Not SSP but great find!!! Motivational

[flying_gage]

Hey all!

This might actually be my first post here. Have been here for awhile and on the other site for awhile. Have an original CHP car that is hibernating right now, but will be back up and running soon. The problem is, I love the fact it has the history and is completely stock. Never modded and never hotrodded. Didn't want to be the first to do so...

So with some nice goodies sitting on the shelf, a bone stock authentic SSP what is a guy to do, right? Keep on searching for another sedan. Problem is though that they are getting harder to find and a lot of them are junk.

Well with my step son totaling my daily driver, I went to C/L and just figured I would do a quick search. Found a '87 sedan that looked clean with 167k. Price was right, so I figured, "what the heck, never hurts to call..."

Story I got was that it had been in the family since new. Had not been modded and she was firm at $1800. Stated there was a lot of interest but no cash in hand. Oh, and she was 300 miles away and it had snowed a lot recently. God bless her, she said she would hold it till the following week, and no I didn't need to send her any cash to hold it....?

My last question to her was did the heat work, (wanted to make sure I came prepared if not)? She actually laughed at me and said it would blow me out of the car... OK, I thought, it has had it's heater core replaced at some time. Remember I have had 10 of these cars....

An anxious week went buy and my step son and I went to look at it. Story held up and she was a wonderful lady who was honest as the day is long. Except the car was nicer than she told me. Had a little rust but the underside was undercoated and was solid! The interior was near mint and the ashtray door still worked! Interestingly, it only had 3 options: AM/FM with cass, rear window defrost and the 5.0 package.

Everything was original, (body panels, struts/shocks, 2.73 gears etc...). Made it about a 1/4 mile down the road and turned around telling her I would take it. Back in the saddle again!

Seeing as my step son made the drive with me, figured I would let him drive it back to where we were staying. He has a '98 BC4 LS1 that is an ex-South Carolina Highway Patrol car. Wanted him to understand my affliction for cars that he says look like cavaliers... He now does.

Got back to our hotel room and pulled out the owners manual. Everything was there, including the metal warranty plate! Also the original owner had documented all the service till 1995. It revealed he had some issues with the idle a couple times, the emisions system and needed a battery. Also by 1995 he had driven it sparingly. By that point he had only put 50k on her. In the years between 91-95 he had only driven it 3000 miles.

You probably know where this is going.... So I call the lady and ask her if maybe the miles might be 67k instead of 167k. She laughs and says: "Funny you say that, my husband said the same exact thing!". She explained that she didn't really know, but wanted to estimate high. She said upon reflection, she thought it really was only 67k when I explained the maintenance records and stuff. She said her brother in law never drove the car and that her sister in law couldn't drive the car after she bought it in 2009.

So I am tickled pink! Waiting on her to get back to me as I asked if I could talk to her brother in law to get some more specifics.

Now I am struggling as I probably have a low mile, original sedan with low options. I don't want to modify this one either! Oh to have my problems, right...

Well sorry for the long post. I love hearing these types of stories and figured some of you may also. If nothing else it might make you think twice about not calling on that couple line listing on C/L....

Here are some links to the pics I have uploaded so far.

[CNTLOSE]

Nice story and what a steal.

If you do mod just do bolt ons so it could always be returned to stock if you or a furture owner would want to do so...at least that is what I would do.

[mac88chp]

Mod away and make it your own. The car is real nice for sure and you don't see many in that condition for sale anymore but it is not a future collector car.

Congrats on the find...now don't neglect the SSP you own!

[flying_gage]

Mac88CHP

I might disagree with the 87 not being a collector car in the future. I will only point to the late 70's z28 and Trans Am's.

A low mileage, low optioned notch is nothing to sneeze at. We shall see

Yes, tasteful bolt on mods might be in order. I have a pristine GT40 tubular intake and GT40P heads sitting on the shelf just waiting. That along with some suspension upgrades, (I like curves) and she might be to my liking.

[CNTLOSE]

Most certainly it is a collector car. Any low mileage 5.0 notchback Mustang will be the collector car of the future. Next to the Cobra and SSP they are the most sought after Fox Body Mustang....actually probably more sought after than the SSP. At the time they were considered ugly and Plain Jane. Most were sold to those who wanted a car to drag race or just could not afford to get into the more expensive GT. Low mileage notchbacks in the right color can sell for almost as much as they were new.

Keep the car, enjoy it, lightly modify it, and I say you will have a great collector car for many years to come.

[chp1982]

Cool story. Absolutely a very desirable car and future classic. Hopefully it's not too rusty.

[EXNODRAMANOTCH]

Great story and nice car! It's already modified with the stripes and the holes drilled in the trunk for the spoiler (If it were my car I'd lose both). Tasteful bolt-on mods are the way to go. I modified my 86 GT convertible (bought new) after I had it stock for 4 years. I held on to all the stock parts for about 4 more years and then sold them as I thought I would never want it stock again. Now, 18 years later (34k miles) I still like it better modified (and after I'm gone the next owner can track down the stock parts if so desired). Do what you like with it and enjoy it! As far as SSPs go, I'm a strong believer in keeping them stock (in either as delivered by Ford condition, or as in-service condition). The history of a SSP is what really keeps me interested in this hobby.

[flying_gage]

It is not too rusty. Bottom of doors, the left fender, a titch in the corner of the doors and the trunk lid is popping. The main areas of the car are in great shape: torque boxes, the shock towers and the floors.

Plans are to drive it the next year for my commuter with the above mentioned mods. Just enjoy it for what it is....

On a different note, I have never owned a fox bodied stang with 2.73 gears. I was actually able to drive the car without too much difficulty in 2" of snow up in Wisconsin. The one thing that I did to my SSP car was to slip in a 8.8 with 3.73's that I had lying around. Couldn't help but not spin the tires even on dry pavement.

Well thanks for the responses! Glad to hear there are others who like the "barn find" stories like I do..

[28HopUp]

Great story, Peter! It sounds like it will be a great project for you and your step son, and it should be an excellent daily driver for you. When you can, please post up some pictures of your SSP.

[28HopUp]

Peter, do you have any updates on your project?