Every October, Matt and Jennifer Highly of Fox Mustang Restoration host one of the most unique and special events of the year. It is a show dedicated to one of the most beloved segments of the pony car pantheon — the 1979-1993 Mustang, also known as the Fox Mustang. The annual Foxtoberfest only welcomes only Fox-chassis vehicles on the show field, which makes for a quite a flashback for fans of this era.
The show started out as a small cruise in at the Fox Mustang Restoration shop in Locust, North Carolina several years ago for the Southeastern Foxbodies club and has grown from around 20 cars to the huge show it is today. Over 500 Foxes came out to Intimdators Stadium in Kannapolis, North Carolina, for the event. We saw tags from as far away as Wisconsin, and the rows and rows of Foxes is an impressive sight to see, making this a must-attend event for any fans of these cars.
The Foxes started to line up early on the half-mile entrance road into Intimidators Stadium. A group of volunteers led by the Southeastern Foxbodies club, nicknamed the Orange Shirt Mafia, were in charge of parking cars. To add to the visual effect of the event, aero-nose 1987-1993 cars and four-eyed 1979-1986 cars were parked in separate rows. There was also special parking for SVOs, 1993 Cobras, Saleens, and other specialty models, such as 7Up cars.
Foxtoberfest Award Categories
As the day ended it was time to give out the awards to a few lucky Fox winners. The winning cars were voted on by the participants in the following categories:• Best Original 1979-1986
• Best Modified 1979-1986
• Best Daily Driver 1979-1986
• Best Original 1987-1993
• Best Modified 1987-1993
• Best Daily Driver 1987-1993
• Best Non-Mustang Fox
• Best Of Show
Special awards were also given out to the car that made the most horsepower on the dyno, the car that made the least horsepower on the dyno, the Southeastern Foxbodies Club Choice Award and the Ponies In The Smokies Staff Pick. Check out the full winners’ gallery below.Parking over 500 cars in this manner is no easy task, but the orange-clad SEFB crew always seems to pull it off with ease. The end result was an impressive display of Foxes that looks cool and also makes the voting and comparing cars easier.
If you love Fox Mustangs and Fox chassis cars like we do, you have to make plans now to attend next years Foxtoberfest. With over 500 Foxes in attendance, the 2017 edition broke all previous attendance records and this show only stands to grow as time goes on.
Our hats off to Matt and Jennifer of Fox Mustang Restoration for all their hard work on the show and helping preserve our beloved Fox for people to enjoy for years to come.
We had a chance to walk those rows of awesome Foxes in search of some favorites. The end result is a Top 10 list of some awesome Foxes, and be sure check out our galleries below for over 1,000 Fox photos.
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10. Clean Coyote Cobra
As with most of these lists we put together, the last car could have just as easily been the first. This 1993 Cobra is one of the cleanest we have ever laid our eyes on. The body, fit and finish is all top notch. If there was a flaw on this car, we could not find it.
From 10 feet this Cobra appears stock, but once you get closer, you realize the heart of this Cobra is modernized with a Coyote swap. The modern 5.0-liter looks right at home in place of its legendary push rod predecessor. The swap takes an already impressive Cobra to the next level.
9. Rare T-Top Coupe
From 1981 to 1984, you could order a T-top coupe straight from Ford. Although rare, they exist and are one of the more desirable collector Foxes. This look and desire has caused many people to create their own T-top coupes over the years.
An example of one of those is this silver beauty. While Ford never made an aero-nose T-top coupe, this car represents what one would have looked like and it is pretty darn cool. However, the modifications do not stop there. A Vortech supercharger, Cobra brakes, True Forged wheels and ’03-’04 Cobra seats take this notch to the next level.
8. Nasty Florida SSP Coupe
Our first Special Service Package Fox on the list, this former Florida Highway Patrol car still wears its traditional black and tan paint scheme and sports the huge spotlight up front. Beyond that, however, this car has totally been transformed from civic duty to a nasty street machine. A built, turbocharged small-block now sit where the original 5.0 once was. A set of Weld wheels give the car not only the perfect stance, but they are lightweight and functional as well.
7. North Carolina Highway Patrol Coupe
Special Service Package Fox number two on the list is a fully service-dressed North Carolina Highway Patrol car. Restored to its original glory, the black and silver North Carolina colors make for one of the coolest Highway Patrol coupe combinations. The SSP cars brought attention and fame to the coupe body style making them arguably the most popular Fox coupes, even to this day. Seeing one in top-notch, original condition is a real treat.
6. Factory Saleen Race Car
This one almost speaks for itself. A factory SCCA Saleen race car in as-raced condition. Driven by Steve Saleen himself, this is such a cool car and one rarely saw out in the wild. Just goes to show you how big a draw Foxtoberfest has become. This car is definitely one of the rarest Foxes out here. If you look closely at the front bumper, you can see where it was knocked off, repaired, and knocked off again several times.
5. Coyote Pace Car
If you walk by the 1979 Indy Pace Car, you would assume it still sports the original push rod 302 or maybe perhaps the turbo four-cylinder available in these cars. If you take a second look, you might notice the original wheels or maybe the original radio. Finally, on the third look, you might glance under the hood and realize this car has a little something special in it.
The owner of this Pace Car took what appears to be a original example and added a modern 5.0 Coyote engine. Talk about a sleeper. From what we could see, the engine was basically the only modification to this car, a unique move when the norm is to toss out everything and modernize it. This Pace Car really gives the best of both worlds, super clean and original on appearance, but a modern engine that would take you anywhere and get you there in a hurry.
4. EcoBoost Coupe
Ford’s EcoBoost engine platform has taken the modern car world by storm. It was only a matter of time before these engines found their way into custom applications. Marty Ochs decided to use the four-cylinder version for his MoOrange build and the end result is awesome. Over the top orange paint, bronze wheels, and Corbeau seats compliment the turbo four-banger making this a completely unique Fox coupe.
3. Fox Truck
A what? A Ford Durango, which was built as a potential competitor for the El Camino. A strictly limited number of Ford Fairmont Futuras were converted over by National Coach Works in Los Angeles, California, to test that theory.
Exact production numbers are not known, but the estimate is somewhere around 200 according to Wikipedia. The owner of this particular rare Durango added a few modern twists, including GT500 wheels, Cobra brakes, a TMI interior and an FI-Tech fuel-injection system that not only looks good but improves the driveability of this cool pickup Fox. This one is sure to get looks and questions wherever it goes.
2. Highway Patrol LTD
Our third SSP on the list and second former Florida Highway Patrol car. Rick and Billy White’s 1985 LTD is one bad ride. Only a small portion of State Trooper lettering on the front fender hints at this car’s storied past. Today, this LTD is built to live life one quarter mile at a time.
Capable of running low 10s, this LTD is powered by a 383 cubic-inch Windsor with a Vortech T-Trim hanging off the front. If not for the black Welds and Thunderbolt-style hood scoop, this car might be considered a sleeper, well, until you hear it run that is…
1. GT500-Powered Coupe
As we walked the show field at Foxtoberfest, we just kept coming back to this coupe. Everytime we looked at it, it checked all our boxes for what we would want in a Fox Mustang — a modern power plant with the GT500 engine swap.
It also features a cool stance hovering over BBS wheels, and a simple, but functional black interior featuring Recaro seats, modern touch screen radio and an aftermarket gauge cluster. Finally, finishing it all of is a perfect and unique paint selection accented perfectly with a red trim stripe. This coupe is the total package.
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