I have always liked the Fox-body Mustang, and it appears that I’m not a lone wolf on that front. The car remained in production long after Ford had earmarked it for replacement due to ongoing buyer demand. Today, they are a car that has grown an extra set of legs in the classic market, and good examples can generate some pretty impressive prices. This 1986 Mustang GT is an unmolested survivor. It wears its original paint, and the interior hasn’t been hacked about to fit aftermarket components. The owner has decided to part with his cherished classic, so he has listed it for sale here on eBay. It is located in Cleveland, Ohio, and while the bidding has reached $12,600, the reserve is yet to be met.
If I had to nail down a favorite Fox-body Mustang, then the ’86 GT Hatchback would have to be it. Apart from the fact that I believe that Ford got the overall styling right with the Hatchback, I love the front-end treatment. The quad-headlight look and the single grille slot add a touch of aggression to the car, which I find attractive. This GT is in excellent condition for its age. The Dark Grey Metallic paint is said to be original, and while it does come with a few minor chips, its condition is outstanding for its age. The panels are laser straight, and rust is not a matter that needs to be considered. The owner states that the Mustang has never seen snow and that it is kept in a clean and dry garage when it’s not in use. The exterior plastic shows none of the deterioration that can plague these cars. The factory sunroof offers an excellent alternative if the owner doesn’t want to fire up the air conditioning. The tinted glass appears to be perfect, and the alloy wheels show no evidence of stains, pitting, or physical damage.
If there is one area of a 1980s Fox-body that can show its age dramatically, it is when you start looking around the interior. Cloth could deteriorate and sun-rot, while plastic can crumble like a stale piece of cake. That fate hasn’t befallen this GT because the interior looks superb. Apart from its overall condition, the thing that grabs my attention is that it has remained unmodified. The Charcoal cloth on the seats is free from significant wear or stains, and even the outer edges of the front seats look good. The plastic shows no deterioration, while the dash and pad are perfect. The carpet is starting to discolor, but it isn’t bad enough to justify spending money on a replacement carpet set. The Mustang features air conditioning, but the owner is unsure whether it works properly. The original radio/cassette player remains in situ. It does turn on but mainly picks up static. I would investigate this further because I believe that it would be a shame to fit an aftermarket unit into a vehicle that appears to be so original.
By 1986 the Mustang was starting to regain some of the character that had endeared it to hundreds-of-thousands of buyers during the 1960s. Ford had begun to find ways to claw back the power lost during The Malaise Era, and it showed under the hood of the 1986 Mustang GT. Early V8 Fox-body Mustangs struggled with pitiful amounts of power, but the fuel-injected 5.0-liter “HO” engine in the ’86 GT delivered a conservative 200hp. This power found its way to the Traction-Lok rear end via a 5-speed manual transmission and meant that the little pony could gallop through the ¼ mile in 15.4 seconds. There was more power to be extracted from the little small-block in the following years, but the performance was finally heading back in the right direction. The owner claims that the GT has a genuine 44,900 miles on the clock, but he doesn’t indicate whether he holds any evidence to verify this. He does hold a collection of documentation that includes a Marti Report. The owner recently treated the Mustang to new brakes and a new radiator, but he does admit that it will soon need new tires. However, he says that it runs and drives well and that it has been appropriately maintained.
There’s no disputing that 2020 was not the most fantastic year, and the turmoil that the world experienced was felt in the classic car sector. However, the Fox-body Mustang was one vehicle that tended to buck the trend. Values tended to increase around 5% across the board during the past year, and while that sort of performance isn’t startling, it is noteworthy in a sea of red ink. This ’86 GT looks like a beauty, and I believe that the bidding probably has a little way to go before it hits the reserve. It may be met at around $15,000, and if someone can secure it for that sort of money, then they’ve probably scored themselves a good buy. Its condition, originality, and low mileage also make it possible that it will threaten $20,000. If you are looking for a nice Mustang, this is an auction that could be worth watching.
Good write-up Adam. Probably the most desirable of the four-eye Foxes. This one has had excellent care, and should fetch a solid price. I see the clean original examples continuing to increase in value.
And if increasing value is not something of primary interest to you, that you would rather just have a fun car to drive, it’s hard to go wrong with a Fox Body Mustang. Sporty looks, good performance, straightforward and common powertrain, parts readily available, lots of support and interest, still not terribly expensive.
Any three-pedal, V8 Fox-body “Stang gets my attention. I like the color combo (aside from what looks like excess window tint, which is fairly easy to get rid of) and the originality.
After many, many miles in a pretty wide variety of Fox-Stangs, I could happily settle down with one. What they lacked in modern-day performance, they made up for with a lot of charm, balance and reliability. And, if the next owner eventually wanted more speed, there are plenty of factory parts that will gratify their wishes.
This one looks just about perfect.
These four eyed Mustangs are growing on me. I’ve always preferred the 1987 flush headlamp facelift, but this look is more reminiscent of when the Stang went back to being a horse again.
