Hot Rod Time Capsule: 1990 Ford Mustang LX 5.0 Police Interceptor
Anyone who has seen The Blues Brothers movie can attest to squad cars’ upgraded internals. According to the seller, this stock-looking 1990 Fox body Mustang notchback comes equipped with all the necessary mechanical goodies, and is in like-new condition, even with more than 140,000 miles on it. You can find this all-original time capsule here on eBay.
Let’s start where it’s most interesting: under the hood. According to the seller, this LX comes equipped with the 5.0 V-8 with upgraded heads, cooling, and suspension components, necessary for the hard life of a police car. They spend most of their life idling, combined with the healthy dose of hard launches and heavy loads of fast turns and police equipment. No word on a recent dyno result for the upgraded police interceptor, but the unmodified 5.0 made about 225 horsepower when new. This is sure to have made more.
Inside, the car was ordered with cloth interior and power everything. Nicely equipped and treated well, I’m led to believe this wasn’t destined to be your standard, run-of-the-mill squad car. Maybe a supervisor’s car or something. I know many departments used these as highway patrol, but according to the seller, this was never fitted with decals, lights, or the standard equipment of your typical squad.
The body is straight. The seller doesn’t include any images of the frame, but the doorjambs are always a good indicator of the condition of the nooks and crannies of any classic car. These look clean and straight, testifying to the seller’s claims of the car is good to go as-is. One of my favorite things that happens at car shows is the car that looks normal…but isn’t. When you take a closer look at something like this, you’re met with something as cool as it is unexpected. Upgraded engine from the factory? A police car that wasn’t abused? An unmodified Fox body? So much about this car is unexpected and welcome in the car collecting community, and simple, fast cars are such a rarity in the market today. To paraphrase Elwood Blues: it’s got a cop motor, a 302 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspension, cop shocks. What do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?
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Comments
I always appreciated the clean look of a GT notch body. However, the automatic transmission is a crime in this cop car. Put some magnum 500’s on it for the weekend, or maybe some torque thrusts.
I remember hearing, even back then, that departments were finding that young recruits couldn’t drive manual transmissions, so they started buying more automatics. Also I suppose it gets kind of busy at times including having to shift gears.
I wonder if there are any Barn Finders who drove these Foxes as an officer back in the day.
I drove a 1990 LX SSP from 1991-1994. With the automatic and 2.73 rear, it was not terribly fast, but much faster than the CV of the day. Top speed was an honest 135, but it was a blast to drive!
Right you are Bob. I’ll never forget back in 1990 I just bought me a new LX 5 speed. The wife and I were on our way from the Chicago burbs to see the Indy 500. Couldn’t wait to get there. Well, I was a little too anxious and got pulled over by a car just like this one. Same color, Indiana. Was surprised cause we didn’t have Mustangs as cop cars back then in Illinois. Anyway, cop was cool and had me sit in the front seat. Of course the first thing I noticed was that it was an automatic. Kiddingly, I messed with him cause no stick. He actually laughed. There’s no way a cop should have a stick!!
I drove a 90 but mine was a five speed. It does get busy and shifting gears is sometimes hard to do…
“Fix the cigarette lighter.”
—Jake
Price is $18,000 to high if you’re looking for a fun daily driver don’t walk away from this one — RUN if it’s truly a ex police car its near the end of its life if you’re looking for a car to convert to a dragster than its a good start
Nice little pony. Always like the LX over the GT. Pull that 5.0 and rebuilt it adding a few more ponies and have a sweet little runner.
The notchback is the only Mustang that interests me. If I recall correctly they were lighter as well. To me they just look so much better.
I don’t want to throw shade on the seller, because this car could have “upgraded” heads on the motor, but, in general an interceptor just has more coolers with bigger capacities, better hoses and clamps, and better brakes. The motors were no different than their more pedestrian brethren of the same model year… generally speaking.
Also has a Trans Am 4 sale.
At first take, this actually appears to be a good representation of an SSP Mustang. Given the lack of wear on the interior, I’d assume nearly all the trim is reproduction. This one does have updated ceramic coated headers, but the heads on this are most likely standard E7 pieces. All SSP Mustangs had engines and computers identical to their civilian counterparts.
