Befitting this being October 31st, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Mustang is claimed to be a car that might strike terror in the hearts of the unwary. Let’s see if this modded pony’s price is a treat or a trick.
How Can I Miss You If You Won’t Go Away is a song by Dan Hicks that became a bit of a hit back in the ’90s. In contrast to that title, Isuzu went away—well, from the consumer market, at least—but doesn’t seem to be sorely missed. Maybe that’s because it left behind some cool old trucks like the 2000 Isuzu Trooper we looked at yesterday. Its $4,650 price proved not to be a miss, earning a solid 90 percent Nice Price win.
What’s the scariest experience you’ve ever had? For me, it was when I was around eleven or twelve years old and watched Night of the Living Dead on my little hand-me-down TV one late night in my bedroom. For most Mustang drivers, the scariest moment in their lives is typically when they attempt to leave the weekly Cars & Coffee show.
Its seller claims this 2012 Mustang GT has some performance modifications that make it, in their words, “Scary fast.” That should turn up the tap on the sphincter-clenching during displays of driving heroics. Or when simply confronting a parking lot exit apron.
The base GT has some serious bona fides to begin with. Out the factory door, its 5.0 V8 made a stout 412 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. That’s been enhanced on this car with a Boss 302 intake for better breathing, a fatter (but the seller assures us, still smog-legal) exhaust, and a higher capacity oil pan for more lube action. All combined, they say, that makes it feel like a race car for the street.
To keep the ponies in line, the standard six-speed stick has been imbued with a dual-disc clutch and upgraded hydraulics and feeds off a lightened flywheel. On the other side, it telegraphs the power through a two-piece aluminum driveshaft to a 3.93 rear end. For enhanced driver fun, that also gets a short shifter kit.
The rest of the car appears to be keeping up its end of the bargain. The ad notes a clean title, 80K on the clock, and a solid maintenance history. On the outside, the Blue Flame metallic paint still pops and nicely matches the gunmetal SVT alloy wheels. The tires mounted on those wheels don’t look like they’ve lost too much in the tread department, either.
It’s a similar story in the cabin, although this generation of Mustang does suffer from severe plastic-itis. Getting past that, it all seems to be in order and without issue. Being a relatively modern car, this GT has most of the accouterments we have come to expect in terms of safety and convenience. It’s all nice enough, in fact, that the present owner complains in the ad for having to get rid of it, stating:
I love this car and it kills me to have to sell it. But, I am moving to a more rural area and I need a truck, not a Race Car.
Moving to a rural area is a top-10 reason for selling a car, so I’m sure most of us can readily relate to the seller’s predicament. This being Halloween, we can also understand the appeal of a “Scary fast” car. What we do need to determine, though, is whether it can scare up a buyer at its $20,000 asking price.
What do you say? Do the mods and presentation make this Mustang worth that $20,000 asking? Or is the thought of paying that much for a decade-old ’Stang a terrifying proposition?
You decide!
Phoenix, Arizona, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
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