Have an ’89 LX 5.0 convertible, 5spd, Red/grey leather I have owned since ’94. Have owned many other fox bodies over the years, 4 cylinders and 8’s but chose to keep this one. Became a dad in 1998 and had an ’84 GT 5 speed T-top along with the ’89. Mrs. and I settled on getting rid of one, which was the ’84. It was the 4 bbl, but I put dual exhaust and recaro seats. I’d rather have old 4 eyes today, but the 89 is nice. Sure all of us would like a do-over or two !
Had an 85 in this exact color combo, except that mine was a shade or two darker from the side mouldings down and did not have a sunroof. I had a blast in that car! That was the last year for the Holley 4bbl, first year for the roller cam and factory header-style exhaust manifolds and I loved it. The only issue was that when I hit 100 or so, air would collect in the headlight buckets and you could actually feel the front end rise up. Lotta bang for the buck out of those cars.
Buy a low mile SVO for a third the price and swap in the V8 and rear axle it should have had from the start.
That would be nice, except that cheap SVO won’t be in this condition and you’ll put a lot of hours and a good amount of money getting those big parts in good working order.
Then comes the $$ you’ll spend on all the little stuff that’s unknown or overlooked to make it all work right.
Now you have a cheap, mismatched car with some things that don’t work or have issues with the way they do.
If you worked at your job in place of the same amount of hours you spent putting it together, you could’ve bought the nice one and had money left over.
Been there, Done that.
My mom bought an 85 GT convertible the year she retired. Black top over white with the same charcoal interior, the newly optional efi and the 4 speed auto. Always lost a qt of oil every 3 months. Turns out they didn’t put in the main crank seal at the factory. The efi would rev very high on cold startup, would not kick down until it got warmed up. Burned rubber once backing out of the garage. Always garaged, sold it in 96 after she passed, only had 85k miles,still looked new. The Marchal fog lights are very hard to find replacements as Ford only used them those 2 years. And the car she traded in was her 73 Cougar XR7 convertible with the 351 CJ, one of the last 10 off the line. She had some fun cars!
I am a Car Crazy individual, and have owned ALOT of cars….it simply shocks me that these fox body Mustangs are bringing strong money…they are simply NOT a great car, period…The F-body Trans Am and Camaro is far superior in every way…unless we need to include the Cross-Fire nightmare!
Always preferred the F-Body looks, but they were difficult to work on, the interior materials are far more suspect in quality, and they creaked and groaned over any surface less than billiard-table smooth and level. Furthermore, the 1986 models were turds in the engine compartment. The Fox bodies had weak brakes and were relatively tippy handlers, but they rocked in a straight line and were relatively painless to work on (but for that heater core).
Really ? what are you smoking?? Those cars used k-mart plastic interior parts and the suspensions’ are loose as a goose and slow as a greased turtle!!!
I’d need higher quality pics to make a decision on this one. It appears that the front bumper and bumper may have been painted at some point, as I don’t recall these being prone to fading. The dash, instrument binnacle, and seats are immaculate. GLWTA.
Car has subframe ties installed but a lack of other mods makes one wonder if there is more to this car’s past. But anyway, it is a truly clean example of the first port injected Fox Mustang.
Frame ties is one of the best improvements you can make to a fox body car.
Absolutely true Steve, but it is unusual for a car that would be used for daily or pleasure driving would have them installed. Just my .02.
Nice car. I agree, the 86 GT is probably my overall favorite fox as well. This one has the sport steering wheel which is a plus. 308s in the rear would have been nice. I’d also get rid of the pinstripe. Add a set of 2 chamber flowmasters for that 5.0 sound and enjoy it
I don’t know if it’s the photography or what but the louvers behind the rear side windows, the headlight buckets and the side mirrors look body color to me, and they were black from the factory. They could just be severely faded though. The sexy Pep Boys engine dress up kit of red spark plug wires and chrome oil cap definitely need to go. But despite all that, bidding is strong for a four eye.
The trim; louvers, side moldings, headlight buckets, cowl grille hood and trunk decals, etc. were all dark charcoal gray from the factory, not black. I know because I repainted my 86 GT and the Ford trim paint was definitely dark charcoal gray. And the decals are listed as gray as shown on this Marti.
Additional useless knowledge is that there is added silver color in the GT Hood and Trunk tape on this car because the body paint is gray. This is a “1” with silver where it’s usually a “2” on the Marti without silver when painted the other colors that all get gray trim.
Thanks for the clarification. So they should be a dark charcoal. They might be just faded, looking at the hood. So this car must have spent some time outside in the sun.
I would like to hear if others have this ‘problem’. If shown a picture of this without a title, I would say “that is a sexy little coupe!”. But calling it a Mustang is a strike right from the beginning. Another marque is the T-bird… how do you get from a sporty little 2 seater to the bloated land yacht it became? For the Corvette, I can follow it a little easier, because I feel it is more about the performance lineage. On the other hand, I have trouble following all the Porsche variations, because most of them hew too close to the design language (except the 944’s). The Fox bodies have some great diversity amongst different brands, so that in itself is an interesting subject.
In the meantime, this is a great design, and I learned about frame ties.
I’ve owned several of these (love them), and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s when they paint over everything that should be black (vents/moulding/etc.).