In the right place at the right time - 92 Feature Find
Hello,
I am new to this site but not new to Fords and Mustangs. My name is Jim and I live in Eastern Pennsylvania (about 80 miles east of Carlisle just off of the turnpike). Its New Year's Day, and I finally have the time to post information about my newly acquired 1992 Feature. Well, actually, I bought it in the end of November, 2009 (hey, it's 2010 already!); about a month ago. Interestingly, it is actually listed on this site 92 Feature listing , although I did not know this until I became the owner.
The story of how I wound up with this car is kind of interesting and sad, but it has a happy ending. This is for all of you who are Mustang nuts (Melvins if you read 5.0 Mustang and Super Fords. From what I have seen thus far of this site, there are many of you out there), so if you are interested, please read on. I know I love hearing these kinds of stories so I will put in as much detail as I can.
For the last year, I have been keeping an eye open for a convertible Mustang. I wanted to find a clean, unmodified convertible that the wife and I could enjoy simply cruising in. I have one highly modified 95 Mustang and I just wanted something that I could keep stock and enjoy. I have been poking around on the internet and stopping to look at ones I've seen for sale. I had thought about picking up a 4v 96-98 Cobra because I wanted something different. They are a little out of my price range for one that is in good shape and unmolested. I had stopped to look at a couple of 5.0s that were within my price range. They were either too ratty or modified beyond my liking. So, I just kept my eyes and ears tuned for what I want. I just kept saving my money.
I work for small company that is a representative of a much larger one. We have a shop and our own shipping and receiving department. I sell Mustang parts on ebay every once in a great while and ship them out at work. One of the guys I work with out in the shop recently lost his brother to cancer. I'm sure we all know somebody who has gone through a loss like this and it is not easy to deal with nor accept. He knew that I was into Fords and Mustangs from my shipments and from me driving my 95 to work once in a while. It turns out that his brother was a collector of Mustangs. Sadly, it was my friends' job to figure out what to do with his brother's cars. My friend told me about all of the classics in various states of restoration he had tucked away at the used car dealership that he was a part of. These were interesting but, again, out of my price range. He said his brother also had a red 5.0 convertible with a white top or vice versa but that was all he knew about it. THAT caught my attention. I figured it either had to be a 92 Feature or an 84 20th Anniversary Edition. I was secretly hoping for the former. It turns out I was right. It was a 92 Feature Car. As I got more details on the car, I knew that this was opportunity knocking, since I had first crack at purchase before it went up on ebay. We negotiated a price and I brought home a 92 Feature Car with only 63k miles on it.
Interestingly, the car was bought down in Texas by the brother of my friend at 58k miles (as shown in the link above to the 92 database). He simply drove it back from Texas to Pennsylania and parked it in his shop since 2004. It had been driven very little since. It came with lots of paperwork: the original window sticker, an original Feature Car Hot Sheet, an original 92 Mustang sales brochure, a copy of the ebay transaction from 2004, a copy of the Carfax from 2004, photocopies of the Texas title and transfer paperwork, reciepts for various repairs to the car (conversion to R12 on the AC and tires from a Ford dealership), and a copy of a Mustang Monthly from 1993 that contains a write up on the 92 Feature Cars in general (by Jerry Heasley). From the paperwork, I can tell that it was originally sold in Chicago, IL, then it went to Texas, and then to Pennsylvania, and then to me. So I am the fourth owner.
The car is in pretty good shape and 99% stock. The only exceptions are that it has a rusty old MAC cold air kit, aftermarket plug wires, what looks like Flowmaster mufflers, and an aftermarket stereo CD player from the 90s (that mostly doesn't work). That's too bad too because the window sticker shows that this car was orginally equipped with the AM/FM cassette with graphic equilizer - rare as I understand it. It has a few door dings, a couple of scratches, and a small dent in the drivers side rocker panel in front of the rear wheel well. The paint has clearly been well maintained, the top has been replaced, and the front seats reupholstered in factory matching leather. The wheels are perfect. The original folded convertible top cover and cover holder are in great shape. It has the original spare, jack, and owners manual. It is an automatic. I wanted a five-speed but this way the wife can drive it too.
I plan on giving it a general tune up, replacing the dry rotted tires, putting in a modern stereo (hey, the original is long gone and I want to hook up an MP3 player), fixing the broken ashtray door, reattach the rear view mirror, and extending the seat track (I'm 6'4" and the wife is two inches shorter). Speaking of seats, I need to fix the driver's side power seat as it doesn't move. Luckily for me, it is stuck in the rearward position. Other than that, I plan on keeping it as stock as possible and just enjoying it. My wife and I actually cruised with the top down and the heat on in 40 degree weather the day I brought it home. We turned a lot of heads although I am not certain if that was due to the car or the combination of the temperature and the convertible top being down. Anyway, I can't wait for summer as this will be my first convertible.
Well, that's about it. Now that I've written a small book, I'll just say that I plan on hanging around on this website. Thanks TWF for putting this together and maintaining it. This is a wealth of knowledge that helped me decide to buy my 92 Feature. I am very glad I did. Hopefully I'll see some of you at Carlisle in 2010!
