1979 Ford Mustang Pace Car 5.0 V8

Summary:

Great collector car, V-8 power, 4 speed OD

Faults:

When I hit 1,000 miles on it, would not stay in 4th gear.

Random popping out of 4th gear. Covered under warranty; was repaired by the dealer a week later. I drove the car in 3rd gear until parts came from Detroit.

Thermostat stays open, making engine run cooler than normal in cool weather. Power door lock's internal rubber mounts wear out after 20 years. Had weak brakes at that time too; rear brake boosters had to be replaced.

Sun roof leaks at times, the drain holes (4 of them in the sun roof corner) have become plugged, allowing water to collect and then leak over driver's left leg.

The car has 89,700 miles on it now, and still runs and drives great.

TRX tires have been replaced in 2009 with 15 inch chrome wheels and Kumo tires. That made the car look even better.

General Comments:

The car turns a lot of heads, and have had several people want to buy it from me.

The engine still runs like new. I have gotten as high as 30 MPG driving at a constant 60 mph. Gotten as low as 16 MPG driving hard.

I had installed a rear louver right after I got the car, which makes the rear of the car look much better.

I got the car from a dealer in 1980 for $800 less than the sticker price, and have had offers for the same price that I paid for it new.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th May, 2012

5th Jun 2012, 16:00

The 70s were trouble prone. Better to find a nice Fox body cheap, and get a 302 V8 from the 90s.

19th Jul 2015, 00:06

I agree about the Mustang IIs. However, 1979 was the first year of the Fox Mustangs.

1979 Ford Mustang 2.8L

Summary:

Hated it and loved it

Faults:

The carburetor needed to be rebuilt when I got it and the power steering pump needed to be replaced, we were able to replace the power steering on our own, but had to pay around $600 to fix the carburetor.

When I had the vehicle the whole engine fell apart around 2006 at the start of the second semester for college, can't remember the exact date. I wouldn't necessarily call it the cars fault since around a month before it fell apart I noticed the oil gauge wasn't reading any pressure. I told my dad about it, dummy said its probably the gauge, neither of us checked like idiots. so yeah I had been riding it a while with no oil pressure probably my fault it fell apart. Makes me sad now. I had probably around 10,000 miles on it myself before this happened, but prior to that it ran, and ran reasonably well. Sorry for such a lengthy story, I thought it was needed to explain why it failed.

General Comments:

The miles gauge read around 40k (since the gauge only goes up to 99999) when I got it, yeah I know that's not the miles, and I drove around 10k while owning it.

About the car now.

I didn't know the millage on the car, but I do know I put around 10,000 miles on it give or take a thousand. Its in the junkyard now.

The car got poor gas millage, around 10 miles a gallon if I was lucky.

Acceleration was poor, I could floor it and barely speed up enough to make it up on the freeway.

The seats were in very good condition when receiving it and didn't seem to wear at all. very nice interior over all.

It still had paint on it while my brothers 1991 explorer had half his paint pealing.

It would consistently stall (warming it up would usually make this not happen), I would make jokes that I was going to die pulling in front of traffic in it.

Breaks didn't break very well, even slamming on them wouldn't slow it down fast enough.

I have to say, I hated the car while owning it and loved it when I lost it, since not having a car sucks.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 7th March, 2007