How About a Pinto-Powered Mustang With a T-Roof?

1982 Ford Mustang GLX t-roof.

Classic 1982 magazine ad is a reminder of how far the pony car has come.

In the mood for a good throwback?

Well, here’s one for the books. Though, we guess, you could classify it as a bit of an oddball, too. Then, again, it’s hard to dispute that there’s some cool nostalgia in a Fox Body Mustang with a 2.3-liter Pinto engine and a T-Roof.

Nope, this isn’t some wild fluke, in case you’re not all that versed on Mustang history. As detailed in a recent AutoWeek report, there was a period when Ford moved from the Pinto-based chassis to the Fox Body platform, but they kept that dreadful Pinto engine intact. It was an era that even Ford would probably like to keep buried in the obscurity of “Little Known Mustang Facts”.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About 1982

After all, the idea of a Mustang with only 86-horsepower isn’t the kind of thing that Ford can use as a battle cry against the Chevy Camaro. But apparently in 1982, it made for quite the marketing pitch, as detailed in the ad below.

The straight-four 2.3-liter engine was one of four engine options for the Mustang in 1982. The others included a 200-cubic-inch pushrod straight-six with 87 hp, a 255-cubic-inch V8 with 120 horsepower, and a 302-cubic-inch V8 with a whopping 157 hp.

Thank goodness, we managed to get past that gas crisis, right? It’s kind of crazy when you think about it, but had gas prices not turned around, we very well could be touting stats about 200-plus horsepower Mustangs in 2017.