Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe Mustang is said to carry the legacy of an ill-fated promotion involving both NCAA basketball and the Uncola, 7UP. Let’s see whether its price proves a slam dunk or a bottleneck.
Baked Alaska is an overly complicated dessert made up of ice cream, cake, and meringue. That’s then doused in alcohol and set ablaze just as it’s served so as to brown the peaky whipped egg white topping. It’s a dramatic presentation to be sure, but fire? At the table? I think not. I’d much rather my food be cooked in the kitchen and then served to me after all the open flame parts of the process have been completed.
A similar request might be made for yesterday’s interesting but seemingly half-baked 1987 Range Rover Turbo D. A rare two-door diesel import with a valued five-speed stick, it came with a litany of mechanical issues—leaks and mounts mostly—that needed to be addressed before the British wagon could be deemed a semi-reliable driver. That in fact, drove disfavor for the $13,000 asking, and the truck fell in a substantial 83-percent Crack Pipe loss. The only good thing to come out of it all is that now I’ll bet you’re thinking about having dessert.
Since we’re imagining something sweet, why don’t we just segue to sodas and today’s 1990 Ford Mustang 5.0 which is sort of claimed to be a ‘7UP’ car.
Okay… (affects Jeff Goldblum Jurassic Park voice) Seven… Seven Up Car?
The story is that the NCAA and uncola maker 7UP partnered on a promotion in which 30 specially kitted Mustangs would be given away during the NCAA College Basketball finals. All that it took to win one of the cars was to sink a basket from half court. For unexplained reasons the promotion was cancelled and the cars were repurposed by Ford, unofficially, as 25th Anniversary editions. An additional 4,073 were added to the run, just for shits and giggles.
The cars were all LX convertibles painted Emerald Green with white trim and top and sporting the 225-horsepower 302 V8. Of those, 1,360 came blessed with the five speed stick. The rest were saddled with the autotragic.
This one comes with its paint and top intact, as well as only 42K on the clock, but it has a number of mods that might easily make it or break it in your book when it comes to its not insubstantial asking price.
First off, the car’s condition. The paint looks great, and the Emerald Jewel color does flatter the LX’s styling. The top looks intact and clean if somewhat janky. That’s owed to the Foxstang never having been originally intended as a droptop,.
Inside things are a little rougher, with tears in the white leather on the driver’s seat, some questionable aftermarket wood trim scattered throughout, and a few missing screw caps here and there. Overall it’s perfectly serviceable, however a long way from new.
There have been a number of mods made to the car, some obvious, and others not so much. That is, unless you pop the hood, which the seller has decided not to do for the pics. One thing you’ll initially note is that the factory GT turbine wheels have been replaced with BBS knock-off ARE alloy wheels. Never fear however, as the ad notes the turbines come with the car. I think that would be an early-on revert for a new owner.
Inside, the stereo has been updated to a more modern unit and a boost gauge has been added. A boost gauge you say? Yes. That’s for the Paxton supercharger that feeds the EFI 5.0.. The ad notes that the unit was rebuilt in 1998, but has more recently started to make unpleasant noises so it’s been decommissioned for the moment.
The mill has seen other work over the years, including an enlarged throttle body, mild cam, and roller rockers. A Ford Motorsport T5 sits behind all that, and that’s operated via a Hurst shifter. Apparently almost all of the original parts are included with the car in case you wanted to undo the work done.
Okay, let’s figure out just what we’ve got here. This is a 25th anniversary car that is a continuation of the 30 cars originally intended for a college hoops promotion. It’s LX based so it’s not as ostentatious as a GT of the era. Whether that’s a good or bad is up to you. It comes with some performance parts—not all of which are working—so it probably does manage to scoot when it’s all put together. For that, the seller asks $20,000.
Twenty grand is a lot of cabbage, and you’ll now need to decide whether this sort of special Mustang might be worth that. What do you think, does that price make you thirst for some ‘Stang? Or, does that leave you flat?
You decide!
Salt Lake City, UT Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to twowheelsev for the hookup!
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