7 Of The Rarest Fox Body Mustangs Ever Built And What They're Worth Today

The Ford Mustang has enjoyed a long career as America's pony car since it debuted in 1964. It lived through the Malaise era, took on competition from all manner of American rivals, and even went on to find considerable success in other markets – no easy feat for a muscle car. Through those years, we've been blessed with a total of seven Mustang generations, but we shouldn't pretend each one was as brilliant as the next. While the first-gen model has gone down as an important slice of American motoring history, the Mustang II that followed is largely best left forgotten. However, the third generation, known as the Fox Body Mustang, rescued the Mustang's reputation as a muscle car and stood the test of time.

These cars debuted as '79 model years, and were not replaced until the SN95 cars marched onto the scene for 1994. Throughout those years, an estimated 2.6 million Fox Body Mustangs found owners, making it by far one of the most successful Mustang generations. Among them, though, were some exceedingly rare variants, such as the immensely sought-after 1-of-107 SVT Cobra R, and the 3,003 Feature Cars of '93, and the 1985 Twister II Mustang.

These Mustangs, along with quite a few others that are rarer than many multi-million-dollar super- and hypercars, stand as the rarest Fox Body cars ever produced. Starting with the more common and leaving the rarest for last, here are seven Fox Body Mustang variants with seriously scant production numbers, and how much they're worth today.

If we were to split the Turbo GT up by model year, the '83 Mustang Turbo GT would sit much farther up this list, since only 556 examples made it out of the factory gates. However, with 3,972 examples produced the following year — split between 3,241 hatchbacks and 731 convertibles – the total Turbo GT production comes out to 4,528 examples.

As the name suggests, instead of relying on old-school six- or eight-cylinder lumps that traditionally featured in Mustangs, the Turbo GT took advantage of boost. Under its hood sat a fuel-injected and turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-4, and when fed the correct premium gas, it was good for 145 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque. It was actually quite a technically impressive mill for the time, sporting forged aluminum pistons, a lightweight flywheel, valves with a higher heat resistance, and extra oil cooling hardware — this was certainly no half-measure attempt from the Blue Oval engineers.

Ford sadly canned the Turbo GT after the '84 model year. While a smaller four-cylinder engine was no doubt more economical than a naturally aspirated V8, and yet still punchy enough to induce a smile on the face of most drivers, less than 5,000 sales across both model years clearly meant it wasn't a great car to market to the mass market. Such scarcity has not translated into high desirability in the modern day, either, since any recent sales we found on Bring a Trailer barely scraped past $12,000.

The 1992 Ford Mustang Summer Edition, or, to call it by its full name, the 1992 Vibrant Red Mustang LX 5.0 Limited Edition Convertible, was exactly that — a vibrant red drop-top 'Stang. It was powered by a 225-hp, 300-lb-ft, 302-cubic-inch High Output (H.O.) V8, and it debuted halfway through the 1992 model year during the — you guessed it — summer.

Other unique features include a white leather interior with contrasting black stitch-work and a complementary white fabric roof. It was by no means subtle, especially with 16-inch Opal Pearlescent white wheels completing the bold look. Also helping the Summer Edition Mustang differentiate itself from similarly specified but otherwise completely regular Mustangs was a unique decklid spoiler, body-colored mirrors, plus a variety of other Vibrant Red exterior trims too.

Ford churned out just 2,193 of these striking convertibles, and of those, the manual-equipped cars are by far the rarest. Buyers had the choice of a four-speed automatic or five-speed manual, and only 787 of them chose the three-pedal version. Today, the Summer Edition is quite a desirable little classic, and although it doesn't exactly command huge premiums, the finest examples are starting to require larger investments when they do change hands. For example, recent online auction results courtesy of Bring a Trailer reveal that smart, low-mileage cars sell for in excess of $20,000 fairly regularly, while the very best of the bunch can sometimes see the hammer fall at double this price.

Much like the aforementioned 1992 Summer Edition, Ford offered a pair of other such special editions in the following year. These colorful special editions are sometimes called "Feature Cars," and for '93, Vibrant Red stepped aside for Vibrant White and Canary Yellow. Their features were really quite similar to the '92 car, with a 205-hp 5.0-liter V8 providing propulsion, and a smattering of white visual details. Once again, they were all LX-based convertible cars.

In total, Ford produced 3,003 of these 1993 Feature Cars, which, of course, makes them less rare than the aforementioned '92 Vibrant Red model. However, if we break production down by color, we find 1,503 Canary Yellow examples, and 1,500 in Vibrant White, so the individual models are actually rarer than the special edition of the previous year. We also find that, again, those equipped with the five-speed manual are rarest, with an estimated 565 yellow manuals, of which only 113 sported the white interior and top combination. As for the Vibrant White car, just 404 were picked up with the stick.

While collector examples with minimal mileage and low owner counts would surely match the prices paid for '92 cars, recent auction results reveal that most examples in either color seem to change hands for between $15,000 and $20,000. Such is the beauty of even the rarer guises of the Fox Body; it's a remarkably affordable yet fun and stylish classic, perfect for enthusiasts with realistic budgets.

