On the way to the office this morning, I was reminded of how so many of my dream cars were out when I was a preteen/teenager. I wouldn’t say that I’m stuck in the ’90s, but I can’t dispute the fact that I long for a Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon, second-series C4 Chevrolet Corvette, XJ Jeep Cherokee Country, and OBS Ford Bronco. The following Jay Leno’s Garage video made me realize that there’s at least one famous, successful show biz star out there who wants vehicles from the same era. Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias’ desire for the cars of his youth led him to buy an absolute time capsule of a 1993 Ford Mustang GT Convertible.
Iglesias was born in 1976, so the ’93 model year, the end of the line for the Fox Body Mustang, was close to the end of his high school years. Cars from that time in your life are hard to forget — every time I see a fourth-generation Chevrolet Camaro SS, I think about my senior year.
Now that Iglesias has the coin for the cars he couldn’t afford back then, he’s been crossing them off the list, including a 1994 Mustang SVT Cobra Convertible and a 1989 Camaro IROC-Z. And since he doesn’t want to mess with having them restored, he buys them with ultra-low mileage (although a vehicle’s age does require a certain amount of maintenance). Somehow, Iglesias tracked down this GT drop-top, which has fewer than 500 miles on the odometer! That would be cool enough if the car came in a ho-hum color, but Iglesias’ car appears to be Reef Blue with Titanium lower accents. What a great — and so very ’90s — combo.
Given that ultra-low odometer reading, the body is in great shape, as is the Black leather interior. Even the headlights are nice and clear. Of course, Iglesias had the original tires swapped out for a fresh set. He also made sure to have a bumpin’ sound system with two massive trunk-mounted subwoofers installed (some new shocks would also be a smart update to make).
Perhaps just distinctive as the Fox Body Mustang’s style was its engine. To this day, the words “five point oh” still mean something to Ford fans, both young and old. Ford fitted the 5.0-liter V-8 with forged steel connecting rods and stainless steel tubular headers. Output was 205 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque. However, once Leno and Iglesias hit the road and Leno starts rowing through the gears of the five-speed manual, the Mustang feels more potent than its numbers suggest. But there’s something even more powerful than any engine out there, including the current version of the 5.0: nostalgia.
