Image via oldcarbrochures.com
This next suggestion for the Class of 1985, the Ford Mustang LX sedan, comes from reader Rick Roso, who writes:
Forget 1985′s GT — only came in the fastback hatch, too much filligree, overweight, insurance companies freaked, too. LX sedan… stiffer chassis, a lot lighter, Q-ship “secretary car” look.
Ticking the 5.0 option box got you the 5-speed manual and the “2-link” mod to the solid rear (horizontal leading shocks welded to the axle, which completely stopped wheel hop and axle tramp). Surprisingly, you could get a 5.0 LX with the stock skinny tires on steel wheels! I ordered the alloys with the Goodyear Gatorbacks…
Engine: Carburated 302 (600 cfm Holley; last year of the carb 302), factory headers and stainless steel exhaust, pretty cast-aluminum valve covers, 215 h.p., 265 lb-ft of torque. If you were so unwise as to order the auto gearbox, you got the fuel-injected 302 that made 5 less h.p.
With A/C and the “light group” (basically, a map light in the cockpit and an underhood bulb), manual windows, the sticker was $10,055 (base of around $6,995).
My insurance company (State Farm) didn’t even know what it was. All they cared about was that Ford’s designation for it was “66B 2-door sedan,” so I paid the same premium as if it were a four-banger grandma car…
The first Ford dealer I went to, by the way, told me I couldn’t get a 5.0 sedan. “Cops only,” I was told. But I had read in the buff books that a “civilian” could, in fact, get a non-GT 5.0 for 1985. Found another dealer, who said, Sure, but it’ll take a few months to get. I said, “no problem…”
There’s always an audience for a Q-ship, especially one that pulls the wool over the eyes of the insurance companies, and we know that there’s a growing enthusiast base for both the four-eyed Fox-body Mustangs and the more sedate-looking sedans. However, most of the Fox-body Mustang enthusiasts we speak with seem to turn their noses up at anything with four-lug wheels; it seems that, generally speaking, this era of Mustang is the second least loved next to the Mustang II.
But we could be wrong, so the question we’ll put to the rest of the readership is similar to the one we posed with the Corvette: Is it inevitable that any car with the Mustang badge become among the most cherished cars of that era, or are there only certain breeds of Mustang that have what it takes to run toward the front of the pack? In the comments below, tell us whether you consider this particular Mustang a collectible car and why.
Also, don’t forget: Start sending in your suggestions for cars to consider for the Class of 1986!