The next Fox Body on our list takes us back into the 1980s, and behind the wheel of another performance-focused model. It's the 1985.5 Mustang SVO, the ".5" referring to the fact Ford's SVO model was refreshed halfway through the model year. As for the SVO part, that stands for Special Vehicle Operations, a short-lived department which predated the far-better-known SVT department.

Under the '85.5 SVO's hood was once again fitted a turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four, much like that of the aforementioned Turbo GT. However, in this application, the four-pot kicks out a much more meaningful 205 hp and 248 lb-ft of torque. Those specs are specific to the '85.5 car, and importantly, the output of these cars is higher than both the Mustang models that preceded and succeeded it.

Only 436 examples of the mid-year-refresh SVO Mustangs were ever produced, making them exceedingly rare classic Mustangs. Today, Hagerty tells us that average examples should still be trading south of $20,000, while the very best examples may command in excess of $60,000. For collectors, just finding one of these rare 1985.5 cars might prove tricky, as previous auction listings prove they don't come up for sale often.

The Mustang SVT Cobra R arrived in the Fox Body's final model year, right before the SN95 generation was ushered in for 1994. Ford also sold a non-R version dubbed the SVT Cobra, and while those cars were still high-performance street machines, the Cobra R was bred for the track. It still kept its street-legal status, but clearly outlining its purpose, the "R" stands for race-ready.

The SVT Cobra R was available exclusively in Vibrant Red, and it set buyers back the very significant sum of $25,692, which, for reference, was almost $10,000 more than a base GT Coupe. What buyers received for their cash, though, was a seriously potent performance package, which included a track-ready suspension with Eibach springs and Koni adjustable shocks and struts, vented brake rotors in all four corners, and uprated oil and power-steering cooling systems. When it comes to motivation, the SVT Cobra R shipped with a 5.0-liter V8 with 235 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque.

That was certainly more than the 205 horsepower and 275 lb-ft on offer from the '93 Mustang GT, but whether the hardware tweaks and bump in power were enough to justify the huge hike in price is another matter. Fortunately, Ford only had to convince 107 buyers to justify the expense, as that's how many SVT Cobra R Fox Bodies were built. Most went to collectors, and some found their way out onto the track. However, unlike many of the other rarities on this list, the SVT Cobra R commands significant sums whenever it crops up for sale. A low-mileage specimen achieved a $132,000 result at a 2019 Barrett-Jackson auction, which set something of a precedent. Hagerty now pegs concours examples at a steep $196,000, on average.

The original Twister Special Mustang arrived as a 1970 model year, made available through Kansas area dealers only. It might just be the rarest Mach 1 Mustang ever made, but 15 years later, Ford launched another Twister, which proved even rarer than the original. Once again, the Fox Body Twister II variant was only sold within the Kansas City sales district, and compared to the 96 examples of the 1970 Mach 1 Twister Special, Ford only produced 90 Fox Body Twister II models – a mix of three-door GT coupe hatchbacks and convertible models. However, unlike the 1970 Mach 1 Twister Special, which was based on the Mach 1, the Twister II was nothing more than a cosmetic package for a standard Mustang GT, with a special dash badge and Twister II-specific graphics on the exterior.

Breaking the production figures down further, Ford produced 76 coupes and 14 convertibles of the Twister II. Of those coupes, 74 were sold with a five-speed manual, whereas only nine convertibles were equipped with the stick. So, despite more ragtops being made, the rarest iteration is actually an automatic coupe, of which only two were ever sold.

Under the hood, all Twister II Mustangs sported the 5.0-liter H.O. Windsor V8, which was good for 210 hp when equipped with the manual 'box, or just 180 hp when an auto transmission was specified. Despite the model's incredible scarcity, Twister II Mustangs have been seen to regularly trade below $20,000 in fettle over the last few years.

By 1980, the Mustang II era was over, and Ford was keen to demonstrate that the Mustang name was still serious about performance. However, big-block V8s were no longer the flavor of the month, so instead, Ford set about developing a boosted inline-four-powered Mustang that would carefully tread the line between fuel efficiency and outright performance.

Teaming up with Michigan-based McLaren Engines allowed the Blue Oval brand to borrow from the company's motorsport expertise, while also attaching a performance-first name to the up-and-coming model, letting customers know the sedate Mustang was no more. The engine in question will sound familiar, since it's the same turbocharged 2.3-liter inline-four that was later revised for the Turbo GT and SVO. In the M81, it produced 175 horsepower, which was significant at the time, and the M81's visuals also screamed performance. Blistered arches partnered with hood scoops, wide BBS alloy wheels, and lowered suspension to ensure it gave the correct impression. 

That said, a $25,000 price tag is what arguably destroyed the automaker's dreams of punching out 250 units. Just 10 were made, including one prototype. The M81 might well be the king of all Fox Bodies, but factoring in inflation makes for an MSRP north of $100,000, so perhaps it's no wonder the idea never took off. In 2024, one of these 10 Mustangs with just 561 miles from new sold for $82,500 courtesy of Mecum Auctions. In other words, even 44 years on, the pricey M81 hasn't proved to be much of a solid investment.