Don't sell your Fox
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I'll keep both my 85 Notch 5.0 and my 88 GT forever. I drive the 88 everyday and as a matter of fact I got a thumbs up today and a "badass!" yelled at me as I rumbled by the tire shop. I love 'em.
As far as the Baldwin Motion Camaro, it's not as bad as you think. I've seen it many times up close and it's just not that nice of a car. The lower rear valence has what looks like chicken wire for a rear diffusser grill, the wheels are a terrible choice, etc...I could go on and on. If you go on over to www.lateral-g.net there are plenty of guys building much nicer 1st gen Camaros and Mustangs into g-machines that cost worlds less than the BM Camaro and look and function much better.
J
As far as the Baldwin Motion Camaro, it's not as bad as you think. I've seen it many times up close and it's just not that nice of a car. The lower rear valence has what looks like chicken wire for a rear diffusser grill, the wheels are a terrible choice, etc...I could go on and on. If you go on over to www.lateral-g.net there are plenty of guys building much nicer 1st gen Camaros and Mustangs into g-machines that cost worlds less than the BM Camaro and look and function much better.
J
My '94 TurdBird is about as close to a "new" car as I'm likely to get for quite awhile, but I'm plenty happy with it as a DD. I will likely never put much into it for any kinds of mods, aside from maybe J-Modding the valve body for longevity's sakes, because 1. it costs WAYYYY more to mod an early 4.6L than any 5.0L, 2. it's almost as big and heavy as the '90 Town Car I sold a few months ago, 3. while the quietness and squishy ride is nice for DD'ing, it does NOT have that stripped-down, balls-out feel that the Notch does.
The Notch is not a date car by most folks' standards ... well, aside from Frankie's sense of taste
... but it's definitely a lot more fun to row through the gears, feel that jerk on every shift, and get that total-car vibe with every RPM that is absolutely gone from the MN12, S197 and even the later SN95 cars. It's nothing to impress folks with by looks, generally speaking, nor is it a comfortable ride in even the vaguest sense of the word. It's strictly a beast, plain and simple. Rough, stripped-down, ultra-minimalist motor fun, with raw testosterone dripping out the tailpipes.
If I had the money, I would LOVE to have an '05+ Mustang ... even a V6 model ... but only as a DD. They've become more appealing to the masses for the sake of eye candy and comfort than sheer performance (although 300+ horses is nothing to sneeze at, even if the car weighs a buttload more) and total fun factor. In the meantime, MN12's and Panther cars are, to me, among the all-around best used DD's one can buy at the moment, and Foxes are the tops in weekend warrior joy.
The Notch is not a date car by most folks' standards ... well, aside from Frankie's sense of taste
... but it's definitely a lot more fun to row through the gears, feel that jerk on every shift, and get that total-car vibe with every RPM that is absolutely gone from the MN12, S197 and even the later SN95 cars. It's nothing to impress folks with by looks, generally speaking, nor is it a comfortable ride in even the vaguest sense of the word. It's strictly a beast, plain and simple. Rough, stripped-down, ultra-minimalist motor fun, with raw testosterone dripping out the tailpipes.If I had the money, I would LOVE to have an '05+ Mustang ... even a V6 model ... but only as a DD. They've become more appealing to the masses for the sake of eye candy and comfort than sheer performance (although 300+ horses is nothing to sneeze at, even if the car weighs a buttload more) and total fun factor. In the meantime, MN12's and Panther cars are, to me, among the all-around best used DD's one can buy at the moment, and Foxes are the tops in weekend warrior joy.
Maybe that's what GTSETG tried to do to hers. Geesh and she claims it was the battery
My '94 TurdBird is about as close to a "new" car as I'm likely to get for quite awhile, but I'm plenty happy with it as a DD. I will likely never put much into it for any kinds of mods, aside from maybe J-Modding the valve body for longevity's sakes, because 1. it costs WAYYYY more to mod an early 4.6L than any 5.0L, 2. it's almost as big and heavy as the '90 Town Car I sold a few months ago, 3. while the quietness and squishy ride is nice for DD'ing, it does NOT have that stripped-down, balls-out feel that the Notch does.
The Notch is not a date car by most folks' standards ... well, aside from Frankie's sense of taste
If I had the money, I would LOVE to have an '05+ Mustang ... even a V6 model ... but only as a DD. They've become more appealing to the masses for the sake of eye candy and comfort than sheer performance (although 300+ horses is nothing to sneeze at, even if the car weighs a buttload more) and total fun factor. In the meantime, MN12's and Panther cars are, to me, among the all-around best used DD's one can buy at the moment, and Foxes are the tops in weekend warrior joy.
Oh damn, that's HOT.
