One of (if not the) nicest Foxbody Ford Mustangs in existence—owned by The Drive founder Matt Farah—has just come up for sale on car auction site Bring A Trailer.
The Mustang in question is a 1988 Mustang LX with the law-enforcement exclusive Special Service Package. According to a Mustang SSP historical site, this package ruggedized the car with oil and transmission coolers and aerospace-grade coolant lines, but also reinforced the backs of its bucket seats and the car’s floorpan. In the name of bringing costs down, aesthetic items such as paint striping and creature comforts like air conditioning were withheld.
After six years of service with the California Highway Patrol between 1988 and 1994, this Mustang SSP passed into private hands. Two decades and an engine swap (to a Ford Racing 302-cubic-inch V8 with GT40-style heads) later, it fell into Farah’s hands where it underwent extensive modification and restoration.
A new coat of paint, gigantic fender flares, and HRE forged wheels bring the Mustang’s exterior to life, while Recaro bucket seats with wacky upholstery and a less-wonky aftermarket steering wheel make this now 30-year-old car look almost new. It’ll drive even better than new, though, owing to an almost comprehensive rear-end swap for the independent suspension from a 2004 Mustang Cobra, and a Torsen mechanical limited-slip differential. All four corners feature Bilstein shocks and springs as well as Cobra disc brakes.
All together, Farah has poured tens of thousands of dollars into the construction of this car, which he has on multiple occasions referred to as a “50,000 dollar Mustang.” It’ll cost its buyer still more than that because its high bid on Bring A Trailer is already up to $65,000 as of the time of this article. Is Matt making a profit on the car, then? Nope, half the proceeds go to a charity of the buyer’s choice. We might recommend Parkinson’s charity Drive Toward A Cure.
