87. Both engines pretty much would fall off at 4400 – 4500 rpm. Drop a 87 intake and throttle body on a 86 and bump the timing to 13 TDC and use min 91 octane and you would find 10-15 Hp at the wheel. A set of pulleys was another 5-8 Hp. A few simple bolt-on’s and a 18-22 Hp gain at the wheel could be achieved all day long. If you installed an off road pipe which eliminated the cats there was another few Hp. A 3,08 gear car with stock tires and this setup would run 13.8-13.9 all day long. This gave stock GN’s are run for their money especially in hot weather. These were great little cars. It was no wonder they created such a huge after market.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Troy s

        Good to hear from someone with a strong background with these 5.0’s! Mine had a few of the “free horsepower”tricks that we did early on when these became popular: removed the remote silencer in the fender well, bumped the timing, I also used a KnN filter and had flowmaster two chamber mufflers installed at JBA which was ten miles from my apartment. Had tried both the short throw and regular cool looking completion plus Hurst shifter at different times, I also completely removed the AC for weight and installed a shorter belt, also used a heavy duty Motorsports clutch. The heads on this year were considered junk by most and despite a very strong pull in 1st and 2nd gear it just seemed to run out of steam once in third, plus the fact mine had high miles on it when I started messing with it. As I was considering many modifications the car was in a minor wreck and was totalled by my insurance, with about 235 thousand miles on it. Great car.

        Like 0

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