1983 marked the fifth model year of the Fox Body Mustang. It had by now lasted as long as the entire run of the ill-fated Mustang II, although nobody realized that it would hang on for almost another decade.
The effects of the 1979 Gas Crisis were still fresh in everyone's mind and Ford, like other Detroit automakers saw the V-8 as an endangered species. In fact, from the middle of the model year, the 1983 Mustang GT was available with an optional 2.3L Turbo four making 145 SAE net horsepower.
The standard GT engine, though, was the 5.0L H.O. small block like the one in this Bright Red hatchback, with a four-barrel carburetor, a new high performance cam, and a low restriction dual-snorkel air cleaner combining to boost the output to 175 horses, which was an 18hp bump from the 1982 model.
Motor Trend tested a 5.0 five-speed GT and managed a 7.4 second run to sixty and a 16.06 quarter mile at 81.5 through the traps. They didn't measure the top speed, but Car and Driver got their '83 GT up to 128mph on the track.
The 1984 Ford Mustang GT represented the final year of the Malaise Era.
For 1984 the 5.0 would see its output bumped to 210hp, which was the first time a Mustang engine had cracked the 200 horsepower barrier since the 351 Cobra Jet "Q-code" motor of 1973, which put out 266 net ponies and was the swan song of the original Muscle Car Era.
This one was photographed in May of 2025 using a Sony a700 and a Sony ZA 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar* zoom lens.
No comments:
Post a Comment