If not for its Harwood hood, it would be easy to classify this 1995 Ford Mustang GT as a sleeper. It is the only visible clue that there might be more to it than meets the eye. Lifting that hood will reveal a 408ci Stroker V8 jammed full of desirable components that will deliver stunning performance. However, with the bidding action relatively subdued, somebody could score this classic at a modest price. The seller has listed the GT here on eBay in Tehachapi, California. It sits above the reserve at $3,150, meaning that this GT is days away from finding a new home.
This ’95 Mustang GT is a relatively mild-mannered vehicle that presents well in Vibrant Red. The seller spent $3,000 on a repaint a few years ago, and the overall presentation suggests it has been treated respectfully since. The paint holds an excellent shine, and if there are defects, they are too insignificant to show in the supplied photos. The panels are as straight as an arrow, and the seller doesn’t mention existing or previous rust issues with this dry-climate classic. The trim and plastic are in good order, as are the 17″ Cobra R alloy wheels. The initial impression is that this is a tidy and clean Mustang GT, but it is time to lift the lid on what makes this car a cut above the ordinary.
This Mustang would have rolled off the line powered by a fuel-injected 5.0-liter V8 that sent 215hp and 285 ft/lbs of torque to the road via a five-speed manual transmission. The ¼-mile journey would have taken around 15.4 seconds, which was considered fairly respectable for the period. However, that is now academic, because the original V8 is nothing but a distant memory. Occupying the engine bay is a 1996 block, equipped with a Scat steel crank. Combined with a 0.030″ overbore, the V8 displaces 408ci. The list of components is extensive, including a Ford Motorsport custom ground roller camshaft, forged 10:1 pistons, Edelbrock Performer cylinder heads, roller rockers, and a host of other desirable parts. The power output? Somewhere in the vicinity of a lot! The original transmission remains in place, but the seller added subframe connectors, Tokico shocks, springs from Eibach and Ford Motorsport, and an Auburn Posi rear end. This GT should be genuinely fast, and the only mechanical gremlin the seller identifies is the alternator, which doesn’t push out charge as fast as they expected. Otherwise, it appears that the Mustang is a turnkey proposition. The seller includes an embedded video in their listing, and the Stroker sounds as tough as nails.
The modifications don’t end with this Mustang’s hood or mechanical components, with the interior receiving Corbeau cloth front bucket seats. These don’t match the rear seat trim, although a set of slipcovers would hide that problem. A piece has fallen off the driver’s door trim, and it appears the seller may have unsuccessfully attempted to glue it back into place. The wipers engage automatically when the engine starts but return to normal operation following three sweeps of the windshield. That’s quite a weird fault and one that I would probably hand to an auto electrician. Otherwise, the power windows work as they should, and an aftermarket CD player supplies in-car entertainment.
If anything surprises me about this 1995 Mustang GT, it is the fact that it has only attracted six bids. That figure is far below what I would typically expect, and the low listing view and Watch List totals don’t auger well for the seller if they expected a stratospheric price. On current trends, it may struggle to reach $10,000 before the hammer falls. Would a low potential sale price tempt you to drop a bid or two, or would you prefer to be an interested observer?
Should surprise a few at the stoplight 🚦 😲
Good luck smoging it in California!
No kidding. It’s getting hard to smog older cars. I had to scrap my car last year because it wouldn’t pass smog due to it’s check engine light not turning off even though it passed tailpipe and all other portions of the visual inspection. It was getting old, 1994 model year that my dad bought new and stopped driving when him and my mom downsized to one car, since his was a stick shift it had to go, it was dead reliable and in great shape with 140k mikes. I knew it’s useful life was nearing an end, but was one expensive repair away from that tipping point. I was hoping to get another year or two out of it, but no smog certificate meant you couldn’t get it registered.
This Mustang looks like it was well thought out. It seems like it’s starting to have minor inconvenient issues. This well make a great car for someone that lives in a state that has less restrictive smog testing.
