If you wanted to build the ideal Fox body Ford Mustang, this might be the car you’d create if the local dealer was still selling them new. The notchback body style has taken off value-wise in recent years, far more so than your average hatchback design. In addition, teal is one of the best 90s colors offered, and far rarer than your standard black or red Mustang. The trifecta? A manual gearbox plus those above options, which is what this 1992 Ford Mustang LX listed here on eBay features, is one of the best configurations you can ask for if shopping for a Fox body.
Of course, it’s not perfect – but some of the flaws make me love this Mustang even more. The tatty tint, the Mustang logo in the back window, and the clear/smoked aftermarket tail lights remind me so much of my high school years when these cars were unbelievably cheap, and you certainly didn’t feel bad about modifying them – regardless of the how rare the options made it. The seller’s car has some additional upgrades under the hood, along with the chrome “Pony” wheels, but you could easily address the cosmetic tweaks in a weekend while retaining the performance enhancing parts.
The interior is a bit rough in places, with the plastic trim seemingly suffering from some signs of use. The map pockets on the doors are, as usual, sagging, but I’m sure a Fox body enthusiast has found a replacement source for these common wear items. The best feature of this interior is the manual gearbox which is by no means a guarantee when you begin shopping for a Fox body, as plenty of them were ordered with the optional automatic gearbox. The seller notes he’s swapped the rear end in his car for a 4.10 positraction unit, which should wake things up nicely while providing some added stability in fast corners.
The 5.0L V8 features a variety of upgrades, including a Cobra intake, a mild aftermarket cam, and Dart heads. No word on whether the exhaust has been upgraded, but that’s usually one of the first mods in a car like this. The engine bay is clean overall, and while the sign of aftermarket mods can sometimes sully a car’s image, these enhancements don’t bother me considering what the rest of the car looks like. The big question is do you return this Mustang back to 100 percent stock condition (to drive maximum ROI) or leave it in the driver-quality condition it’s in and just drive the doors off of it – all the while knowing you own one of the most desirable configurations out there?
The “tatty tint” is one of the reasons I dislike aftermarket tint jobs. Invariably, they always develop bubbles, reducing visibility. The tint can be removed somewhat easily, but the adhesive not so much (ask me how I know!) Otherwise, everything else would make this one desirable to me, were I not already downsizing. Currently it’s at $4,250 w/ 4 days to go. GLWTA!! :-)
Don’t know if you’ve tried this, Moparman, or for anyone removing tint, weatherstrip, etc adhesives, try 3M general purpose adhesive cleaner. Unfortunately, the Air Nazis in California won’t allow its sale here anymore so I have to get it from out of state, but good thing is, a little goes a long way. This quart I’ve had for about five years and still have close to half the can. I’ve swore by this stuff for about thirty years now, I use it to remove anything that is sticky, has an adhesive, or even body shutz, just use an acid brush or rag to apply, let it sit a few minutes, and go to town with your choice of scraper or Scotchbrite. It’s great stuff and it is safe to use on base coat clear coat.
I had the windows on my new truck tinted before delivery by a shop they used in 2011, they are still clear and flawless, so be careful about using the word “Invariably”. This is the fourth tint job by aftermarket shops I have had done without a bubble or defect. Just use a reputable shop and you should have no issues.
This is a really nice Mustang, I wish I had room for it.
Years ago I purchased a Grand National with a really dark tint, likely illegal. I took it to a shop that installs window tint and he used a steamer to remove it. All the tint came off in one piece with hardly any residue remaining on the glass at all. I later bought my own steamer and used it on 3 other vehicles to remove window tint, it worked like a charm. I don’t know how well it works with the cheaper DIY materials. I also use the steamer frequently for headliner installation, seat upholstery, convertible tops, and other shop and home projects. They are also very inexpensive.
The Fox sweet spot: LX coupe manual transmission. It still amazes me that the bare-bones model is the most desirable in today’s market. Calypso Green is a real eye-catcher. You can kind of tell this one is ratty around the edges. The mods, specifically the go-fast items, are typical. For me, I would be happier with bone-stock. But I’m sure it will find a buyer.
Good analysis on a Ford as usual Bob. 👏 Loved the Calypso paint on these LX models.
