A maroon, seven-hundred-dollar ‘84 2.3L Mustang coupe was my icebreaker into Mustang ownership and technically my first road-going car. For an enthusiastic 19 year old Darren, it was a hard lesson in “you-get-what-you-pay-for” but it also developed my mechanical skills with its frequent breakdowns and often undeserved repairs. Two short years with the ’84 coupe seen a full brake job, tires, shocks, an engine replacement, a clutch, wiring issues, a transmission and 25,000 km’s of rain, snow and shine.

The photo was taken in Upper Clements, Nova Scotia in October of 2003, at that time the car was barely a 10-footer, if you looked any closer you would see it was essentially a rolling scrapheap. In Oct ’03 I’d returned from Battle School to get married, and supervise my permanent relocation to Edmonton Alberta. At that time I grabbed a few parting shots of the ’84 in my Grandfather’s back yard and due to being things getting misplaced this looks like the only remaining photo I have.

What you can’t see from the grainy photo is the repair the vehicle was in. The door bottoms were rusted through on the inside, the trunk was in much the same shape, the floor needed a few small patches, and the sunroof leaked on the passenger whenever you made a left turn. That last bit really endeared it to my wife.

Since I’d already purchased my 1995 Ford Mustang GTS, I made the hard decision to leave my first mustang behind, knowing the amount of work required to make it pass an out-of-province inspection in Alberta.

The car was traded in 2005 for an aluminum boat, which was soon sold for $300, the new owner parked it somewhere forested a few kilometers from where that photo was taken. I went back in 2009 and made a casual attempt to get a look at it, but the undergrowth had made it all but invisible from the roadway. I imagine there isn’t much left of it now, the amount of deterioration that occurred the while I was away for 9 months in ’03 was unbelievable, 12 years later I can only imagine…

I do still have the trunklid badges which I shaved off before I left it.

At a Glance Specs:

Factory Rated: 88 BHP & 118 BTQ

 Specifications & Modifications:

 Engine

2.3L SOHC 4 cylinder (1976 Ford Pinto, later 1990 Mustang)

Cast Iron cylinder head

Aluminum 2 BBL Intake Manifold (’76 Pinto)

Holley 2 BBL Carburetor (’76 Pinto)

Cast Iron Exhaust Manifold

Custom 2 1/4″ Single Off-road Exhaust

Turbo Muffler

 Driveline

Ford of Germany ET Series 4-speed Manual Transmission (’81 Mercury Capri)

Gear Ratios:

1st – 3.98

2nd – 2.14

3rd – 1.42

4th – 1.00

R – 3.99

Dynapak Clutch

7.5″ Rear Axle with Open Differential

3.08:1 Final Drive

Suspension & Chassis

Front Sway bar

Thunderbird Turbo Coupe Rear Sway bar

9.31″ Single Piston Disc Brakes Front

9.0 x 1.73″ Drum Brakes Rear

14 x 5.5” 1988 Mustang Styled steel wheels

185/70/14 BFG Control T/A M80 All Season Tires

Appearance

Two Tone Paint

Removable “open air” sunroof

Tan Cloth interior