Yellow Mustang and other red vintage car

Cruisin’ Franklin: ’93 Mustang Convertible

Franklin in the late ‘80s was a cruising destination. Teenagers from all over central Indiana made their way slowly around the courthouse square. On nice Friday and Saturday evenings, it could take over an hour to make a single lap around downtown. Cars and trucks of all ages would endlessly loop the courthouse, but one model in particular stood out, thanks in large part to Vanilla Ice.

The Ford Mustang is an American icon. Production began on March 9, 1964, and the beloved pony car exceeded all sales estimates from the start. The car embodied youth, and the teenagers of the ‘60s saw them as an escape from the bulky, finned and overly chromed cars of their parents.

Ironically, the Mustang started to grow larger and slower in the coming years. For the second generation, Ford made a radical change to the model and created the Mustang II. Based off of the Pinto chassis, the car was smaller and considerably less powerful. For many diehard Mustang fans, this model appeared to signal the end of the road for the mighty Mustang.

Yellow early 90s Mustang convertible car

In 1979, feeling the pressure from their customer base, Ford introduced the third generation with the larger Fox Body frame. This new model instantly brought the legendary Mustang back into prominence. Popular rapper Vanilla Ice was topping the charts with his song “Ice Ice Baby,” which included the line “Rollin’ in my 5.0” – a nod to the 5.0 engine displacement of the Mustang. Ford was once again attracting the youth market, as well as reviving the love affair of those who made the first-generation Mustang so popular.

As a teenager in Franklin, if you were able to cruise in this new Mustang or its sister, the Mercury Capri, you got the attention of all around, especially those of the opposite sex. The third generation also saw the return of the convertible option, which increased visibility.

Jason Smith from Greenwood was one of those Franklin cruisers. His first ride was a Mercury Capri and he spent nearly every weekend circling the courthouse along with hundreds of other local teens.

With his love affair of the Fox Body Mustangs in high gear, Smith has gone on to own a stable of Mustangs, all of them with his beloved Fox Body feature. 1993 marked the final year of this generation and Ford wanted to offer something special. As a swan song of sorts, they introduced the 1993 Mustang LX Convertible Feature Limited Edition. Only 3,003 of these Feature convertibles were produced. Of those, only 1,503 were painted Canary Yellow. Smith listed this limited edition model as his dream car. He knew he had to have one, but was very specific. He wanted to find one with low mileage, and it had to be a five-speed manual transmission.

While touring a national Mustang event in 2013, he happened upon a Canary Yellow convertible with black interior and three foot pedals, making it the manual transmission he desired. It was flawless and he soon discovered why; there were only 2,452 original miles on the odometer. He knew he had to buy it, but unfortunately it wasn’t for sale. With a sigh, he gave the owner his contact information with the hopes that he would change his mind.

To his great surprise he received a call from the owner over a year later! Smith became the new owner on April 20, 2015. Through the years he has owned multiple Mustangs, which helps keep the mileage low on this one, as it currently shows only 2,976 miles.

A couple of Saleen Mustangs are also part of Smith’s stable, and he is considered a Fox Body Mustang authority, as he currently serves as president of the Indiana Shelby American Automobile Club. He also realized just how much he missed that first ride, so he acquired another 1982 Mercury Capri as well.

The Feature convertible and the Capri are really the bookends of his collection. “One is a reflection of what started it all for me back in 1987,” Smith said. The other is his dream car that took 22 years to become a reality.

The Canary Yellow Feature can be seen on occasion cruising The Suds in Greenwood and hitting up the car cruises in downtown Franklin. With such low mileage, it doesn’t appear often, so be on the lookout for this amazing ride.

Until then, keep cruising!

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