1988 Mustang GT

In 1988 my wife and I purchased this 1988 Mustang GT.  Ford was saying that 1988 would be the last year of the Mustang and would be replaced by the Ford Probe (thankfully they were wrong).  The picture above was our family's Mustang collection that we (my older sister, brother-in-law, etc.) had for several years.  All of the cars above have been sold except for the two 1968 Mustang GT's.

This Mustang was not highly optioned and we purposely bought it that way.  The original plan was to keep this 1988 Mustang GT forever along with our 1968 Mustang GT, but plans change over the years. It was brand new when these pictures were taken, fresh off of the showroom floor!!  You can see the '77 Olds and the '75 Trans Am in the background... you can also check them out at the Team Hoghead Garage!!
I don't think I've had a car this clean since 1988!!  I've got to admit that I was fanatical about keeping this Mustang clean... like wiping off the nose EACH time we drove it to keep the bugs from leaving permanent stains on it, cleaning the aluminum wheels with Q-tips, touching up any blemishes in the paint every 6 months.... The 5.0 liter HO was a very nice engine!!  It had great torque, horsepower, and sound!!  It got very respectable gas mileage with the 5-speed transmission.  It was a blast to drive.  I know the hatchbacks were heavier than the coupes, but the extra room came in handy!!

Two years after purchasing this Mustang, we found out that we were going to have a baby boy, so we decided to sell our '88 Mustang GT to buy a used family car (a Taurus) that we wouldn't mind it getting trashed from using it like a normal family with food wrappers, crumbs, baby formula, baby spit-up (we call it puke in these parts), etc.  Actually it was a relief in some ways to sell the Mustang... it was working me to death trying to keep it looking brand new.  Buying used, original musclecars is different... they've already got some scratches, scuffs, and wear on them so I don't feel the compulsion to keep them looking brand new... and actually enjoy them more.