Burnouts in a 41 year old 1979 Mustang Pace Car Fox body! | Horsepower United

[@kevinsellsit5584]

At 8:50 "And all these decals came on the car"... not necessarily. My father, a Ford VP at the time ordered ours without the massive "MUSTANG" on the hood, or the "OFFICAL PACE CAR" on the sides. Those decals were in the back with the spare tire. Our car was not a 4.9-liter 139hp V8 like yours, but ours had a BOOST gauge on the dash! The legendary 2.3 with a Turbo and a 4 speed. It had 4 galloping mustangs on each front fender, and 131 more under the hood, for a total horsepower of 139. My claim to fame is that I learned to drive in a Turbo Pace Car. The metric 390mm TRX wheel, tire, and suspension package got me in a lot of trouble. My best friend and I were at the local carpet mill parking lot sliding my 2-stroke go-kart around one Sunday afternoon when dad shows up to take it for a ride. "Sure dad, let me fuel it up and you can do some drifting". The massive unobstructed parking lot had an "L" shape which dog legged out in front of the building. With cones set up it took about 45 seconds for the 175cc 2-stroke to complete a lap. Dad returns over a minute later, shuts the engine off and says "Kevin, you don't know anything about the dark black burnout marks up front which are clearly made from TRX tires do you"? Since our car came directly from the LA auto show, dad knew damn well his car was most likely the only car with TRX tires in the state at that time. BUSTED!

[@scarbourgeoisie]

I owned one of these (less than 500 units came into Canada) for just shy of thirty years. When I sold it, it had a 331 stroker and was a mid 12s. car.

[@erikradzins]

I sold mine to MOs Speed Shop in GA. He already has it looking amazing!!!!!

[@RustyWrenches]

I forgot you had this thing. Neat little bit of history. Sounds like it found a good home.

[@erikradzins]

It did...it’s not the last we will be seeing of it.

[@edwardprete]

Pace car had 140 HP. All three are accounts for. The Museum, Jack Rousch collection (also served as a pace car in another race). Rick Mears, the winner of the race, got the third. BTW, only the taillight panel is different not the side quarter panels. Good luck.

[@erikradzins]

Yes that’s what I meant. The tail light panel.... which starts right at the end of the quarter panel. Thanks for the history!!!!

[@edwardprete]

Erik Radzins always good to see these live on. I had two. Still have a bunch of 84-86 foxes.

[@erosenriquetovargarcia3221]

Chingonon... foxbody 🥳❤👏

[@aidenfehr454]

I have a V8 5.0L in Canada I heard only about 600? Made it here? Wondering how many are left…

[@erikradzins]

I am sure not many!!!!

[@BryanW163]

You are a certified ripper after a qt hotdog.

[@erikradzins]

Facts!!!! Lol

[@Mach1s]

Do you know anything about the unique A/C control panel on the car? Every other that I have ever seen has the A/C controls integrated into the heat controls. My Pace Car has the same one yours does but I cannot find any info about it?

[@mccoma11]

Rear brakes locking up is due to old leaky wheel cylinders. Ford was actually pretty smart with these cars. They knew it was a lost cause to try and squeeze real performance out of them, due to the stifling epa regulations. Instead, they gave us the basic v8 power plant, just choked down with restrictive parts. Slap a good set of 69 or 70 heads on it with some port work, a cam, 4 barrel carb and intake and you could just about double the hp. All that stuff was readily available in your local boneyard. My cousin had one in the early-mid 80's with a hot 351 Cleveland in it. The car was hurting feelings all over town lol!

[@stuntinITup]

Hard to say exactly what it is without seeing it in person because they were all custom made and had so many configurations back then but I would guess its a variation of a Euclid of some type. Thats also a 2 stroke Detroit

[@erikradzins]

I’d loveeee to hear it run again :)

[@stuntinITup]

@@erikradzins they sound like they are going 900 mph but its more like 9

[@stuntinITup]

@@erikradzins they even made a twin turbo with a supercharger version.

[@johndrake2729]

Horn on the stalk. Ford of Europe had that concept going at the time, and Ford of America took up on it starting with the Fairmont in 1978. The trucks kept theirs on the steering wheel. Thankfully, Ford switched back to the horn on the steering wheel in 1984.

[@trevorblessing6491]

My grandpa has one of those but it doesn’t work

[@gypsysoul8087]

I thought they all came t-top dual snorkel but I guess I'm wrong

[@erikradzins]

Only 3 had T-tops, and they were the "real" pace cars. All are accounted for.

[@gypsysoul8087]

@@erikradzins thanks for the info .... Yeah it doesn't the real car have dual snorkels for the intake

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

The grill and headlight surrounds is supposed to be black.

[@erikradzins]

Ya, it was repainted a while back.

[@TD-3269]

Correct!! Need to paint that black!!

[@MustangsTrainsMowers]

Omaha Nebraska,,,,, I sold my 5.0 4 speed Pace Car to a family in Omaha Nebraska in March of 1990 for just $2,200 +$200 more for 3/4 of the interior of another Pace Car. I later found out that extra interior came out of a 500 Festival Pace Car with a 2 digit number on the plastic side of the inside rear view mirror. That 500 Festival car was 480054 and was a 5.0 automatic. It was stripped and crushed in the early 90’s. My Pace Car was 9f03f480544. I had it only 2-1/2 years putting about 17,500 miles on it. I got several tickets in it including stoplight racing on north broadway in Rochester Minnesota cruising. In 1991 I bought a project 5.0 automatic Pace Car 487131 hoping to get it on the road but the engine wasn’t good so I sold it to a guy in Wisconsin. I haven’t had a Foxbody since though I’d like to find one before the prices get crazy.

[@mccoma11]

The metal headlight trim rings were silver (chrome plated or whatever) from factory.

[@mccoma11]

Surprised you didn't mention the Recaro seats in this video. Although the poor fabric quality was a joke, the seats themselves are awesome. Another interesting note, I believe the seat belts were unique. Somewhere on the plastic housings... the buckle connectors on the floor, possibly? .... it should have a Firestone logo iirc. I've been meaning to take a look at the seat belts in my pace car but keep forgetting. I swapped the 4 cyl turbo for a built 331, t5, 3.73 geared 8.8 31 spline, and several other goodies. It's a blast to drive!

[@ddcraun]

That screaming Deee troit diesel looks like a 4-71. 4 Cylinder, and each cylinder is 71 cubic inches. The supercharger was less about building boost, and more about shoving fresh air through the motor to help scavenge exhaust .

[@erikradzins]

This is amazing facts. Thank you so much!!!!!9

[@フォグマシン]

9,333 1979 dollars adjusted for inflation in August 2020 is 35,517.

[@randyhudson8243]

Car weighs 2700lbs with 250 NET ft/lbs at 1700rpm. Also had a 310cfm carb...but burn outs they would do.

[@scarbourgeoisie]

Actually, they weight over 3000#'s. My '79 weighed just over 3200#'s with me in it and that was with aluminum heads.

[@dannyboyd1299]

Lol he thinks it's from the 30s

[@farmerjordan19]

Just build the motor up

[@johndrake2729]

K car, my foot.

[@ronpanozzo5584]

Fools

[@erikradzins]

That we are!!!!