The later 5.0’s could be ordered with the same interior as the GT’s, like this one. I had a 92 and 93 SSP’s that had the standard seats and AM/FM radios but did have power windows and door locks. I much prefer the Recaro seats, the standard seats won’t help hold you in place and don’t have the adjustments.
If not a family man, I would have bought two like this.
The trunk on this Fox notch is infinitely more useful than the one on the current generation of Mustangs. Having said that, if the current Mustang was available with a hatch, I’d probably buy one.
Good start on the mods, I’d keep tweaking it to my preference but retain the stock parts to return it to OEM if desired. These Fox body’s have an enormous appetite for mods, as long as you’re not cutting up the structure for tubs, flares or a cage, it’s pretty easy to bring them back to original.
At 5 years old, these were inexpensive, bought one for my son, with the 4 cylinder, since there was no way to crowd a bunch of high school kids in it, one passenger was fine, the back seat, as in most Mustangs from this model forward, were pretty useless except for the groceries or really little kids. Memories of 8 of us, when I was in high school, in a ’36 Plymouth 4 door, and a ’47 Olds fastback 4 door, and a ’56 Chevy 4 door. Luck was with me, but the opportunities for disaster were plenty.
These are getting rare. As many of them have fallen to the dreaded SBC drag race car syndrome that has been growing like an invasive weed for the last couple of years.
Having own and or driven 100 Fox body Mustangs/Capris I’m still an addict. (Still Have an 1984 SVO, 1986 LX and a Ford Durango) Having been a Ford service manager in a former life. It was up to me to test drive every new Highway Patrol Mustang before delivering to the state. Two interesting facts found put about the mid ’80s Mustangs. 1. The huge disparity in the power from one to another. The average was still fun to drive and the fastest ones (one in particular) were OMG fast. (I made sure that my Nevada Highway Patrol buddy got that one. 2. In breezy conditions at speeds exceeding 90 mph. (no one would stop an NHP car speeding through the valley) the “notch back/sedan can get squirrelly. (I owned a fast/hatchback at the time for comparison.) I would wait until I would get completely down on the flat to dial up the speed for the test as all the highway patrol units were the sedans. The “fast” one I noted was on a “speed monitering” duty and the traffic out in the desert that day was virtually non-existent. So the officers were board and decided to run the Mustang through the section and time it with the airplane. 143 mph was clocked. Not bad for completely stock! When it came time for the Mustang to come up on auction I told an acquaintance the VIN to buy. He did and has been drag racing the car ever since.
That would have been the greatest job ever! You also confirmed another thought I had on the power disparity between these cars. I have owned 14 different Fox Mustangs but the first one was a 1987 GT that was built in October 86. I swear that thing was possessed! It would touch and bounce the needle in 3rd, and idk how fast it went but it just seemed fast. Well, it made it to February, when the Mustang jumped into a creek for a drink of water. I had enough money left after the insurance settled to get another one just like it coming. It showed up in June, and it would run pretty darn good, but I never thought it had the speed as easily as the first one. I had two of those SSP’s, the automatic just seemed to take all the fun away, until the NOS bottle was installed. A friend of mine is a NCSHP Trooper, and he obtained the last one NC had, and it still has everything on it that it had during patrol. Black and silver, badges, VASCAR and radar, radio, everything.
Yes the job and the boss were very cool. Whenever I would be getting rattled busting my butt. He would come by and hand me his keys to his personal car and say take a ride. (His personal car was a 1969 429 CJ Mustang with the factory drag pack!) Our dealership was at the base of the .mountain where you would take the road up to Lake Tahoe. A couple of laps up and down at speed and I was relaxed! I have been very lucky to also drive R&D cars from Ford (turbo T-Bird, Supercharged T-Bird) Audi (930, 924, 944, turbo Quattro coupe) GM ( 2 different Corvettes) All R&D cars I drove did not have VINS and were true test vehicles that were very fast! And fun.
We were chopping these coupes up in the early 1990s for mini stock racing. the 2.3 could really put out some hp when built right. these were really popular ; in a 25 car feature at our local track, at least 20 would be Fox bodies, and nearly all of them coupes. combining that with all the other tracks around the country ,I’m surprised they’re any of these coupes left !
SOLD for $12,850.