Freight Liner

Coyote-swapped Fox Coupe Pulls Like an Iron Horse

- Michael Johnson

They don’t make ’em like they used to,” is a common expression about how all the cool cars were made back in the day and new cars take time to become appreciated, if they ever do. While it is true that we all think some cars made back in the day are the coolest ever, compare them to anything made today and they are just old cars.

Case in point: Drive a 1992 Fox Mustang and then a 2016. That Fox is a stage coach compared to a new S550 Mustang. Plus, hit the gas in a S550 GT and then do the same in a stock 1992 Fox LX or GT. You will swear something is wrong with the Fox, but it’s just fine. It’s just that a stock 1992 GT or LX 5.0 was rated at 225 hp.

And you know what? We thought they were rockets, but we didn’t know any better. We didn’t have Four-Valve engines, factory power adders, a six-speed transmission, or 435 hp. We thought we were setting the world on fire if we cracked off a 13-second pass. Most of the fast Mustangs ran 12s, and if you ran 11s you were the man. What the new GTs make with a cold air and a tune it would take a supercharger and a top-end swap, cam, and intake combination to make.

Even after all this pontificating, the old saying is true: They don’t make ’em like they used to. But using modern Coyote power, a supercharger, and a six speed transmission, we can have today’s power with yesterday’s personality. That sounded like a good recipe for Steve Bell and his 1991 LX coupe.