The Mystery of the '88 Junkyard Fox

[T3RMINATOR]

Last fall a buddy and I pulled this car out of a local junkyard. We're close with the owner and he knows we're both into mustangs so he called us up and we worked a deal where we could take the car back and pull all the parts we wanted as long as we brought the car back for him to keep the scrap value of it. So we got it home and started ripping into it. Notice the bright red vibrant paint where the passenger tail light would be.

As I started to pull the dash, I saw the VIN and noticed it didn't look quite right. So I pulled it out and there was another, original VIN under this plate. This vin decodes to a 1988 GT.

This was the original VIN the car left the factory with I am assuming. It was decoded to a 1988 LX

As we kept pulling the car apart, I noticed that the reddish burgundy under the GT side skirts was different from that of the red that was covering spots all over the car

The bottom of the "birdbath" wing matched the color that was found under the side skirts so I assumed that this burgundy color was the original color of the car as under the wing, the hatch showed the same color as the wing and side skirt area. So I guess this wing was color matched and put on at one point or another.

This tag also indicated to me that the car was an LX when it left the factory.

This is how the car looked when it left. It got taken back to the junkyard and crushed and you can see the mangled front end which is probably the reason why it went there in the first place. We got the 302, t5, windows, doors, wiring, and the rear end plus a bunch of other parts off the car. Interestingly enough, the birdbath wing made me want to check the Saleen registry for it possibly being a Saleen fox. The registry only shows the last 3 digits of the vin and surprisingly, the last 3 digits of this car original VIN matched that of a 1988 Saleen.

I can understand someone swapping GT ground effects and repainting the car maybe just because they didn't like the look of an LX but why swap the VIN as well. That's a federal crime right? Let alone if this was an actual saleen, why do it? I have looked up both VINs on the internet for info on the cars but I can't seem to find anything on the original car in terms of theft or flood or anything. Didn't want to pay 40 bucks for a full carfax report either... The car is long gone now but the mystery is still there. As to deal with the VIN do you guys have any ideas or resources for me to dig deeper into this? I would love to figure out the story of this car. Thanks!

 

[Roots-type]

Some sketch going on with that thing. I bet someone here can dig deeper. If not, I know someone who might do it.

 

[T3RMINATOR]

Some sketch going on with that thing. I bet someone here can dig deeper. If not, I know someone who might do it.

Yep as soon as I saw the double VIN plate I knew something was up with this car. But if you know anyone, please do get in touch with them. I'd love to figure out the story behind this car.

 

[Roots-type]

Yep as soon as I saw the double VIN plate I knew something was up with this car. But if you know anyone, please do get in touch with them. I'd love to figure out the story behind this car.

He has the link to this thread. If he can help you I'm sure he will.

 

[SID297]

I wouldn't doubt there's some theft history going on here.

 

[Corbic]

If it was Vin tampering, why didn't they remove the old tag?

 

[OX1]

If it was Vin tampering, why didn't they remove the old tag?

Sold to new owner that never new?? (or didn't want too)......

 

[Corbic]

Sold to new owner that never new?? (or didn't want too)......

What I'm saying is, why would they not remove the original Vin tag when adding the new one on top?

Seems like they intentionally left the original Vin on the car.

I've seen miss matched dashes simply because people are stupid. Pull a junkyard dash to replaced a rotted stock one and didn't think to swap the tags.

 

[T3RMINATOR]

I wouldn't doubt there's some theft history going on here.

That was my thoughts exactly...

What I'm saying is, why would they not remove the original Vin tag when adding the new one on top?

Seems like they intentionally left the original Vin on the car.

I've seen miss matched dashes simply because people are stupid. Pull a junkyard dash to replaced a rotted stock one and didn't think to swap the tags.

It's possible but the fact the car left the factory as an LX and seems to just had a quick respray and the gt ground effects swap makes me think otherwise perhaps.

 

[Roots-type]

I'll relay his response. I don't think he has an acct over here.

"The system I can see through Ford states the following that VIN for the fox body.
We are sorry, but no information could be found for the VIN/Registration number you entered - 1FABP42E4JF254206

Either the system doesn't go back far enough or something is up with the VIN. I work for in an office that handles Fleet items so I can see some stuff."

 

[T3RMINATOR]

I'll relay his response. I don't think he has an acct over here.

"The system I can see through Ford states the following that VIN for the fox body.
We are sorry, but no information could be found for the VIN/Registration number you entered - 1FABP42E4JF254206

Either the system doesn't go back far enough or something is up with the VIN. I work for in an office that handles Fleet items so I can see some stuff."

That's odd. Thanks for getting back to me by the way. Guess the mystery will just have to stay a mystery for now.

 

[Roots-type]

That's odd. Thanks for getting back to me by the way. Guess the mystery will just have to stay a mystery for now.

If you want, there's a site he mentioned called ford etis that shows build info etc. that you could try and use to dig further. He messaged me back about the other VIN and said it did not show up in the database.

 

[kazman]

The results of Ford ETIS:

Web Single Login

 

[ford fanatic]

Interesting...

There are a few rare Saleens that were sold with GT ground effects.

You could try making a thread here... 1984-1993 Saleen Mustang - The Saleen Forums at soec.org

These guys are the experts when it comes to foxbody Saleens, and they love finding ones that haven't been accounted for if that's truly what this is.

 

[_Lariat]

Who doesnt like a hunt?


I did the same thing looking for the SCJ torino that roamed my area LONG before I was born. Found the vin, deciphered it to a cobra. Heard it was crushed after a flood, but then heard say of an engine that may have been from it. Located it and confirmed by the stamped block vin and other things. Car was in fact an SCJ and got thrown to the side.



Hope you find something cool!