Simply put, this car is not worth $23K of MY money based on this ad. The pics are borderline CL-level resolution, and without being able to see the body panel stickers, it’s impossible to know if it’s had paint regardless of what the seller says. The alternator is wrong for an SSP (it appears to be a standard 75 amp vs. 130 amp for SSP’s).
Upgraded alternators were an SSP option, otherwise they received the same unit as a civilian 5.0 Mustang.
I owned an 89 LX Notchback 5 speed which was a former Florida State Interceptor: Purchased with 67k on Odometer and driven to 120K before selling ( Big regret as it was a great car) note that at the time the ‘Ford Police Interceptor Package’ included , Neoprene Hoses & Bushings , along with a heavy duty ‘Marine’ alternator. The engine / transmission was kept factory. Also mine had manual windows, AC and the traditional driver side only police spot light. Finally, mine had a small factory sticker on the out side of the back seat window denoting its ‘Police Interceptor’ status.
Are there any recent generation police mustangs or camaros? I would think not because of their silly tiny trunks & cramped claustrophobic interiors.
The short answer joeny is no, which is the reason most PD’s (including the one I was a member of) drove full-size Chevys or Fords until they stopped making them, leaving law enforcement to purchase SUV’s. There just isn’t enough room to operate out of what is your mobile office in anything other than a full-size vehicle.
I bought a used, former GM demo car back in 78 for my personal vehicle in the 2 door Nova platform. It had formerly been used by GM to promote the sale of smaller cars as police vehicles. It had the Corvette 350 V8, Turbo 400 transmission, heavy-duty cloth-covered bench seat, and Aramin tires.
It handled like a Vette. Taking a fast corner was like riding on a brick, almost no yaw at all. I absolutely loved the car and it would have made a great police pursuit vehicle which is why Highway Patrol Units experimented with them for a while but Police Departments did not. Would love to have that one back.
My township has an unmarked 2021 Camaro. Very stealth!
I thought even the new Challenger was too claustrophobic inside & refused to even take a free test drive – the salesman tried like crazy to get me to drive it.
So I can’t IMAGINE spending many HOURS inside a cramped modern tomb-like Camaro with full police gear on. I would be cranky as hell when i saw a driver really break the law. lol
My township in south Jersey has an unmarked 2021 Camaro.
Got chased and caught by one of these on the Florida Turnpike, I was driving a rented Lincoln Town Car, cop was cool and let me go, car was Camouflage
Sheriff’s Department in the county where I used to be a LEO has a “Traffic Unit” here in NC. They’ve got 4 “Ghost Painted” 2021 Ford Mustangs. You can’t tell them from any other Mustang until they’re up on you with all their strobe lights & wailing sirens. Very effective traffic division.
I bet these days they ain’t givin out ANY tickets for loud radios or super loud tuner exhausts, or the lastest – backfiring exhausts. They could make plenty of money issuing such tickets – adjust for inflation my early ’90s $150!! nowhere-near-as-loud-as-today “loud radio” ticket & that was with no subwoofer!
& as far as loud exhausts go, i was told the officer in my town had to be CERTIFIED to use special equipment to determine if the car’s exhaust was too loud! WTH. & the ONLY 1 who was certified here recently retired. Compare that to the swap meet scene in 1974’s “dirty mary crazy larry”, where the officer said “if anyone knows anything about Mary Coombs, i might not hear those pipes!” – from an idling camaro – & they were not loud at all – & sounded good! (Also, i’m pretty sure cars with flowmaster mufflers, if they had em back in he day, would be widely ticketed.)
Back in the day, police here actually would step into the road!! to stop a driver doing say 30 in a 25mph zone – happened to me once & also for the “loud” radio.
A few weeks back, i was walkin home middle of weekday, no traffic when i heard THE loudest car radio EVER from 3 blocks away. Further down the road in the opposite direction, i saw officer just standing at side of road after school was out – ready to leave & he did not stop the driver, let alone go after him. Go figure.
Approx 1 in 15 cars goes by my house on my busy street with a radio so loud, i can hear it with my windows closed AND the driver’s windows closed!
10 yrs ago or more? very very seldomly heard.
Ended: Dec 15, 2021 , 2:26PM
Price: US $22,900.00
Located in:Mount Clemens, Michigan,