Junkyard Gem: 1987 Ford Mustang LX Hatchback

With the introduction of the brand new Fox-platform Mustang for the 1979 mannequin 12 months, the Pinto-derived Mustang II was proven the door and a brand new period of Mustang efficiency started. Mustangs with ever-more-powerful V8s and turbocharged four-bangers hit the streets, rappers sang their praises and hot-rodded Ford ponies took over the drag strips. The factor is, we regularly neglect that the Mustang additionally remained devoted to its origins as a sporty-looking but economical commuter automobile throughout the Fox period, which signifies that loads had been offered with gas-sipping base engines and penny-pinching worth tags. This is a type of automobiles, present in a North Carolina self-service knacker’s yard lately.

In 1987, the Mustang was accessible as a notchback two-door sedan, as a convertible and as a three-door hatchback. Apart from 1979 and 1980, the hatchback all the time outsold the notchback throughout the 1979-1993 Fox period (during which greater than 2.5 million Mustangs had been offered).

The bottom engine within the 1987 Mustang LX was the two.3-liter “Pinto” four-cylinder, rated at 90 horsepower and 130 pound-feet, and that is what we have now right here.

The 1987 Mustang GT got here with a 5.0-liter V8 making 225 horses and 300 pound-feet. These wishing to get a light-weight sleeper Mustang that 12 months might purchase the LX notchback and order it with the V8 and affiliated elements, which added $1,885 ($5,294 in 2024 {dollars}) to the automobile’s $8,043 sticker worth ($22,591 after inflation).

The LX hatchback price a bit greater than the trunk-equipped ’87 Mustang, with an MSRP of $8,474 ($23,801 in as we speak’s cash). However this automobile has some expensive choices that pushed the worth fairly a bit larger, as we’ll see.

First, there’s the four-speed automated transmission with overdrive, which added $515 to the out-the-door price ($1,447 now). There’s additionally air-con, which added between $788 and $1,028 relying on the package deal ($2,213 to $2,887 as we speak). 

This automobile additionally has the good forged aluminum wheels, which got here with the V8 engine package deal and do not appear to have been a manufacturing facility possibility for two.3-equipped automobiles. We will assume that these had been swapped on after buy.

The middle caps had been inside.

It is in fairly good situation for a 37-year-old automobile, significantly better than nearly all of Fox Mustangs I discover throughout my junkyard travels. Stuffing a Windsor V8 and handbook transmission into one in every of these automobiles is a simple and comparatively low-cost undertaking, however no one intercepted this automobile throughout its path to the crusher. I believe a hot-rodded Fox LTD or Cougar can be extra enjoyable, personally.

1987 was the mannequin 12 months for the Fox Mustang’s huge facelift, which removed the previous sealed-beam “four-eyes” headlights and added a grille very similar to those on Tauruses and Thunderbirds. The ultimate 12 months for the Fox Mustang was 1993, until you think about the Fox-derived 1994-2004 SN95 Mustangs to be real Foxes.

Ford did not trouble to make many TV commercials pitching the Mustang LX, as an alternative specializing in the flashier GT. I used to be a broke school scholar in 1987 and a brand new Mustang was far out of my attain, however a minimum of I owned a sporty Ford fastback with Windsor V8 and screaming Competitors Orange paint on the time.