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  1. #1

    Question Why!??? (Pace Car Question of the century)

    I am proud of my Pacecar Replica although my wife hates it. I have the V8, 4sp, a\c car with cruise.
    My question is in reference to the value of these cars. As a piece of Mustang history, WHY ARE THEY NOT WORTH MORE!???
    I would never sell mine for what people are willing to pay. I will let it rot in my garage first...
    Frank B.

  2. #2

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    The Pace cars are cool and were popular so they sold a lot of them. People knew they were special and a lot of people took good care of them. It's an iconic car and people like to restore them.

    I'll admit that it's rare to see them on the road but if you can afford one all you have to do is open your wallet. That's why...

    Now post some pics!

  3. #3
    FEP Super Member JTurbo's Avatar
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    They made 10k Pace Car replicas, so they're not all that rare.

    They were low perf from the factory

    And you find 2 types, either all ragged out or something that's in really nice shape. You hardly see anything in between.

    They can be expensive to restore back to factory specs (interior, decal kit, TRX tires, etc.)

    JT
    1979 Indy Pace Car Mustang 302 / 5spd
    1982 Mustang GT T-Top 302 / 4spd
    1986 SVO Mustang - 1C

  4. #4

    Cool

    Picture :-)
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  5. #5
    FEP Power Member tonysilver82's Avatar
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    from interior shots it looks decent but not factory ac

  6. #6
    FEP Power Member Broncojunkie's Avatar
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    Just curious, but is that the original steering wheel? Mine is different. Seems like I saw another pic of a pace car with the same/similar wheel, though.

  7. #7
    FEP Power Member 4-barrel Mike's Avatar
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    Cruise control.

    Mike

  8. #8

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    Oops. Sorry about that. You are right. I have has so many mustangs I get crossed up sometimes. Meh.
    Frank B

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Broncojunkie View Post
    Just curious, but is that the original steering wheel? Mine is different. Seems like I saw another pic of a pace car with the same/similar wheel, though.
    My first PC back in the 80's had the "other" sterring wheel. Cruise control cars are offered with this piece.

  10. #10
    FEP Senior Member Matt J's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirtybird91 View Post
    I am proud of my Pacecar Replica although my wife hates it. I have the V8, 4sp, a\c car with cruise.
    My question is in reference to the value of these cars. As a piece of Mustang history, WHY ARE THEY NOT WORTH MORE!???
    I would never sell mine for what people are willing to pay. I will let it rot in my garage first...
    Frank B.
    When I was a kid in the 70's, the cars I drooled over were the late 60's/early 70's muscle cars. I remember at my high school a nice Cougar, a 340 Dart Swinger in Plum Crazy with a dual-scoop hood, Mustangs, Camaros, etc. Back then, they were popular with younger drivers because they were cheap, v-8 powered cars with more than a splash of cool. They were also rusty clunkers in many cases. It wasn't until the cars became rare that the values started going up, and thus parts suppliers came into play with lots of replacement panels and the bits and pieces you could only get from a salvage yard at the time. Fox Mustangs and their relatives are not rare, though finding an original one that isn't rusty or mangled by boy-racers over the years is rare. On the topic of rust, these do rust, but metal technology and finishes were light years ahead in the 80s then they were in the 60s, so there are a lot more of these cars in original driveable condition 30 years later than there ever were cars from the 60s, most of which succumbed to rust decades ago. The high numbers keeps the cars popular, but prices down.

    Part of the appeal of these cars to many of us is that they are in fact, cheap. You'll often see posts on this site lamenting how expensive these cars are getting, and relative to where they were 10 years ago, they have come up quite a bit. But for every $12,000 one you see in the ads, there are 50 that are under $4k, many of them are pretty nice.

    Part of what keeps the value down on these cars, aside from their plentiful numbers, is that the special edition cars really aren't that...well, special. Don't get me wrong, I love the pace cars and the GT350s, but with the exception of the SVO, and a few very limited run cars like the Saleen or Mclaren, the difference between them is generally a paint/sticker option. Cars from the 60s had tons of options, and the differences between them make each of them more unique and valuable; different engine configurations, transmissions, coupe, fastback, spoilers, brakes, etc. Our cars vary from year to year a bit, and the GT does have a few differences from the LX, for instance, but they're mostly appearance in nature. I can remember in the 80s when everyone was saying the Mustang to buy was the 5.0 LX, as it weighed less and was actually faster and cheaper than the GT. Kinda sums up what I'm talking about.

    We love these cars, thus why we belong to the forum. We understand that these cars pretty much single-handedly saved the concept of a low-cost performance oriented car, to where a basic Honda Accord today is sporting 200+ HP. But it costs the same to paint a $4k car as a $40k car, so once we fix them up, we're ahead of the market a bit, and they're worth a lot more to us both financially and personally than what someone else is willing to pay.
    Last edited by Matt J; 10-01-2016 at 10:00 AM.

