@PopularMechanics _ June 2019 3737WHEN I WAS in high school, the sound of
these Mustangs had me hooked. It’s unique,
this big V-8 in this tiny car. I’ve always
wanted one, but time got away from me and
I forgot about them.
When I got married, I wanted to get a car.
You always hear stories about older couples
and the car they drove as newlyweds. I saw
one of these on the road. It reminded me of
my childhood, and it was a car that my wife
and I could both enjoy.
The convertible wasn’t my first choice. I
wanted the notchback or the hatchback, but
this one had really good pictures on Craigs-
list, so I went down and looked at it. I put the
top down and it felt good. Nobody has the
convertibles. Nobody really modifies the
convertibles. Plus, I love the red interior.
Black has no flavor. Red has a timeless rac-
ing feel. The car is different.
I always loved modifying, making a car
my own. I used to love turning wrenches
myself. But now—no. I have a friend who
does it for me. He enjoys it and we’re both
happy. So far, I’ve lowered it, put bigger
remakes of pony wheels on, and a full
exhaust. I want to change out the cooling
system and put new gears in the back end,
but I don’t want to make it too unreliable.
The drives are fun. I get stopped every-where. People realize they haven’t seen a
Fox-body in a long time. It takes them by sur-
prise and the memories start coming: Back
in my day I had one. It’s cool to jog people’s
memory just by being somewhere. My favor-
ite par t is cr uising w ith my w ife w ith the top
down, watching people look at the car.
I always say everything’s for sale, but I
would love to get to the point where I can
tear down the car and restore it. For now,
I’m just driving to see where it goes. I can’t
think of the last time I saw a Fox-body until I
got mine. That promotes me wanting to keep
it longer. It has already formed a special spot
in my heart.