For the average driver who's looking for a fairly quick sort of stylish car the newer GT's are not bad, but for me being an enthusiast I tend to like the simplicity and lack of refinement (gruffness) of the older cars. I like the fact that they are muscle and not full of a bunch of frills and unnecessary things that lead to the aformentioned school bus feeling, and sound deadener to the point you can hardly feel or hear a bit of the road. If I want luxury I'll buy a luxury car. If I want performance it's going to be all out performance and no frills. Just my .02
The Notch is not a date car by most folks' standards ... well, aside from Frankie's sense of taste
Sounds good to me
Scare 'em into falling for ya, I say 
Strippt88
New Member
I live 20 minutes from Terry's Ford, Lincoln, Mercury. Its in Peotone, Il, and the owner is a car guy. His shop likes to take select or ordered Vehicles and start tweaking, kinda like Nickey Chevrolet, Baldwin- Motion, Berger in Grand Rapids, Michigan, you get the idea. He calls the Mustang you can get a TKO. Powerdyne, suspension kits, Hurst shifters, all kind of stuff, all dealer installed, warranteed, the whole nine yards. They have this orange 07, just magnificent example, if I had one, these are the things I would do. And I'm looking just this past week at this animal on the lot, and I think there is something seriously wrong with me. Car is just a monster, but I don't want it. Be neat to take out once, but I'm at home in the old LX in the garage. Since 1987, nothing fits like my 5.0, and it'll be passed down to my son after I'm gone, if he wants it. And neither Ford or anyone else can produce anything that'll make me think differently. I own my dream car.
I agree the foxbodies especially the notchbacks that are in good shape are a car definately worth holding on to. It is getting harder to find one that hasn't been beaten to death and that is in good shape. The price on them is going up and up as the time goes by.
Black Sun 5.0
Founding Member
I couldn't find a perfect Fox, so I found a straight one and decided to restore. Hopefully I can get pics up soon. And no, I will NEVER sell it. My wife already notified me that I'm being buried in the thing.
Yeah I took mine (fox) back out today for a blast. It absolutely out handles and out pulls the new car. You completely feel the lack of weight when going in to hard corners, and the combination of long tubes, heads, cam and intake make it sound about a thousand times meaner. The car has subframe connectors and eibach springs with Tokico shck, so it rides rough (not to mention that it's a vert) But it's amazing how quickly you forget about the stiff ride, and start just enjoing blasting through turns and pinning your ears back on straightaways. I can't afford to keep both, so it looks like the new one will have to go.
Expensive lesson, but a really good way to learn the Grass is ALways greener.
It doesn't hurt that the car is mint.
Expensive lesson, but a really good way to learn the Grass is ALways greener.
It doesn't hurt that the car is mint.
Eh, I have both a fox and a S197. The S197 is a cruiser, I honestly like the weight and feel considering I started out with MN12 T-birds. I have the FRPP handling kit and some light mods, mostly towards suspension. Friday night, was messing around on the freeway with a couple of riced civics, two eclipses and a Infinity G35. I looked down and realized I was passing them all in the curves at 120 with lots of grip to spare. Sure, the fox would have been better at this, but probally not as comfortable and reliable.
Having both I agree to an extent. However, My SN197 has the ever popular front end clunk, (do a search and find the billion or so posts on it) so I actually trust it a little less than my fox. It comes from knowing every single part that was put in my fox (having put most of it in myself through trial and Screwup (error) The new one's suspension is actually looser feeling and leaves me thinking I'm going to be stranded somewhere. Not to mention, part of the reason I wanted to buy the 05 was to get rid of rattles and clunks, but the fox convertible feels tighter.
The fox has nowhere near the refinement, but the refinement of the new one actually makes the clunks and rattles stand out more.
The fox has nowhere near the refinement, but the refinement of the new one actually makes the clunks and rattles stand out more.
I will never own one because after driving it you can see the chassis came from a Lincoln that is for sure. I will keep my FOX till its or my death and purchased a GTO for my new car after selling my wife's Z06. I don't buy by Brand Name but what I like. The New Mustang I like the style but don't like the bad quality and soft build.
Road feel.....you mean like jumping around on anything other than a perfectly flat surface, feeling every crack/rut/pebble on the road and the copius amounts body flex/noise that goes along with it?
"Tossable" in the corners all depends on your perspective. Taking a fox into a corner at high speeds with the amount of oversteer they display always makes you feel as though it's going to be your last, because you never know it you're going to come out of it alive. But when it comes right down to it, I'd feel a lot more comfortable running through a set of twistys in an S197 than a 28-year-old chassis that was originally build for an econobox Ford Fairmont.
You're crazy....stock for stock, the 3V sound is sex to the ears!!! WAAAAY nicer in stock trim than any of the previous 5.0L OHV or 2-valve OHC engines. Sure a Fox with an aftermarket exhaust system can sound pretty mean.....but they make plenty of mean sounding systems for the '05's too. It's a personal taste my friend, but the general consensus among the masses is that the 3V in stock trim is the nicer sounding set up.
