A “new” 25-year-old Mustang will cost you almost as much today as you would have paid in 1998. Let me explain after I introduce this miraculously well-preserved pony car.
The Pick of the Day is a low-mileage 1998 Ford Mustang convertible listed for sale on ClassicCars.com by a private seller in Portersville, Pennsylvania. (Click the link to view the listing)
“I am the original owner, and I took delivery on October 13, 1998,” the listing states. “This Mustang is Bright Atlantic Blue and has 6,300 original miles. It has never been driven been driven in rain or snow, not even one stone chip or door shot. The wheels have never been off the car.”
Included in the listing is a window sticker showing the original retail price of $22,065 including destination and delivery to Ricart Ford in Columbus, Ohio. It just so happens that the seller is asking $19,500 or best offer for this Mustang. Was that an intentional pricing strategy? Probably. This would be like buying a 2023 Mustang today and selling it for the MSRP in 2048, which is kind of mind-boggling to think about.
The fourth-generation Mustang, which rode on the SN95 platform and debuted in 1994, retained some of the prior-gen’s Fox body underpinnings but made dramatic changes to the exterior design. In addition, designers added adding modern (for the time) creature comforts like four-wheel disc brakes and a MacPherson strut suspension. This example comes with the optional Mach 460 AM/FM/cassette audio system, which was a $395 upgrade according to the window sticker.
Power for this drop-top comes from a 3.8-liter Essex V6 mated to a five-speed manual transmission. That combination was good for 150 horsepower when new, which was a far cry from the top-tier muscle-car variant (the Mustang SVT Cobra) which had more than twice that, at 305. Still, whatever this convertible lacks in oomph, it more than makes up for in cool-factor having fewer than 10,000 miles on the odometer. It would be an absolute blast to take to a RADwood show or local cars and coffee.
Let’s hear it from the Mustang enthusiasts in the community. Would you pay $19,500 to essentially have a brand new V6 Mustang from the late 1990s? Or does the notion of “too few miles” come into play here? After all, a car that hasn’t been driven much could need some deferred maintenance (it’s scary to think of driving on 25-year-old tires, for example). I’d like to hear your thoughts!
To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
