foureyedpride.com - Owning a Four-eyed in France

Owning a Four-eyed in France

Written by FEP Admin
Friday, 07 March 2008
Text and images by: Frederic, a.k.a. TuxStang Some might discover that there are Mustangs in France, even some Foxes. For a bit of history, Mustang was introduced in France by the movie industry, in a comedy called, "Le Gendarme de St-Tropez" (maybe one of the first movies with a Mustang) and by the "Tour de France auto", a road race. As a US car, Mustangs were sold as luxury cars, usually well loaded with options (most were GTs or optioned like GTs ), so sales were mostly confined to upper-class owners, celebrities and sportsmen. Highway speed limits and high gas prices in the mid-’70s almost killed the US car market, so the last Mustangs sold were around 400 ‘79 (still trying to get official information), all 2.3L Turbos. Owning a Mustang in France is not a real problem as long as you stay with 1st generations. There are a few specialists in US cars dedicated to the Mustang who can provide all the necessary repro or used parts, and even some NOS. When it comes to Foxes or newer Mustangs, it’s another story. Mustang specialists are, except one, limited to ‘64-’73, they don’t want to hear about other generations, even for a tune-up. US parts specialists can help a bit, providing all tune-up components rather quickly and ordering specific parts, but the prices, well, they take a huge jump while crossing the Atlantic ... So if you are a Four-eyed owner in France, you’d better have some knowledge of English and make good use of the Internet. With 1st generation prices growing high, as they are everywhere, Four-Eyed cars start to gain attention, mostly V8s, as most of us can’t think (and don’t even know) that there could be another kind of engine in a Mustang. But you’ll still have very little chance to meet one outside of a club meeting, and the ones you will see are most likely from Belgium or Switzerland. As of now, I’ve only seen one of the last Mustangs sold new in France. It was a ‘79 2.3l-Turbo Cobra, in pretty bad shape, lost in a junkyard, so Ihave very little information on how to identify them. Here’s what Ican say, from what I’ve seen on this one, and what was usual for imports: a Ford tag riveted in the engine compartment, stating the builder, model, and weights. VIN, etc. VIN is stamped on the driver-side suspension column or fender headlights (low and high beams) where H4 type with amber glass front parking-lights were moved inside the low-beam headlight front side-markers were de-activated french-approved reflectors were installed on the taillights (they are a bit more reflective, even if smaller) speedometer is the same as Canadian Mustangs : 180km/h with mph in small, green numbers Can’t tell if this was the norm, but the Cobra seen in the junkyard, even if it was a ‘79 from it’s VIN, had the hoodscoop and spoiler of the Pace Car, but not it’s front mask. Also, it had woodgrain dash panels instead of black ones. Click here to read a Question and Answer session brought on by the review of this article to find out some more about early Foxes living in Europe.

[ Back ]