Chapter 1
The Ideal Commuter

by Ryan King
Edited by Patricia Kalin
1/06

It was long about 10 AM on a Sunday morning in February of 1999 when my Mother brought a car ad in the local paper to my attention. A 1987 Ford Mustang LX Sedan was for sale at a dealership in the area, and it just so happened that it was within my price range. I was in college and looking for a reliable commuter to get me to school, but wasn't willing to own a front-wheel drive four-cylinder car, so I called the dealership and spoke with one of the salesmen there. He was a nice enough gentleman, even though he answered a number of my questions with obvious ambiguity that was intended to entice me to come take a look at the car. The tactic he employed was all wrong. He said he thought it had all sorts of power options, but I wanted a car without any. Lucky for me, I was interested enough in the car to take a closer look.

The car was Medium Shadow Blue Metallic with a blue cloth interior backed by a five-speed manual. It had a total of 98,000 original miles and was an untouched original, but what caught my attention was the total lack of accessories on the car. No A/C, no power windows, seats or door locks. There was even no sunroof. The only thing it had that turned me off were the power steering, power brakes, and an engine control computer. All of which were standard equipment from the factory.

I suppose a little background surrounding the Mustang LX Sedan and my reason for owning one will help to bring this story into perspective: In 1987, the 5.0 Mustang hit the market place with an updated look and refined engine that redefined American factory performance. The LX Sedan was by far the lightest of the five different body styles available, and when optioned correctly, it made the car a serious performance machine (even out-accelerating the vaunted Ferrari* that year).

Power...handling...braking...economy...reliability...simplicity... value...and ease of and response to modification all make up the Five Liter Mustang legend. With its world beating performance and low cost, it stands as one of the best bang-for-buck cars ever made. A 225 horsepower 5.0 V8 with 300 pound-feet of torque was backed by a five-speed manual transmission propelled a low option LX Sedan to a quarter mile time of 14 flat at 97 miles per hour. That wasn't its only stand out number. Its 0-60 time was 6.1 seconds, its max lateral-g was .84 and its breaking from 60 occurred in just 135 feet. If that wasn't enough, it got 25 mpg and topped out at 145 miles per hour.

While I prefer '60s era Muscle Cars with no power accessories and larger displacement engines with meatier torque curves, this car had performance numbers most of the Muscle Cars from that time period couldn't touch (and it did all of that with great gas mileage). To top it off, the car I was looking at did what I wanted for only $3000.

I was sold.

I spent the next 33,000 miles getting to know the little 5.0, doing my best to learn the new fuel injected technology and understanding its quirks, its strengths and its weaknesses.

*Specs for Ferrari provided by Road & Track, September 1987 and compared to specs provided by The Official Ford Mustang 5.0 Technical Reference and Performance Handbook, Bentley Publishers, 1999 (Ford Racing P/N M-1832-Z4).

Project LX '87 Specifications (As Purchased)
Vehicle	1987 Ford Mustang LX Sedan
Exterior Color	Medium Shadow Blue Metallic
Interior	Blue Cloth
Layout	Front engine/rear drive
Engine	5.0L V8 (302)
Induction	Ford EEC-IV SFI; 60mm Ford throttle body; 19 lb Ford injectors
Horsepower	N/A
Torque	N/A
Transmission	Borg/Warner T5 5-speed manual; OD
Gears	3.35/1.99/1.29/1.00/.62/3.15R
Differential	Ford 8.8"; 3.08:1; Ford Traction-Lok limited-slip differential
Steering	Power assist; rack & pinion; 15.0:1
Front Suspension	Independant; 425 lb/530 lb coil springs; Modified McPherson struts; 1.3" swaybar
Rear Suspension	Solid; 200 lb/300 lb coil springs; Quadra-shocks; .83" swaybar
Brakes	Power assist; disc/drum; 10"/1.75"x9"
Wheels	15"x7" Ford aluminum10-Hole
Tires	225/60R15 Road Hugger GT
Length	179.6"
Width	69.1"
Height	52.1"
Wheelbase	100.5"
Track	56.6"/57"
Curb Weight	N/A
CID/Weight	N/A
HP/Weight	N/A
Gas Mileage	N/A
0-60	N/A
60-Foot	N/A
Eighth Mile	N/A
Quarter Mile	N/A
Skid Pad	N/A
60-0	N/A