The reserve is near being met for this 1988 Ford Mustang GT, which is described as being a weekend driver used primarily for car shows and cruises. The Mustang remains largely stock with the exception of some Flowmasters, and the paint is all original. It has the preferred manual transmission and mileage is reasonable at 72,000. The car is listed here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $10,900 and the current bid very close to that number at $9,650. I’m guessing the reserve to clear is an even $10,000, and the GT certainly appears to be worth at least that much.
The late 80s Fox body GT saw Ford incorporate a sharp bodykit and turbine-style wheels to the GT, along with the venerable 5.0L V8. The lifeback design incorporated a large rear spoiler, and the body featured a red pinstripe effect wrapping around the perimeter in between where the lower cladding met the body. The taillights had a very 80s-inspired grid pattern that I doubt will ever come back into fashion, and that’s unfortunate. The trouble with trying to find one of these cars is that so many have been modified and otherwise abused, making a stock example like this a keeper.
At this point, I consider aftermarket mufflers a standard feature on a Fox body, so I’m comfortable calling it stock despite clearly being modified. The interior is super clean on this example, with the factory cloth still intact and red plastics in good shape. The manual transmission is a must-have for one of these, but they’re perfectly enjoyable with the automatic transmission as well. The carpets look to be in good shape, and the GT overall presents as a car that may not be a timewarp example, but has clearly been maintained and cared for to still look this good with close to 80K on the clock. The seller notes the A/C still works as well.
The engine bay is nicely detailed, even if the yellow plug wires look a bit out of place. The engine is clean, and the hoses don’t appear to be ancient. The seller does note the presence of some scratches and dings in the listing, which again, are to be expected for a car that isn’t claimed to be a showroom example. New tires were recently installed, and to me, the overall presentation makes the Buy-It-Now price seem quite fair for the trajectory clean Fox bodies have been on for a while now. Would you opt for this era of Fox body, or aim for a later example with the notchback styling?
Could they have made the GTs any uglier? To think, someone made big bucks to design these. Why would you ever pay more for this over a nice clean LX?
Gts have better ground effects and GT is the 5.0 liter 302 V8 engine with single overhead cam
The mileage isn’t low and the pics do show some paint problems, but if the car is overall as clean as it appears the seller shouldn’t have any problem getting his money.
Maybe I’m a little bit weird but I always thought these GTs look way better with the silver bottom than just in monochrome. And I never did like maroon on these. So this has the right mileage and is in the right condition, but it isn’t the right look, at least for me personally.
The GT syling cues look a little bit garish and dated now than they once did, but if this was white over silver, I think it would look very acceptable still.
Funny seeing the orange stripe still on the car. I remember these new and 90% of Mustang GT owners removed that stripe.
The accent strip option disappeared after 1988 and the grey lower body went away after 91. My favorite was the dark blue/grey with the red stripe
Lol having been a jr. In College when this GT was built, im feeling a little garish and dated myself. Always loved the styling on these cars, especially the blue over silver. The red everywhere actually looks great here as well.
I never understood the penny-pinching move to 4-lug hubs/wheels on the Mustangs, and how even the more powerful 5.0 versions still had them. How many years did that continue?
The 93 cobra R was the first 5.0 to have 5 lugs. The svo’s had five lugs.
Daydream, I wasn’t there to say for sure, but my speculation is that…. you answered your own question. It was probably a cost-saving decision. I often have to remind myself that, through most of Mustang’s history, it was a basic (but stylish) economy car first, a performance car second.
Bob,
My question wasn’t why it was done, but how long it lasted (Before the engineers got to have their say again).
I remember looking through the chainlink fence of my FORD dealer just before these went on sale in 1987. Bought an ’87 near twin to this , and trust me, these were THE CAR to have back then!! Always got looks and thumbs up from passers-by. A few months later exiting M-14 near Detroit I was stunned when a black, full sized(?) car blew by me on the left…..Only several months later I realized one of first BUICK GRAND NATIONAL’s had taught me a lesson! About 5 years later I traded in the Mustang and found one. A little later found another used GMC TYPHOON!! Also black. The GT was quick, but the Gand National and TYPHOON were FAST!!
Someone hit the Buy-It-Now button, SOLD for $10,900.