Here are some pics of the car as i bought it:
I am new to this site but not new to Fords and Mustangs. My name is Jim and I live in Eastern Pennsylvania (about 80 miles east of Carlisle just off of the turnpike). Its New Year's Day, and I finally have the time to post information about my newly acquired 1992 Feature. Well, actually, I bought it in the end of November, 2009 (hey, it's 2010 already!); about a month ago. Interestingly, it is actually listed on this site 92 Feature listing , although I did not know this until I became the owner.
The story of how I wound up with this car is kind of interesting and sad, but it has a happy ending. This is for all of you who are Mustang nuts (Melvins if you read 5.0 Mustang and Super Fords. From what I have seen thus far of this site, there are many of you out there), so if you are interested, please read on. I know I love hearing these kinds of stories so I will put in as much detail as I can.
For the last year, I have been keeping an eye open for a convertible Mustang. I wanted to find a clean, unmodified convertible that the wife and I could enjoy simply cruising in. I have one highly modified 95 Mustang and I just wanted something that I could keep stock and enjoy. I have been poking around on the internet and stopping to look at ones I've seen for sale. I had thought about picking up a 4v 96-98 Cobra because I wanted something different. They are a little out of my price range for one that is in good shape and unmolested. I had stopped to look at a couple of 5.0s that were within my price range. They were either too ratty or modified beyond my liking. So, I just kept my eyes and ears tuned for what I want. I just kept saving my money.
I work for small company that is a representative of a much larger one. We have a shop and our own shipping and receiving department. I sell Mustang parts on ebay every once in a great while and ship them out at work. One of the guys I work with out in the shop recently lost his brother to cancer. I'm sure we all know somebody who has gone through a loss like this and it is not easy to deal with nor accept. He knew that I was into Fords and Mustangs from my shipments and from me driving my 95 to work once in a while. It turns out that his brother was a collector of Mustangs. Sadly, it was my friends' job to figure out what to do with his brother's cars. My friend told me about all of the classics in various states of restoration he had tucked away at the used car dealership that he was a part of. These were interesting but, again, out of my price range. He said his brother also had a red 5.0 convertible with a white top or vice versa but that was all he knew about it. THAT caught my attention. I figured it either had to be a 92 Feature or an 84 20th Anniversary Edition. I was secretly hoping for the former. It turns out I was right. It was a 92 Feature Car. As I got more details on the car, I knew that this was opportunity knocking, since I had first crack at purchase before it went up on ebay. We negotiated a price and I brought home a 92 Feature Car with only 63k miles on it.
Interestingly, the car was bought down in Texas by the brother of my friend at 58k miles (as shown in the link above to the 92 database). He simply drove it back from Texas to Pennsylania and parked it in his shop since 2004. It had been driven very little since. It came with lots of paperwork: the original window sticker, an original Feature Car Hot Sheet, an original 92 Mustang sales brochure, a copy of the ebay transaction from 2004, a copy of the Carfax from 2004, photocopies of the Texas title and transfer paperwork, reciepts for various repairs to the car (conversion to R12 on the AC and tires from a Ford dealership), and a copy of a Mustang Monthly from 1993 that contains a write up on the 92 Feature Cars in general (by Jerry Heasley). From the paperwork, I can tell that it was originally sold in Chicago, IL, then it went to Texas, and then to Pennsylvania, and then to me. So I am the fourth owner.
The car is in pretty good shape and 99% stock. The only exceptions are that it has a rusty old MAC cold air kit, aftermarket plug wires, what looks like Flowmaster mufflers, and an aftermarket stereo CD player from the 90s (that mostly doesn't work). That's too bad too because the window sticker shows that this car was orginally equipped with the AM/FM cassette with graphic equilizer - rare as I understand it. It has a few door dings, a couple of scratches, and a small dent in the drivers side rocker panel in front of the rear wheel well. The paint has clearly been well maintained, the top has been replaced, and the front seats reupholstered in factory matching leather. The wheels are perfect. The original folded convertible top cover and cover holder are in great shape. It has the original spare, jack, and owners manual. It is an automatic. I wanted a five-speed but this way the wife can drive it too.
I plan on giving it a general tune up, replacing the dry rotted tires, putting in a modern stereo (hey, the original is long gone and I want to hook up an MP3 player), fixing the broken ashtray door, reattach the rear view mirror, and extending the seat track (I'm 6'4" and the wife is two inches shorter). Speaking of seats, I need to fix the driver's side power seat as it doesn't move. Luckily for me, it is stuck in the rearward position. Other than that, I plan on keeping it as stock as possible and just enjoying it. My wife and I actually cruised with the top down and the heat on in 40 degree weather the day I brought it home. We turned a lot of heads although I am not certain if that was due to the car or the combination of the temperature and the convertible top being down. Anyway, I can't wait for summer as this will be my first convertible.
Well, that's about it. Now that I've written a small book, I'll just say that I plan on hanging around on this website. Thanks TWF for putting this together and maintaining it. This is a wealth of knowledge that helped me decide to buy my 92 Feature. I am very glad I did. Hopefully I'll see some of you at Carlisle in 2010!
Here are some pics of the car as i bought it:
Comments
Definitely set aside the weekend of Carlise this year. Always a great time and nice to meet up with other Feature owners.
Rare 92, my car came from Fair Oaks Ranch, TX.
Thank you for sharing your story