Sent from my SM-G955U using the svtperformance.com mobile app

 

[98 svt]

Seems it was stolen, VIN swapped, added GT ground effects, painted, and sold to some poor schlub.

 

[TERMN8U]

When I was 20, I had a 1990 Thunderbird super cute. Driving around one night I ran into a guy with a gorgeous slammed, read 1990 GT, deep dish BBS Wheels, long tube headers, full exhaust, killer stereo system with a box and a few other cool that’s that I’m forgetting to mention. Anyway the guy said he loved my supercoupe and wondered if I would trade him. I immediately said yes since the mustang what is my dream car.
I forget how it all went down but in the end we traded cars and I drove it for about two years. I put a built 306 with heads,
Z cam, ported GT 40 upper and lower, big mass air, injectors, gears and just about anything else I could possibly do to this car. One night I took it to a bar and when I came out it was gone. A couple of years later I met a guy at the mustang shop that said he knew one of the guys that stole the car. I got $24,000 in the insurance settlement so I did not care that I never saw it again but he said that that car was actually a 1993. When they parted it out it had a latch plate on the hatch that was gold and somebody had messed around with the Vin plate.
there were two other things that I noticed about the car, when I rebuilt the motor it had cast pistons in it which only came in the 93 and one time a truck hit my front fender so I swapped it out with one that I had in the garage from the 1988 GT. Problem was it didn’t fit. The 93’s had a bigger wheel arch opening than the 88. I never clued into it.... maybe I didn’t want too. It’s like they say something is too good to be true it probably is.

another thing I found out is that the guy that stole it gotten a police chase on the highway on the way to the shop where they cut it up. Apparently The thief was more than impressed with the power.
1:30am on an empty 6 Lane highway being chased by a crown Victoria. LMAO I would have loved to of seen that and heard it!

 

[CobraBob]

How was the second VIN tag adhered to the original? The location of the punched holes on the right are in different locations, while the ones on the left are pretty close. I'm trying to figure out how the second tag was attached over the original. There's that raised piece on the upper right that would seem to be an issue for the second tag to lay flat. ??

 

[T3RMINATOR]

Interesting...

There are a few rare Saleens that were sold with GT ground effects.

You could try making a thread here... 1984-1993 Saleen Mustang - The Saleen Forums at soec.org

These guys are the experts when it comes to foxbody Saleens, and they love finding ones that haven't been accounted for if that's truly what this is.

Yeah man. I posted in a facebook group about this car and it ended up having some stamping indicative of a Saleen on the rear of the frame or something but then called Saleen and they told me the VIN "partially matched" which kinda confused me. Car is long gone now though as part of the deal.

Who doesnt like a hunt?


I did the same thing looking for the SCJ torino that roamed my area LONG before I was born. Found the vin, deciphered it to a cobra. Heard it was crushed after a flood, but then heard say of an engine that may have been from it. Located it and confirmed by the stamped block vin and other things. Car was in fact an SCJ and got thrown to the side.



Hope you find something cool!

Sent from my SM-G955U using the svtperformance.com mobile app

Back when those cars were disposable. Crazy what you can bring back from the dead with help from the aftermarket today...

Seems it was stolen, VIN swapped, added GT ground effects, painted, and sold to some poor schlub.

Most likely... that's the chain of events I reasoned in my head.

When I was 20, I had a 1990 Thunderbird super cute. Driving around one night I ran into a guy with a gorgeous slammed, read 1990 GT, deep dish BBS Wheels, long tube headers, full exhaust, killer stereo system with a box and a few other cool that’s that I’m forgetting to mention. Anyway the guy said he loved my supercoupe and wondered if I would trade him. I immediately said yes since the mustang what is my dream car.
I forget how it all went down but in the end we traded cars and I drove it for about two years. I put a built 306 with heads,
Z cam, ported GT 40 upper and lower, big mass air, injectors, gears and just about anything else I could possibly do to this car. One night I took it to a bar and when I came out it was gone. A couple of years later I met a guy at the mustang shop that said he knew one of the guys that stole the car. I got $24,000 in the insurance settlement so I did not care that I never saw it again but he said that that car was actually a 1993. When they parted it out it had a latch plate on the hatch that was gold and somebody had messed around with the Vin plate.
there were two other things that I noticed about the car, when I rebuilt the motor it had cast pistons in it which only came in the 93 and one time a truck hit my front fender so I swapped it out with one that I had in the garage from the 1988 GT. Problem was it didn’t fit. The 93’s had a bigger wheel arch opening than the 88. I never clued into it.... maybe I didn’t want too. It’s like they say something is too good to be true it probably is.

another thing I found out is that the guy that stole it gotten a police chase on the highway on the way to the shop where they cut it up. Apparently The thief was more than impressed with the power.
1:30am on an empty 6 Lane highway being chased by a crown Victoria. LMAO I would have loved to of seen that and heard it!

Crazy story man! Sounds like a sweet ride though. Hate to hear it got chopped up.

How was the second VIN tag adhered to the original? The location of the punched holes on the right are in different locations, while the ones on the left are pretty close. I'm trying to figure out how the second tag was attached over the original. There's that raised piece on the upper right that would seem to be an issue for the second tag to lay flat. ??

If I remember correctly it almost was just sitting on top. I pulled it right out of the dash. I still have that vin tag as a "memento" of the car as it now got crushed. Original VIN went to the crusher with it. I remember looking at the VIN tag just for fun as we were thinking about pulling the uncracked factory windshield just in case we ever needed another and then my heart freezing for a minute as I saw another tag under it so whoever did the job didn't do it that well. I'm assuming it had been that way for a fairly long time too based off of the wheels that were on the car when we found it lol.

 

[TERMN8U]

Thanks, it was a sweet ride back in the day!