1984 Ford Mustang GT Review #blogpost

Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to test drive a 1984 Ford Mustang GT. Beforehand, I was initially excited to go and see it for real. When I pulled up and saw it, I actually didn’t mind the looks at all. I’m rather sure that there are a good amount of people who don’t like the looks of the ‘84 Mustang, but personally I kind of like it. The pictures of the car I saw on Craigslist looked very good but in person, it wasn’t as nice. There was some surface rust on some of the parts and the car overall wasn’t in mint condition to say the least. I liked the interior because the smell and overall feel of the car reminded me of my friend’s 1990 Pontiac Bonneville, including the seats and seatbelt.

First off, the owner of the car took me for a ride in it. The engine sounded very meaty and throaty even though it’s “only” a 302 cubic inch V8. I’ve driven old trucks with glasspack mufflers before and those were a little too loud for my taste. The mufflers on this car were loud but they weren’t too loud, a good balance of loudness while not being too overbearing. He accelerated it in first gear quite a bit and I asked “Was that full throttle?” and his reply was “No.” That impressed me that the car accelerated really good but he wasn’t giving it the full beans. We got onto the highway and there was noticeable wind noise and the engine was turning at about 2,300 RPM at 65 MPH, which I was impressed by. In comparison, my Subaru Legacy would be spinning at about 2,700 RPM in 6th gear at the same speed.

The owner let me do this, JUST KIDDING

Next up, the owner took my dad for a ride, and then, I got to drive it! There were some things about it that I did and didn’t like but overall I loved it. The steering was okay at best, but at least I didn’t need arms the size of pythons to operate it. I loved the shifter in it, the throws require more effort compared to my Subaru but the throws themselves are shorter. The brakes of the car don’t inspire much confidence, the fact the rear brakes are drum and not disc might have something to do with it. The clutch pedal was rather stiff and abrupt in it’s feedback. Driving onto the freeway was quite an experience. I’ve driven a Tesla Model S and I’m sure that’s a faster car but this just might be more fun. Oh yeah, and the stereo system is pretty good (it’s an aftermarket Pioneer unit).

After that, I inspected the car some more to find a little oil-like sludge near the oil pan, so there could be a little bit of an oil leak from the engine. There is another person coming to look at the car tomorrow, so there’s no gurantee I’ll be getting the car.

Now I understand why so many people wanted me to get the Foxbody, it’s a great car! Granted, it could use some work, but this is going to be a project car so that’s something I should maybe actually be looking for. I will be test driving 3 more cars tomorrow and I will be posting about that as well.