  11. #11
    FEP Member 9D83's Avatar
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    Well said Matt! OP, my experience has been the same. Some years back, very misguidedly, I was looking to sell to clear out some space in the garage and I felt the prices offered for the 'big deal' car I thought I had were an insult. In fact I had many ppl tell me it wasn't even a 'real' mustang. I ended up keeping the car and although I would be deep underwater in value for a proper restoration one day it will get done. In the meantime I am hugely enjoying the hunt for a fun, interesting 4k Fox driver

  12. #12
    FEP Power Member Broncojunkie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dirtybird91 View Post
    My first PC back in the 80's had the "other" sterring wheel. Cruise control cars are offered with this piece.
    Yep. Now, I remember! Thanks for the reminder, guys. My memory isn't quite what it used to was lol!

    On the topic of fox prices, they are definitely rising fairly quickly. Around here, you can't hardly find one in driveable condition for under $5k. A lot of them are just getting ragged out and left to rot simply because the cost to restore them exceeds the restored value. Add to that the issue with rust in many areas and LS swap guys treating them like a worn out old hooker and the numbers are dwindling fast. Seems like I just woke up one day and all these fox body cars I took for granted were gone. There's a fox body enthusiast an hour from me who runs a salvage yard. He used to be loaded down with foxes. You could find just about anything you needed there. I visited him a couple years ago and he said right off the bat that he didn't have much left. There were a few rusted out old shells that you could barely identify as a fox.

    When I was a kid (12 or so) in the mid 80's, a 65 Mustang was considered an old classic. By today's standards, that was nothing. It was only 20 years old. My pace car is approaching twice that age now. So with these cars reaching near 40 yrs, it's a wonder there are as many as there are. But we all know many of them aren't going to make it much longer. They've been patched together or just barely limping along. Rust is taking it's toll, they are getting wrecked, burned up, used for parts to keep others running, etc. Drag racers are twisting them to death and they're getting parted out and crushed due to paperwork issues. The older they get, the more it costs to restore them. So I don't think the rise in prices are a current fad. I think they'll continue going up. I used to laugh when I saw a nice one sell for $10k. Now, I'm surprised when I see a nice one for less than that.

  13. #13

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    This has been some real good reading guys. Sometimes I feel like I am all alone in this small town as the years pass me by. My twin brother and I shared a PC in high school in the late 80's. That particular car was wrecked, so I was lucky to find another one all these years later. You all seem a world away, but only a keystroke away. Funny how times and technolgy change things. When I was in high school you could buy a brand new 1986 Mustang GT for 10k. Now they are asking almost four times as much! My point is that these new cars are not nearly as special. They have strained all the fun out of pony cars, and now they are wealthy people's toys. Guys like me just wait on scraps after they get tired and trade them in....

  14. #14

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    That is the steering wheel you got when ordered with cruise control.

  15. #15

    Default 1979 Pace Car Values

    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie View Post
    That is the steering wheel you got when ordered with cruise control.
    Well, it's now 2018, and I can tell you that ALL Foxbody mustangs that are unrestored, and in excellent condition are appreciating....The 1979 Pace Car has a unique position in Foxbody 3rd Generation History, and only those very fine examples will continue to go up in value......While many were produced, it is becoming all but impossible to find pristine examples, much less restored.....I would assume that the best examples are now in collections.....I also agree that the junkyard project cars exist, but the cost to restore to factory OEM standards would be financially impractible......

  16. #16

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    I have one of the Canadian pace cars. One that was designated for Canada, not sure how many of the PC were for Canada. Mine has 35k miles and I only drive it 3 months out of the year. Its all original except the radio and dual tip exhaust is just one chrome piece. Do you think those 2 items are a big deal? Also I would love to have the engine pulled and repainted, will that hurt value in your opinion?

  17. #17

  18. #18

    Default 1979 Pace Car

    Quote Originally Posted by dsleeman View Post
    I have one of the Canadian pace cars. One that was designated for Canada, not sure how many of the PC were for Canada. Mine has 35k miles and I only drive it 3 months out of the year. Its all original except the radio and dual tip exhaust is just one chrome piece. Do you think those 2 items are a big deal? Also I would love to have the engine pulled and repainted, will that hurt value in your opinion?
    If you look at the original exhaust, it is very simple....Any decent sheet metal shop can reproduce using proper diameter tube stock and some plate for the brackets.....Radio can be found on a number of sites.....Not a big deal to acquire....

  19. #19

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    Personally, I would keep it original....Usually a little detailing and spray can touch up will suffice.....

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