Like a lot of hot rodders out there, my first close-up encounter with a true muscle car was behind the wheel of a 5-liter Mustang. For me, that was the fall of 1986. I liked hot cars before then, but the interest was more a passing curiosity than a full-blown love affair. What got me behind the wheel at the local Ford dealership was the rabid infatuation with musclecars—especially Fords—by my co-workers at the Montgomery Ward Auto Center.
When the power rating of the Mustang GT was upped to 200 hp for the 1986 model year, I got up the courage to ask for a test drive. Once I mashed the gas pedal in second gear, I was bitten. But I still didn’t have the cash. When the power rating was upped to 225hp for the 1987 model year, I visited the dealer again. That’s when I discovered you didn’t need to pony up for the GT to get all that power. The LX was available with the 5-liter V-8, and it was cheaper to boot.
On Thanksgiving Day, 1986, I special ordered my black LX 5.0 for $12,100. My only options: the top-line 80 watt stereo, sunroof, A/C, and 3.08 gears. Otherwise, it was stripped. From that day on, I read everything on late-model Mustangs, doing bolt-ons first, then going deeper into the engine. Eventually, it lead to a job as tech editor at Muscle Mustangs & Fast Fords magazine, and a dream come true. Thanks a bunch Ford, for supplying the inspiration!