Most Fox-body freaks revere the Mustang LX notchback. It was the bare-bones special that everybody claimed that they wanted: crank windows, basic stereo, 5.0L V8, manual transmission option. All of the fun without all of the extras that added weight and contributed nothing to the overall performance. Unless you scored an SSP car, this was the Mustang that you wanted. But come 1994, there was the SN-95 Mustang to contend with. An updated Fox platform that had some suspension tweaks and NVH issues, the $700 million dollars that Ford had spent to give the Mustang life into the 1990s and beyond had merit, but most of those cars came pretty well sorted. Many options, like power windows, mirrors and door locks, remote entry, air conditioning, and cruise control would wind up becoming standard items over the run of the model.
But for 1995, there was a version of the Mustang that called back to the LX. Known as the Mustang GTS, the combination was simple: everything you needed, nothing you didn’t. The mechanical bits of the Mustang GT were there. The 5.0L V8, T5 five-speed manual, four-wheel disc brakes. You could option in the AODE four-gear automatic, anti-lock brakes, and the keyless entry system in an options package. The interior was where things changed up: the GTS wore the basic V6 coupe’s interior, complete with crank windows, the basic stereo system, unlit sunvisor mirrors, no fog lamps, no rear spoiler, and no B.S. about it. You could option in the gingerbread if you wished, and most people tended to do just that. The GTS model was dropped after 1995.
Now, no bones about it, this is one of the rougher Rough Starts we’ve featured in a while. The car isn’t even a twenty-footer, and we aren’t even picking on the clearcoat-shedding paint. So why pick this car? Because it’s the last of a breed. 1995 was the last year of the pushrod 5.0L in a Mustang…1996 was the first year for the 4.6. This GTS is a five-speed manual trans and a fairly bare-bones car from the pictures…there isn’t a spoiler, the crank windows are present, and while they could’ve been knocked out with whatever happened to the nose cone, there don’t seem to be fog lights either. In fact, the only option we do see is air conditioning, and that would be welcomed. 
Talk your way to a lower price, junkyard-source all of the parts you’ll need, and you could jam this car back to a respectable driver with reasonable money. Or find one of the many barely-alive V6 cars on the market for a parts donor, they’re cheap enough. Replace the nose, fender and busted headlights. Give the interior a once-over. Get a fresh coat of Deep Forest Green on the poor pony, this time with clearcoat that doesn’t flake off like donut frosting. Upgrade the wheels, get the 302 into respectable working order, and make sure the T5 is happy. This is a restoration candidate if there ever was one.
