1983 was a big year for Ford's Mustang for several reasons.
It received its first big styling refresh since the Fox body Third Generation pony car had debuted in 1979. In addition to revised taillights and other trim and interior details, the snout was revised, with a slimmer grille and better aero, giving a claimed ~2% reduction in drag.
Not content to cede the droptop renaissance to GM and Chrysler, the convertible Mustang returned after a decade-long hiatus. Ford performed the roof-ectomy in-house, rather than farming the work out to ASC. Initially only offered on the Mustang GLX, it was joined mid-year by a ragtop GT. Despite their high price premium over a hardtop 'Stang, convertible sales wildly exceeded the manufacturer's expectations. (GT hatchbacks started at $9,300 while base price for a GT convertible was $13,479, or the equivalent of $42,600 in 2024 dollars.)
Finally, the GT version saw big performance gains. The 302 Windsor V-8 under the hood saw the previous year's 2-barrel carb replaced by a genuine Holley 4-barrel, while the exhaust system was reworked for better flow, including a more efficient catalytic converter. As a bonus, the previous 4-speed overdrive manual, with its awkward, widely-spaced gear ratios, was replaced by a 5-speed Borg Warner T5.
The results were impressive, with an 11.5% horsepower bump over the previous year (157 to 175 SAE net). Car & Driver tested an '83 hardtop GT and recorded a zero to sixty time of 7.0 seconds and a 15.4 quarter at 90 mph. The 5.0L H.O. pushed that new aero snout through the air all the way to 125 miles per hour, too. The Medium Charcoal GT convertible in the picture would have been a few ticks more sluggish due to the added weight of the stiffening added to keep the chassis flex to a tolerable minimum.
It was a pretty clear statement from Ford that the Malaise Era was done in Dearborn.
The one in the photo was captured in July of 2022 using a Canon EOS-1D Mark III and an EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens.
