Tony Frank’s flawless 1985 Four-Eye Mustang GT
Two Decades of Dedication
A lot can happen in 20 years. Fads and trends come and go, and what was once new and vaunted descends into the realm of dated and unwanted, replaced by the newest model and the latest and greatest. People grow up or grow old, interests change and what was once the center of your world is suddenly just not that important anymore...and project cars, even the most cherished gems, the ones we swore we’d never sell...get sold. Sad yet? Don’t be, because thankfully, none of this applies to Tony Frank’s flawless ’85 GT. It’s as fresh as it once was and he still owns it to this very day—but it just as easily could have gone a more unfortunate direction.
0:00 / 0:00
“This car has been with me since high school, through college and into adulthood—it’s been with me for so many ups and downs and there’s just so many memories wrapped up into it,” Tony said.
Like most Ford fans, you’ve got to wind the clock back a bit to fully appreciate how deep these blue-oval roots extend.
“My dad had several ’69 Mach 1s when I was younger that got him into some trouble, as did my mom who’d sneak them out so we could do burnouts—I guess you could say I started young,” Tony said.
Knowing that octane was in his veins, like any good father, he knew the best way to keep his teenager focused was to preoccupy him with a project car. And so, Tony’s first Fox was a father-son car that touched 11s.
While the aforementioned drag car was the official beginning to Tony’s Fox-body obsession, we’ve got to rewind the clock even further for the beginning of this ’85 GT’s story. You see, Tony’s father, Glenn who worked at the Ford Myland Plant as a machine repairman was approached by a friend in 1985 who wanted to buy a Fox-body Mustang, but was unsure how to spec it. He asked Glenn how he’d order it...and then ordered that exact car.
“My father told him to get an ’85 GT because it was still carb’d, and that he’d add the sunroof but delete the A/C and power amenities, and that it had to be Jalapeno Red—he ordered the very car,” Tony explained.
Over the next 13 years that GT amassed just 13,000 miles before Tony, a then high schooler set out looking for the perfect Fox. Crazy enough, he passed on this car at first...only to return a year later after a fruitless Fox search. Thankfully, by the time he circled back around, his friend still owned it and happily sold it to Tony.
Of course you know he didn’t leave it stock, as he rocked some 16-inch OG Prime wheels, a cowl hood, exhaust, an E-cam and other mods of the day. Tony continued to enjoy the car until it was parked...for a long time.
“It sat in my parent’s garage while I was in college and even after I graduated...thankfully my parents didn’t push me to sell it, but there were times I nearly lost interest in it,” Tony said.
And this my friends, is where many stories take a turn for the worse. But instead of selling it, Tony had it shipped to him in Arizona...except, he wasn’t out of the weeds just yet.
“In 2015, I’d just lost interest, so I towed it to the Fabulous Fords Forever show (FFF) to sell it,” Tony said.
