How FORD built the cars FOR ASC

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:41 am

FORD'S ORDER CODE OF "D32" IS WHAT PUT YOUR 1987-1990 MUSTANG INTO MOTION. ALL THE FORD DEALER HAD TO INSERT ON THE DEALER NEW CAR ORDERING FORM WAS CODE D32. IN SO DOING, THIS BEGAN A LONG CHAIN OF EVENTS !
A "MULE" WAS GIVEN A PLACE ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE. asc/McLARENS WERE BUILT IN GROUPS OF NO PARTICULAR NUMBER OF UNITS. MIGHT BE 100 UNITS, OR IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN 10. USUALLY (IF POSSIBLE) ORDER WERE HELD UNTIL AT LEAST 25 UNITS COULD BE DONE AS A UNIT. BUT, NOT ALWAYS.

HERE WE GO:

Here is how the 1987-1990 Ford Mustangs were specially built for ASC/McLaren by the Ford Motor Company, using the guidelines set down by asc/McLaren as to how asc/McLaren needed them to be built on the Ford Assembly Line:-
Ford Mustang LX V-8 2-Door Sedan
The Mustang GT front Fascia replacing the Mustang LX front Facia
complete with the GT Fog Lamps
Delete the LX standard bodyside accent pin stripe
Install GT Mufflers
Install the Mustang Convertible Seat & Shoulder Belts
Instal the Mustang Convertible Rear View Mirror with Courtesy Lamps
Instal the GT(s) Articulated Front Bucket Seats, (in cloth) WITH Thunderbird
vinyl Non-Adjustable headrests
Install frameless doors as used on T-Top cars
Cars calling for BLUE interior, were painted white while any other interior
color would make the exterior of the cars black .
Install the interior door panels from a GT
OMIT the headliner, exterior & interior roof mouldings, ( except for the
interior windshield moulding)
Toss into the trunk convertible-cut carpeting matching the interior
Omit the interior Dome Lamp. its wiring & bracket hardware
Omit rear seat, Rear Seat Belts, & rear seat side Quarter Panels
Omit Rear Package Shelf
Omit all exterior / interior nameplates & emblems
Include in trunk Mustang Convertible Sun Visors
Omit trunk lock and place tape over the hole where the lock would have been by using the tape supplied, tape the trunk lid closed by securing the
tape all the way down to under the rear bumper
Omit rear window exterior & Interior finishing mouldings
All "mules" were either 5-Speed Manual -OR- Automatic Transmission
Make sure you are getting the interior color AND the transmission that is needed!
NORMAL OPTIONS THAT ARE STANDARD for D32, The asc/McLaren Build code
Air Conditioning
Tinted Glass
Power Windows, Door Locks, Remote Trunk Lid Release, Speed Cotrol,
AM-FM Stereo with Cassette,
Dual Electric Exterior Mirrors (1990, 1989 and late build 1988.)
Tilt Steering Wheel (Except 1990s) because of the Instalation of the Air Bag
SPECIAL ITEMS;
130 AMP Heavy Duty Alternator (from Lestek of Texas)
Heavy Duty Internal Rocker Panels
Heavy-Duty Reinforced Convertible Pan

SOooo, never let a person tell you that your car is "Aftertmarket" !!
Ford Motor Company had a full hand in developing and aiding asc/McLaren
in any way that they could in making these very unique 2-Seater Mustangs.
479 were made for 1987; 1,015 for 1988 made for 1,494 of "Series One"
and for 1989 & 1990 the cars wore revised side and rear ground effects.
247 made for 1989 and just 65 finished up as 1990s "Completed "Series II".
Total = Just 1,806 for the 4 years.
fOR 1990, A 25th Silver Anniversary Edition was spoken about in print, and two
examples were actually made, but two problems put a quick end to it.
FORD got wind of it and let asc/McLaren know that ONLY Ford puts out Anniversary Editions to commorate Ford products "anniversaries. BUT asc/McLaren told Ford the it was asc/McLarens 25th Anniversary in business.
Anyway, asc/McLaren wasn't buying any of that and they allowed them to
sell the two units that were built. The Edition was done in Silver Pearl paint, with the Scarlet (red) Interior and was to have a light grey (a.k.a. "Silver" ) cloth roof. One of which is in my garage and the other lives in Florida.
However...the Light Grey cloth top FAILED fade tests and was never made.
My car has a Black Cloth Roof and the Florida car has a Burgundy Cloth Roof.
They have front fender plaques 4 inches by an inch & a half silver letters on a gloss black background set within a chrome frame. The lettering states:
25 ANNIVERSARY EDIION

http://images116.fotki.com/v618/photos/ ... ver-vi.jpg

1985 Motorsport Capri · Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:46 pm

what about the GT front end?

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 6:58 pm

You are correct, Jason, and thanks ! I will go back and add it. Actually, it was on my listing, but my eyes akipped that line. Thanks again , and have a great holiday season !

shelbyscarab · Post by **shelbyscarab** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:01 am

Ok Sandy, or anyone, I've heard this story/facts about how the mustangs came to ASC many times.