That's funny....I bet the guys running around in the early-60's to early-70's Mustangs were saying the same thing when the II's and Fox Bodies hit the streets.
Nope...you were right the first time. From a practicality standpoint, it doesn't make sense to keep sinking money into an 18-year-old car. Driving newer is always the better decision from a financial standpoint after that many years. That being said, if "practicality" was the issue, owning a Mustang period wouldn't be a smart idea. We should all be running around in Ford Focus's if that was the case.
Interesting thread.
I have owned quite a few fox bodies over the years. They just seem like a old glove “it just fits” it just feels right behind the wheel. Almost every foxes I had was just as dependable as any new car and besides that, but if it did break down I could actually fix it myself with just simple tools in the garage.
I’ve owned newer stangs and car payments for them are a killer! I hate car payments!! And by the time I get done paying them off I already hate the car. The 4.6 motors are pain to work on to make them fast and only way to get any good power out them is with a power adder. Once you start taking the motors apart to beef them up you get nothing but problems and drivability issues.
Now for the 05’s and up. There is too many styling upgrades for these cars. You can literally buy 8 different Deck Lid Trim Panels and Sail Panels. It just to much of a designer car. Don’t get me wrong I do like the new gens and do love there interiors, but like everyone has said they are to big and heavy.
Besides everything said these newer mustang are hard to resell unless its a special mustang like a cobra, saleen, and roush. I had to practically give away my 2001 GT with 40k miles when I sold the car.
I’ll stick with my 93’ cobra and 94’ lightning. Its enough to keep my ford craze happy for now! If I do ever buy a newer vehicle it would probably be a gen 2 lightning.
I have owned quite a few fox bodies over the years. They just seem like a old glove “it just fits” it just feels right behind the wheel. Almost every foxes I had was just as dependable as any new car and besides that, but if it did break down I could actually fix it myself with just simple tools in the garage.
I’ve owned newer stangs and car payments for them are a killer! I hate car payments!! And by the time I get done paying them off I already hate the car. The 4.6 motors are pain to work on to make them fast and only way to get any good power out them is with a power adder. Once you start taking the motors apart to beef them up you get nothing but problems and drivability issues.
Now for the 05’s and up. There is too many styling upgrades for these cars. You can literally buy 8 different Deck Lid Trim Panels and Sail Panels. It just to much of a designer car. Don’t get me wrong I do like the new gens and do love there interiors, but like everyone has said they are to big and heavy.
Besides everything said these newer mustang are hard to resell unless its a special mustang like a cobra, saleen, and roush. I had to practically give away my 2001 GT with 40k miles when I sold the car.
I’ll stick with my 93’ cobra and 94’ lightning. Its enough to keep my ford craze happy for now! If I do ever buy a newer vehicle it would probably be a gen 2 lightning.
Road feel.....you mean like jumping around on anything other than a perfectly flat surface, feeling every crack/rut/pebble on the road and the copius amounts body flex/noise that goes along with it?
"Tossable" in the corners all depends on your perspective. Taking a fox into a corner at high speeds with the amount of oversteer they display always makes you feel as though it's going to be your last, because you never know it you're going to come out of it alive. But when it comes right down to it, I'd feel a lot more comfortable running through a set of twistys in an S197 than a 28-year-old chassis that was originally build for an econobox Ford Fairmont.
You're crazy....stock for stock, the 3V sound is sex to the ears!!! WAAAAY nicer in stock trim than any of the previous 5.0L OHV or 2-valve OHC engines. Sure a Fox with an aftermarket exhaust system can sound pretty mean.....but they make plenty of mean sounding systems for the '05's too. It's a personal taste my friend, but the general consensus among the masses is that the 3V in stock trim is the nicer sounding set up.
That's funny....I bet the guys running around in the early-60's to early-70's Mustangs were saying the same thing when the II's and Fox Bodies hit the streets.
Nope...you were right the first time. From a practicality standpoint, it doesn't make sense to keep sinking money into an 18-year-old car. Driving newer is always the better decision from a financial standpoint after that many years. That being said, if "practicality" was the issue, owning a Mustang period wouldn't be a smart idea. We should all be running around in Ford Focus's if that was the case.
I'm going to have to agree with most of what you said (though according to howstuffworks.com, the Fox platform was PRIMARILY aimed at the Mustang with every other car to be based off of it secondary). My '92 LX Vert is definitely showing it's age and a newer Mustang would be nice.
If you do have to sell your fox, isn't it good karma if you sell it to another true stager and fox lover at a steal of a price???? Does that make it any less of a sin? especially if you plan to buy another in a few years? I've owned three foxes in my life, and this one is by far the nicest...... It's also selling for the same price i sold my last one for, which was less modified, and in not as good condition....... 
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