The 5.0 Mustang convertible of the late-’80s and early-’90s was forever tied to its era by Vanilla Ice’s 1990 release “Ice Ice Baby.” Also released in 1990 was this Deep Emerald Green Mustang convertible: Sold as a 25th Anniversary edition of the Mustang, it was originally meant to be a 7-Up sweepstakes car. Whatever its origin, this one will need a restoration to restore its emerald shine.
The Fox Body 5.0 Mustang’s popularity was so ubiquitous that customization was inevitable. This example has an automatic, as did a majority of the 7-Up cars, but it also has a chromed roll bar and aftermarket gauges supplanting the factory dashboard vents. If you’re a purist, you may want to include the cost of new interior panels into your budget.
The 1990 Mustang finally ditched the 85-mph speedometer found in earlier 5.0s in lieu of a 140-mph unit. Even the automatic-equipped Mustangs could theoretically use most of this speedometer, but either way, it looks more appropriate than the previous part.
The seller doesn’t try to hide the fact that this car needs a restoration, as it’s been sitting for at least 12 years and has 116,000 miles. It needs cooling system work, brakes, and tires at the very least. It also clearly needs some paint work, although that could wait until after the car is on the road. Unfortunately, the advertisement doesn’t show any underhood or underbody photos.
Still, the 7-Up cars were not common when new, with only 4,103 being built. Additionally, their green paint, white top, white interior, and GT turbine wheels make them arguably the most attractive of the Fox-Body convertibles.
It’s a tough decision to embark on a restoration considering the cost of parts and labor (and time if you do the work yourself). This one is currently for sale on Craigslist for $3000. Collector interest in Fox Mustangs has clearly been growing, but considering how many are still out there, is it worth restoring one? If you’re a Gen Xer, there were few cars that had more street cred back then – what do you think? Thanks to ccrvtt for the tip!
Thank you Aaron. We’ve seen lots of 7-Up Foxes here on Barn Finds. They are an attractive package. And, given they are ‘specialty’ models, there are quite a few out there. But the ones we see are almost all stock or near-stock. This one is high miles and already has some mods, so I suppose its future is down that road. In addition to all the work needed to get it roadworthy again. Thus the low price. Might be something a bit different to see a modded 7-Up.
Seen way worse for 3k.
At 116k miles I would Not restore it I would just get it running and driving again and enjoy cruising with the top down price is reasonable considering it’s current condition
very reasonable priced.
Forever tied to Vanilla Ice? Please. Teenage kids couldn’t afford these, when they were new. And anyone older that was a fan of his? Wouldn’t give up their mom’s Corolla.