{"id":448,"date":"2017-04-14T18:15:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T18:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/?p=448"},"modified":"2017-04-14T18:15:41","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T18:15:41","slug":"the-1995-mustang-gts-the-longest-running-gtc-project-car-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/the-1995-mustang-gts-the-longest-running-gtc-project-car-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The 1995 Mustang GTS, the Longest Running GTC Project Car – PART 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

This car has been around for a while; it\u2019s been in the mix since 2003, which makes it a 14 year (and counting) project. But what is it, where did we get it, and why do we still have it?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was a young soldier undergoing training in the Eastern part of Alberta, and while \u201con course\u201d there is little to do but amass some spending money. It had been nearly 6 months since I had bid farewell to my 1984 Mustang LX (CLICK HERE TO READ<\/a>) and I resolved to get a better Mustang than a tired 4 cylinder banger.<\/p>\n

1995 marked the last year of the pushrod 5.0L Windsor V8 in the Mustang, 1996 would see the introduction of the 4.6L SOHC \u201cModular\u201d V8 and to many the sun was setting on the Mustang GT. The \u201995 represents the second year of the new for \u201994 body restyle of the Mustang which can be called the SN95 or Fox-4 platform with equal validity.<\/p>\n

\"\"

The 1994 Mustang GT, Photo: Ford Motor Company<\/p><\/div>\n

The Fox-4 name comes from the reality that this new Mustang was heavily drawn from the 1993 Fox(body) Mustang platform, it looked very different with \u201cCoke-bottle\u201d styling and the complete interior overhaul, but the chassis was a close cousin. How close was it you might wonder?<\/p>\n

Aside from small (but good) changes to the details, the basic formula was the same, a McPherson front strut, a stick axle in the rear, V8 engines, 5 speed manual, similar floor pan and unibody stampings. This was both a curse and a blessing, it would be another 4 years before the first Independent-Rear-Suspension Mustang (The 1999 SVT Cobra) and two decades before IRS became standard on all Mustangs. The good side of using all of this established \u201clow\u201d tech was that nearly all Fox Mustang performance parts were a direct bolt-in, which allowed fitment of the vast range of pieces developed in the 16 years since the 1979 Mustang had made its debut.<\/p>\n

How did I find this one?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The internet not being terribly accessible to me at the time I spent my off-duty time reading Mustang magazines for inspiration and pouring over each issue of the \u201cAutotrader\u201d and\u00a0 the \u201cFor Sale\u201d adverts in the back of any newspaper I could find.<\/p>\n

What was I looking for?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"

2003 SVT Cobra Convertible. Photo: Ford Motor Company<\/p><\/div>\n

At the time, the big noise in the Ford performance world was the release of Supercharged \u201cTerminator\u201d SVT Cobra, it had 390 horsepower from an Eaton M112 equipped 4.6L DOHC V8, but at $42,000 CDN it was nearly double my annual salary. The obvious plan of living in a car not passing the first draft, it was plain I had to aim a little lower.<\/p>\n

\"\"

2002 Mustang GT Convertible Photo: Ford Motor Company<\/p><\/div>\n

The 1999-2003 Mustang GT looked really good, it had 260 horsepower from a normally aspirated 4.6L SOHC V8. I had test driven a Burgundy one the previous summer, and while they were cheaper than a Terminator, they were not what would be considered affordable either, still well over $25,000 CDN for a used one.<\/p>\n

That brought things down to the 1994-98 SN95 Chassis we covered above, this generation offered the relatively anemic 215 horsepower 4.6L SOHC (Non- Performance Improved) V8 often dubbed \u201cthe torqueless wonder\u201d after 1995, so I fixated on 5.0L only, \u201894 or \u201895 cars.<\/p>\n

Why not a Fox?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

There was no turning down a good Fox, but by 2003 finding one ii good condition was getting to be tough. Sure, they were out there, but they were not dropping to 20+ year old car prices, and the threshold between a decent Fox and rolling scrap metal was still several thousand dollars.<\/p>\n

Found it!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This search took months, and after a few dead ends, one lead finally panned out, in July 2003. In a newspaper half page advert for West Side Mitsubishi, listed a 1995 Mustang GTS. I found it on a Sunday afternoon, and figured the dealer would be closed, but stuffed a handful of change into the barrack\u2019s payphone anyway, just to see. After plugging the contact number, I was surprised when a receptionist answered and quickly put me in touch with an enthusiastic sales guy.<\/p>\n

\"\"

1995 FORD MUSTANG GT
2 dr., 5 spd, air, tilt, p. seat, am\/fm cassette $7995 (with $2000 trade or cash equivalent)<\/p><\/div>\n

I asked a few details, condition, mileage, confirmed the price etc. Satisfied, I explained my rather unique employment situation and location, and said I would plan to make the 2 hour trip in to Edmonton for a viewing in two weeks, when I could get a pass to leave the base. \u00a0Sensing a sale was in jeopardy the sales guy quickly offered a compromise\u2026 \u201cHow about I drive the car out you, you can view it and test drive, if you like it we sign the paperwork, if you don\u2019t I drive it back, no strings attached.\u201d To this, I quickly agreed.<\/p>\n

The next week could not pass quickly enough and finally on Saturday, the salesman arrived just as agreed.\u00a0 The Deep Forest Green 1995 Mustang GTS pulled into the parking, and aside from the addition of the 2004 Mustang V6 \u201cfading pony\u201d door decals, it was completely stock.<\/p>\n

\"\"

As purchased on 14 July, 2003 – 131,300 km (81,552 miles)<\/p><\/div>\n

We exchanged pleasantries and quickly set off on a test drive. It had been months since I had driven anything and it felt great to be at the wheel again. From the time I got outside the town limits, I knew I was going to buy this car.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t fast, especially by 2017 standards, with only 215 brake horsepower and 285 ft-lbs of torque, but at the time is was the 2nd<\/sup> fastest thing I had ever driven. The fastest, and this will cause some to laugh, was the 2002 Mustang GT tested the summer previous. Satisfied and quite happy, we returned to the parking lot, I signed the papers literally on the hood, and gave the sale guy a ride to the Greyhound Bus depot, where he would wait some hours to get a ticket back to Edmonton.<\/p>\n

I had my first V8 Mustang, and couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n

In PART 2 we\u2019ll cover what exactly I bought, and what I planned to do with it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This car has been around for a while; it\u2019s been in the mix since 2003, which makes it a 14 year (and counting) project. But what is it, where did we get it, and why do we still have it? I was a young soldier undergoing training in the Eastern part of Alberta, and while […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[3,30,76,4,31,77],"class_list":["post-448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mustang","tag-ford","tag-fox","tag-gts","tag-mustang","tag-sn95","tag-windsor"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/DSC_0034.jpg?fit=3872%2C2592","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8in4L-7e","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gtconcepts.ca\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}