This 1988 Ford Mustang LX coupe checks more than a few boxes in terms of being a desirable specimen of a Fox body. First, it’s an LX car with the 5.0L V8 paired to a five-speed manual transmission. Next, it has just 39K miles from new – and looks the part. Finally, it wears one of the rarer colors to find a Fox body in, a very pretty shade of paint known as Tropic Yellow. Put it all together and it’s a near-perfect specimen of a Fox platform Mustang – if only it were a notchback, every one of my boxes would be checked. Find the survivor ‘Stang here on craigslist with a price of $12,000 firm. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Pat L. for the find.
I don’t blame the seller for holding firm on that number, as Tropic Yellow Mustangs don’t come up for grabs every day. It’d be a $10K car just for being a low mileage example with the preferred combo of a manual transmission and the V8, but throw in the color and the stock condition and it’s easy to see why the seller isn’t interested in flinching. The Mustang will come with two sets of wheels, the other being the chromed Pony wheels that are a tad overdone, in my opinion. The stock LX wheels with white-letter tires if the perfect look for a Mustang of this generation. Note that the trim with the subtle red stripe looks like new.
The clean condition carries over to the cabin, where the light tan upholstery shows no signs of soiling or extensive wear. Even though 40,000 miles can seem low, plenty of cars look like trash after that amount of use. This Mustang is claimed to be in the hands of the original owner with all necessary documentation to prove that the mileage is genuine. A/C is still said to blow cold and the heat works as intended, and the seller says all other controls work as they should. While a GT may have come with the better seats and the body kit, there’s something pure about an LX with its no-bolster buckets and clean body lines, free of any plastic add-ons.
Don’t get me wrong – I’d take a GT in a heartbeat if it were in condition like this. The LX has always had a slight sleeper vibe to it, especially if you delete the 5.0L badges from the fenders. Of course, you don’t want to distort anything on an example like this that has survived in the hands of a clearly very careful owner. The engine bay presents well with zero signs of modifications – not even a K&N filter. While we sometimes recoil at seller who list their price as being firm, the ask here seems reasonable for the condition on display and I doubt you’ll ever lose a dime on the initial investment. If you know a Tropic Yellow notchback for sale, please get in touch!
Nice Fox Body. I also like the original wheels better. The color (isn’t this Sand Beige?) might not to be everyone’s liking, but I like to see the less-popular hues. The price seems spot-on to me, and the seller probably knows that. Which may be why he/she is rather blunt about not taking less and not wasting his/her time with lowball offers.
Pretty sure the color option for the color and year was officially “Hearing Aide Beige”, and I like it. Half-tempted to seriously think about a cross-country trip.
Don’t ever remember seeing that color before. I agree with Bob, it’s looks more beige than yellow.
Tropic Of Caucasia.
I just checked a 1988 Mustang paint chart, and this looks like code 66 Mimosa/Tropical Yellow, which is indeed very close to code 8L Sand Beige
What a great ride. I had two of these cars. I love the color and I love it doesn’t have the “burlap” looking interior like I had. It has great looking cloth seats. Great reliable fun car.
The later LX 5.0 (’89-up?) came with the GT seats. Just sayin’.
Correct. For 1989, they made the LX 5.0 a separate model and raised the price substantially. They included the GT seats to justify that. Previously, the 5.0 and GT suspension and tires were a package on the regular Mustang LX.
GT seats were not standard, at least not on the notchback. I had one with the standard LX seats.
Incorrect. The LX could be ordered as a blank slate and optioned as desired until the end of the ’93 model run.
The “LX 5.0 Sport” was a package that was up sold and usually in dealer inventory. Included A/C, Premium sound/cassette (lamo!) and the high back sport seats.
A few low mile LX 5.0s have gone for silly $ on BaT recently.
Front clip doesnt look right…….especially in first picture…….looks discolured and door seam looks off…..just my opinion
Yep…..looks like front end damage to me…..hood line is VERY wide in front.
Good eye. The gap over the driver’s headlight is considerably greater than that over the passenger headlight. Picture 9 shows that pretty clearly.
Correct, left front hood gap is off at fender and over headlight and body molding isn’t straight from left fender to door. Also looks like the under hood panel behind the battery may have had some work done to it. Can’t argue with the price but would have to lay hands on it before plunking down that kind of money for it.
Great color and nice wheels
This Tropical Yellow looks like the same color as my 81 El Camino. As far as Sand Beige, this 88 Mustang LX is not that color. I have a 84 Mercury Cougar LS that is Sand Beige which resembles a goldish color. Oddly enough, I think whoever was naming these colors should have just said “Tan” and “Gold”.
With “low mileage”, why would the wipers be parked a bit too high?
With obvious body work done to it and not knowing why I wouldn’t pay more than 8K for it.