Steve R
Here it is, another BarnFinds exclusive. After my, um, experience with the ’88 5.0 LX, this was my next car. Okay, maybe a couple extras, but essentially a red ’95 Mustang. It was such a refreshing change from the ’88, it remains to this day, one of my favorite cars( present Jeep not included) It was a V6, 5 speed, and plenty of steam. It handled well, stopped well, comfy seats for FOUR people, had good heat a/c and no, I didn’t attempt a heater core in this and don’t imagine it was any easier, but was such a nice car, be well worth it, and no sawzalls either. The motor? Typical in “more must be better California”, but the V6 or even a stockV8 was plenty.
It was this car also, that the Texarkana police had a special interest in, one gray December morn’,,, but that’s a story for another time.
hint: who would have thought a red Mustang with Wisconsin plates in December in Texas should be any cause for alarm,,,
Steve R. you mention being forced to scrap the car. with a car that just flat fails emissions in California would you be able to ship it outside the state and sell it somewhere else in the country? (or maybe the car is not high value and not worth the time/effort?)
I live in SC, which I guess it the total opposite end of the spectrum, no emissions regulations at all. which is pretty convenient for car enthusiasts, I can for example build up a post-1968 Triumph to UK/rest-of-world specs to improve the performance over the federal smogged specs…
though (while it might not be a popular opinion to express for some on this site) ultimately, there are some good reasons behind making cars less environmentally polluting, so I’m not entirely against having some sort of rules… there may be a happy medium to be found between CA and SC
The car wasn’t worth much, maybe $1,500. Nobody was going to buy it and send it out of state. It was a generic 4 door with a DOHC V6 and a 5spd, so it was fun to drive.
My problem with the way California runs the emissions testing is it must pass tailpipe and visual, which includes a functioning check engine light. If it doesn’t turn on when the key is on the run position it fails, if the light stays on it fails, there are no exceptions. It passed tailpipe and visual, other than the light, because if that I could renew the tags. That’s the system, it’s designed to take older cars out of the system. Which has driven the cost of used cars sky high. It also leads to people stealing the year sticker off of cars, especially cars that renew near the beginning of the calendar year, I had several stolen (which you have to pay to replace, you can also get a fix it ticket which includes a fine if you didn’t notice it and get pulled over) until I started scoring the sticker with a box cutter.
Steve R
Swap the ck eng lite circuit with seat belt, alt, temp, or oil press idiot light circuit? lol
I’m surprised Calif still has those old expensive exhaust sniffers!
Was your ’94 car OBD2 or OBD1?
I’m not a fan of these mid-eighties Mustangs and as such, I know very little about them, but if this thing isn’t a smokin’ deal, then I know absolutely nothing about them. A reserve lower than $3150? The owner has a ton more than that in it. I can’t imagine that there isn’t someone somewhere other than California that won’t climb all over this thing. (moving one state up or one state over alleviates the smog requirements as long as you don’t live in one of the major population centers. Even then, they are fairly lax.)
just talking about this one with my son (who shares a track 98 mustang with me, for which we built up the 4.6, and are about to build another with a 1984 5.0) our observation was, based on the detailed specs the seller goes into for the engine build, this engine must be pushing maybe 450+ bhp at the crank? if that really is the stock 5-speed transmission, it would be a T5 rated at a max 300 lb/ft torque…? that would appear to be the weak link in this build, and would not stand up to too much abuse? Still, this is a screaming deal at the current bid, just buy it and set some budget aside for a tougher transmission to swap in… The cost of building that engine is way more that the current asking price?
BTW, as the thumbs-up feature appears to be dead currently – Thank you Steve R for your objective and knowledgeable comments on this site. I often learn something reading your contributions.
IDK Steve works for me. But this Mustang, if it was any closer I should be interested. But for some reason it leaves me cold. The numbers are right but that White SVT Cobra Stang convertible auctioned awhile back, now that was cherry.
I think that this statement by the seller may be holding this one back: “Error on initial info. $2501.00 reserve”
If this is all that the seller thinks this car is worth, then why bid any higher than the current $3,150?
Probably has under drive pulleys. Alt. Pulley was larger, probably to prevent charging issues. My 95 cobra had 3.73 gears, headers, motorsport lowering springs, and a 5 speed. Only car I bought new. It was no slouch.
Perfect example why exposed-to-the-sun plastic should not be in the wiper/cowl area.