However I don't ever recall ever SEEING one. Does anyone have any pictures of any cars when they were delivered to ASC? and before they were touched by ASC?

Tom S. · Post by **Tom S.** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 3:26 am

More here: http://public.fotki.com/ascmclaren/ascm ... _assembly/

mca1686 · Post by **mca1686** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:13 am

Tom, where did you get those pictures at. Do you have larger sizes, I would love too print a few out and get them framed

xrod · Post by **xrod** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 1:10 pm

The second picture is a great example of the windshield‘s change in rake.

Tom S. · Post by **Tom S.** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 4:16 pm

mca1686 wrote:Tom, where did you get those pictures at. Do you have larger sizes, I would love too print a few out and get them framed

I do believe I got them from Sandy a long time ago. These are just scans of the prints.

Tom S. · Post by **Tom S.** » Mon Dec 19, 2011 5:09 pm

Found some more pics.

I was looking around over at Turbobuick.com and found this interesting thread: http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/gnx-fo ... o-exc.html

And found some cool pics posted by user 357456 in it.

User X Ray was an inside guy there at ASC working on the GNX program, perhaps someone might be interested enough to contact him and see what he knows about the Mustangs as well.

1985 Motorsport Capri · Tue Dec 20, 2011 12:38 pm

"UNITS REQUESTING A BLUE INTERIOR WERE TO BE MADE IN OXFORD WHITE, WHILE UNITS CALLING FOR ANY OTHER INTERIOR COLOR WERE MADE RAVEN BLACK"

so where do those red mustangs in the photos come in?

Tom S. · Post by **Tom S.** » Tue Dec 20, 2011 4:58 pm

1985 Motorsport Capri wrote:"UNITS REQUESTING A BLUE INTERIOR WERE TO BE MADE IN OXFORD WHITE, WHILE UNITS CALLING FOR ANY OTHER INTERIOR COLOR WERE MADE RAVEN BLACK"

so where do those red mustangs in the photos come in?

That's what I was wondering as well. They clearly are pre-conversion coupes with GT noses and GT exhaust. Awful lot of red ones too. I was thinking maybe batch builds by color.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 1:34 am

I had explained this before...but VERY long ago...
In the 1988 build-year, FoMoCo recieved a large number or Government orders, for State, towns police LX 5.0 Coupes for highway patrol.
Feeling that combined withretain orders from dealers would tax the quantity of white paint, and havinga surplus ore paint, furthermore the police oked the red cloth interior, they got a majority to take the red exterior. This took place ONLY IN 1988, AS FAR AS i KNOW.

tOLD TO ME BY A n CHIGAN captian in Lavinia- Mi.

ChuckG · Post by **ChuckG** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:41 am

I remember seeing that lot at that time. Never took a photo.

Even saw the fugly '87 Coupe prototype and told them I'd burn my '86 if they devalued the marque building that LX with a stripe.

Sandy · Post by **Sandy** » Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:21 pm

I could never get an explaintion as to WHY the RED ones arrived with the GT front Fascia. My guess ? Just easier to tske it with the ascMcLaren specs than upset the "apple cart". 1988 was a huge year for Musatng. Retail dealer orders, highest number of asc/McLaren orders and a flood of state highway patrol 302 LX Coupes. FoMoCo got SOME "Stasties" to take RED units, onto the cars the police applied GOLD decals, with black trimmings. Some played "undercover" by staying red with no markings on the exterior. There was a huge (inital) demand for the White.

All cars to become asc/McLarens WITH blue, had to be ordered in White, the Police wanted white, retail orders at dealerships had alot of orders for White, as well. asc/McLaren NEEDED the white cars for McLaren 'Verts from retail orders calling for blue interior'd cars.
The 3 most called for colors in 1988 were White, Red & Black.

1985 Motorsport Capri · Wed Dec 21, 2011 2:54 pm

first off, these photos of the red cars are from 1987, NOT 1988 (the gnx was a 1987 only build).
the cars that were built for police were always stripped down lx coupes.
those cars were painted white or black, with a few exceptions if they wanted a color that was already available from the factory (example...MI state police - blue).
not sure, but i believe that any lx 5.0 coupe that was built for cops had a unique code like the d32.
this way they could be built on the line without stuff they would not need.
it would also allow to paint the cars in black/white combo right on the line.
why repaint it tu-tone when you already have those colored parts to put on at the factory?

nearly all of the SSP mustangs were built for sherrif dept or state police as highway interceptors. i have never seen one with red interior.

Livonia, MI police never had any LX coupes. even Dearborn PD did not have any, & Dearborn had a deal with ford for all the cars they wanted for $1 each.
I grew up in dearborn & know this for a fact. closest thing that DPD had was an silver 86 coupe - stock, which was a undercover unit back in the late 80's

never seen a SSP with a gt front end.
ford would not have put them on cop cars. why would they? doenst make sence from a money stand point. if they are deleated back seats, carpet, & so forth, why put the better front clip on?

& why repaint a red car white, when you can just build a white car?
supposedly they made three red ssp's for florida higway patrol undercover.

there is more than 3 in the photos.