Where do Fox Body Stangs Rank.....?

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Yeah, let's not be silly here, I'd take an '05 on up over a Fox-body Mustang any day of the week and twice on Sunday. I was showing my wife's '69 427/4 spd Corvette off to a friend of a friend a few years ago and as I put the cover back on it, he blurted out, "I'd rather have that than a new Corvette!" Mind you, the car is nice, and it's fun to drive, but it is a bare-bones hot rod. It has no power brakes, no power steering, no A/C and despite being a low-mileage original car, the killer suspension has brought out more rattles than a baby's toy. As I stretched the cover back on the car, I looked at him and told him, "that's because you've never driven it"
 
Ive been reading everyone's replies to this thread, and my humble opinion is......worth is in the eye of the beholder. Case in point: For months I was looking for a Fox body 90-93. Especially the 93 due to the fact it was the final year for the species and it had at least a driver side airbag (as did 90-92) . However, I didn't want any old 93'. I wanted a Vibrant white hatch with all black cloth interior. I searched for what seemed like forever, no luck. Finally, just recently bought one!! (found it in Massachusetts, I live in Cali.) Amazing clean, 90% original DJ code interior and vibrant white! She has a new built 347 Stroker , a new Tremec 5 speed and many suspension mods. Owner has almost $30K in receipts! After buying the car, I ordered a Marti report and discovered why this car was such a beeyotch to find. Only 668 Vibrant white, black interior mustangs were built in 93'! I was in an intense ebay battle with several others to land this vehicle. Paid $14k and I feel like I got a fair deal, car is done! (famous last words). I could have purchased a lesser, mostly stock, beater for $6-7K......but, to get it to be the fun, clean car this one is, I would have spent another $25K. To me, finding the exact car I wanted that already had the work put in was worth every penny. Now time to have a blast!
 
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I don't think you are as unbiased as you think.
He never said anything about being unbiased. He said his '"defense"' wasn't blind.
Just the fact that you seem to be taking my statement personally raises a small alarm. I was simply commenting on my observation that a thread in the "Classic Talk" forum seemed to draw in the Fox body owners into the forum just to praise their cars. All of the posts seemed highly optimistic to me, and I didn't really see one post that I thought was brutally honest(other than those made by the non-Fox owners).
So, none of our posts are brutally honest unless we espouse your opinion? If we thought so little of the cars, why would we own them? If you ask a question about where another car "ranks" in a forum full of enthusiasts, OF COURSE you're going to get pretty one-sided answers. This hobby is about passion, not practicality. The idea of where something "ranks" is ambiguous at best. It really can't be answered for the OP; it can only be answered based on our opinions. How is a car ranked, after all? Looks, reliability, performance, modification, feeling, efficiency, nostalgia? Cars are different things to different people. How can you possibly expect anything other than exactly what you found in this thread? And, why do you have to be so insulting to people whose opinions vary from yours?

If the OP wanted a bunch of blind statements from Foxs owners about how awesome Fox Bodies are, I'm sure he could've found his way to the 5.0 forum.
Another insult towards fox owners, whom you presume will make "blind statements," which is another unnecessary derogatory attitude. You aren't the most social person, eh?
But since you think my post was directed at you, simply because you own a fox and haven't been able to say one negative thing about Fox Body cars, then be my guest. I guess you'll fit in with those guys.
Which guys? The ones who post "blind statements" of admiration about the cars they most enjoy on a MUSTANG ENTHUSIAST SITE?! He fits in with us just fine. Who are you to tell him he's wrong for it?

So since you're making this so personal,
I think your insulting attitude has inevitably led to someone taking it personally.
I have to ask. Why would it matter if you did own a '65 Mustang 15 years before I was born?
I think the point there was more in reference to the fact that he's likely to be pretty experienced with the classic that he owns. It also alludes to the idea that he knows what he's talking about when making a comparison between the cars. The comparison to your age, while unnecessary, makes it hard for you to make a case based on your amount of experience.
Our ages have nothing to do with this topic. If your aim is to discredit me, then you're probably better off coming to my house and stealing my '87 SSP so I can no longer claim to be a Fox Body owner.
It sounds like you took the age comment personal. His comment may have referenced your age, but it wasn't a negative comment.

Funny that I was able to go on an SSP Mustang forum and say something about not being impressed by Fox Bodies because of the poor build quality. Then no one questioned my age, or compared it to theirs. No one even really disputed my claim. One SSP owner, who owns several Foxes, even said his observation was that pre-'86 cars seemed to be built with better tolerances, probably due to the stampings getting worn in the later years. It's a theory. But whether he's right or wrong, the important thing is that he (nor anyone else on that forum)didn't take it personal just because he owned a Fox. I'm starting to realize why these forums are so slow compared to back in the day.

The other reason I think you're somewhat biased is that you've admitted you're tempted to sell your '68. I don't know what issues you have with your '68, whether it's buyers/builders remorse, or whatever. But the fact that you're thinking about selling it, but have so much praise for your '88(which you've managed to hold onto since '91) DOES show a bias.
Here you use the word bias negatively. Is it actually negative? Is it actually even bias? If you owned two cars and, after a lot of experience, decided to keep the one you felt was better, why would that make your opinion of the cars less credible? If this is bias, then at least that bias comes from direct personal experience. Where do your negative opinions come from?
 
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Who the hell holds onto a car that they dislike?

Who gets rid of a car that they love?

I have a dog that I love dearly. Perhaps I should shoot her so that I'm not labeled as bias.

What a ridiculous argument.

Sorry... Couldn't help myself. These are just the highlights to the response that could have been. :rolleyes:

Fox bodies are plentiful. So many were produced that you can hardly throw a rock in any direction without hitting one. The idea that their build was inferior to previous models is also ridiculous. I know of very few cars that take the abuses that Fox bodies have taken and live to tell about it. It's not to say that they're perfect. It's not even to say that they better than X-model or Y-model. I will mention that I can take one that's near death and restore it with parts spanning Fox bodies of several years, and make the thing look like new. This is NOT the product of an inferior assembly process. It is in-fact a testimony to the opposite. If the tolerances are so horrible then why is this a bolt-on affair? :shrug: Try the same a pair of 60's Mustangs. 70's even. I've seen the amount of sawing, cutting, welding, sanding, and custom fabrication work necessary to repair one with parts off of another from the same year.

The reason I refer so many pre-80's owners to horse sence is because he KNOWS what the challenges and solutions are. Are those challenges a product of an inferior design? Of course not. They are however, a reflections of the manufacturing processes of the day.