The Fox Mustang market is riding on a bit of a roller coaster over the past few years, kickstarted by 2017’s world record sales of Dennis Collins’ Foxes and further stirred by the results of this year’s collection. The Fox’s future value is something that is predicted more than the weather and usually with the same level of accuracy.
Often billed as the next Tri-Five Chevy or 1969 Camaro of the collector car world, our beloved Fox’s future value for the next decade is something worth exploring. The only thing we can know for sure is the current situation. We have taken some real world examples over the past few months at various events of Foxes for sale in the wild, with the hope of getting some sense of where the market is really headed outside the bright lights of the major auctions. What we found were some of the same trends we have seen for the last decade.
Fox values will continue to rise, with the stock/unmolested ones really charging forward… — Caleb Richards, The Foxcast
When not under the hammer, Fox pricing hasn’t changed a lot even with the huge money collected on television. Now, don’t misunderstand, the special cars still exist and bring big money. However, chances are there is still a Fox out there that fits your price range, sometimes you just have to go out and look for it…
The Cheap Fox
For years now the draw of the Fox to most was its entry-level pricing, a cheap Fox so to speak. A car you can have a lot of fun with now, but build for the future all while playing on a small budget. Five or 10 years ago, $3,500 would get you in the door with a car that needed a little TLC.
This bright green 1986 GT was one of the better overall deals we ran across during our research. At only $4,500, the car featured a basically new drivetrain with just 7,000 miles on it. While the owner advertised a new paint job, it was already showing some wear as you can see on the back bumper. The trim also needed refreshed but that is a pretty easy fix. Even with a future repaint needed, this car was definitely full of the right parts and a solid buy for the money.
Today, however, the scale has risen just a bit, but these cars are still out there. For under $5,000 you can still find a decent Fox to bring home and enjoy. In our travels we spotted a few examples of the sub-$5,000 Foxes we found out on the market, which we shared here.
This orange 1991 was a nice example of car needing a little work. With a 406 stroker and aluminum heads, it certainly appeared the car had some good parts on board. We were not able to locate the owner to find out just exactly what "some" work was to get it running, but we cannot imagine it needed more than a few weekends in the garage to get this Fox ready for the the local cruise night or test ’n tune at the nearest eighth mile.
This red convertible with factory black interior actually had us daydreaming about what it would be like to own this car on a nice summer day. A quick look in our wallet brought us back to reality, but either way, at $4,500 this car should be a lot of fun for someone. A basically stock Fox, a little TLC would go a long way on this one and make it a car that could easily enjoyed.
The Built Fox
Next on our list is the built Fox, which usually features some power adder and suspension upgrades. These cars traditionally fall into the $8,000 to $13,000 range. However, in most cases, the owner that built them spent closer to $15,000 to $20,000 getting them to this point. If you can afford to play in this price range, you can usually get a ton of bang for your buck.
This 1993 Feature car has a nice list of modifications for the money, including Edelbrock aluminum heads, a Ford Performance B303 cam, and a BBK Intake. This looked like a solid buy for $9,900 with the added value of being a limited edition vehicle. While the one-piece headlights and hash mark-style stripes may not be for everyone, those modifications could easily be changed if the new owner desired.
This triple-black 1993 LX convertible is really at the higher end of this price class. However, we still think it fits. This is an extremely nice Fox and combines some nice modifications including AFR aluminum heads and a 66mm turbo along with the low production number value of being a triple-black vert. Of all the Foxes we captured, this one was definitely among our three favorites.
The Original Fox
The original, unmolested Fox has likely seen a larger jump, as direct result of the Barrett-Jackson sales, than any other. What was once deemed as a boring, stock car is now highly desired among collectors and the price shows it. Also, as the demand goes up, the supply is also slowly dwindling as more and more people modify these stock cars.
This 1991 coupe was the topic of attention on several social media outlets when it popped up for sale at the Charlotte Auto Fair. We didn’t run the actual numbers, but the flyer stated the car is one of less than 100 Bimini Blue coupes ever built. The car had an extensive owner history and just 89,000 original miles. Everything on the car was in original condition and showed well. Priced at $12,900, we cannot imagine the car made it through the weekend without going to a new buyer.
Cars that once fell closer to the cheap-Fox price scale are now going for $10,000 and up on a regular basis and even more depending on the options. If you are lucky enough to run across one of these cars and a good price you’d better snatch it up and preserve it.
With only 11,000 original miles, this 1989 GT was definitely a bit of a rare find. The car was in amazing condition and had an MCA Grand National Platinum Unrestored Award with it to back up its claims. Priced at the higher end of our price ranges at $16,500, the car still feels like a decent buy to us with taking the low mileage and originality into consideration,
The Dreamers
We have all seen these Foxes. Cars that are priced on the high end but really belong in the $5,000-$6,000 range. Not to offend the owners of these cars, but come on guys, you know you are dreaming. These prospector have definitely been watching Barrett-Jackson a bit too often, so you might have to negotiate them down to reality.
The good, its got decent looks and it is a 347 stroker. The bad? At $16,500 it’s still four-lug, no-fuel-injection model, and it also appears there is no power steering or brakes. In this day and age if you are running a carb on a car that was originally fuel injection then that better be one nasty motor. We hate to say it, but his owner is officially dreaming at this price.
Where Are Values Headed?
We certainly know what our opinions are, but we wanted to ask a couple of experts to see what they thought about the state of the Fox pricing game. We sought out the opinions on where Fox values are headed from two gentlemen with deep roots in the Fox game: Caleb Richards, the owner of The Foxcast, and Troy Raby, one of the promoters of Ponies In The Smokies and longtime staff member of Southeastern Foxbodies club.
In Search Of The Holy Grail...
Dennis Collins often talked of his ‘Holy Grail’ Fox, a white 1990 coupe that featured a factory radio delete, basic interior and under 10,000 miles. Overall, a pretty basic Fox. Caleb Richards’ idea of the of the most desirable Fox follows a similar path, in his opinion, its either a 1993 Reef Blue Coupe or a 1992 Bimini Blue Coupe (like the one we showcased above), both of course would have to be equipped with black interior to meet his desires.
Troy Raby’s Holy Grail car idea was more toward the higher end of the Fox spectrum, mentioning the three original 1984 Saleen Mustangs: the Saleen/General Tire SCCA Championship racecars, and the 1993 RRR built for actor Tim Allen. In the end, for Troy, it would be a one-of-nine 10th Anniversary Saleen Mustangs known simply as SA-10s.
“Values are definitely catching the attention of the collector-car market which means ‘the bottom’ side of values is well behind us!” Troy added. “As always, the low-mile original cars bring the most money, but the entire era is enjoying heightened values. Folks that grew up during the Fox production years are now in financial situations that allows them to acquire toys from their youth (much like we’ve seen with the original musclecars).”
In the end, the bottom line is any particular car is only worth what the next person will pay for it. One thing remains for sure, no matter what the price range, the Foxes continue to grow in popularity. There are plenty of great examples out there to invest in for the long-term, but there are also plenty of Foxes you can go buy cheap and have a blast with. The most important thing for fans of these cars is they are still in the gearhead conversation some 25 years after the last one was born.
Be sure and check out our gallery for more photos of all the Foxes we discussed here as well as several more we did not mention…