FOX-BODY SPOTTER’S GUIDE

When Ford introduced the 1978 Fairmont, it could not have suspected at the time that it was beginning something that would change the company—and the high-performance aftermarket—forever. While the Fairmont may have been a forgettable mid-sized sedan and wagon platform, the car’s basic underpinnings proved to be an ideal basis for the new 1979 Mustang, just as the early Falcon gave birth to the first Mustang back in 1964-1/2.

It’s not that the ’79 Mustang set the world on fire, either. The car was better than the ’78, but it wasn’t a real performance car. That didn’t happen until the ’82 GT was introduced, which was a step in the right direction, as was the ’84 SVO Mustang. What really made the Mustang great was the 1986 addition of electronic fuel injection, but even that wasn’t initially identified, and wouldn’t become a young man’s performance car of choice until some time after its introduction. 

The Mustang did become the perfect car to upgrade for speed without sacrificing a bit of practicality, and the aftermarket responded to this car (and vehicle platform) like no other before or since. To build the car, Ford used the Fox platform, which was the basis for that earlier Fairmont. Ford used the Fox platform to build other cars as well. The Thunderbird, Cougar, LTD, Marquis and Capri, and even the luxo Lincoln Mark VII, were all spawned from the basic Fairmont architecture. The Mustang’s aftermarket support largely crossed over to these other cars as well, and while none of them became as popular as the Mustang, today, availability, pricing and other considerations make all of them worthy contenders for any potential performance project.

Fox-body cars changed over the years, usually for the better. So, while everyone can spot a Fox Mustang, we decided to take the time to compile photos of some of the more popular Fox variations so that you can tell just what you’re looking at the next time you head to a car show or dragstrip. Sadly, we can’t provide an absolutely comprehensive guide to spotting every Fox-body model produced. Some of these cars, such as the Mercury Marquis, are just too rare in enthusiast circles for us to have a single example of one in our photo library. We’ve also included a few pictures of historic Fox-platform racecars, for no other reason than we like them, and thought you would, too. So, if you don’t know an SVO from a Turbo Coupe from an XR7, study this guide so that you, too, can become a true Fox fan.