How Much Is A 1980 Mustang Worth Today & What Is Its Top Speed?

It's almost surprising to learn that Ford sold a notable 271,322 Mustangs in 1980 because hardly anybody talks about those cars now. That's because today, enthusiasm around the Mustang today skips straight from the 1967 fastbacks to models from the late 80s and beyond, leaving the 1980 model year cars stranded in between. But that actually works out in your favor if you're in the market to buy one because it means that particular make stays cheap.

A 1980 Mustang in good condition sells for around $14,200 today, according to Hagerty, an insurance company that publishes pricing guides for collector cars. Hagerty sorts cars into four condition grades, and good sits third of four. The prices swing wildly depending on the trim, too. The car came in three different levels to choose from: the Base model, the luxurious Ghia, and the performance-oriented Cobra. According to Classic.com, the Ghia tends to sell at around $7,950 and the Cobra at $17,178. There's also a hand-built variant, too, built in collaboration with McLaren called the Ford Mustang McLaren M81, though good luck finding it because it's one of the rarest Mustangs Ford ever made.

Beyond these markets, you can find the 1980 Mustang on dealer classifieds, and they more or less paint the same picture when it comes to pricing. As for top speed, Ford never published one, and there's a reason for that — though the base 2.3-liter four-cylinder was known to reach 96 mph.

The reason Ford never published a top speed for the 1980 Mustang was that the car was sold during the infamous Malaise Era, when a federal law dating back to 1974 had imposed a 55 mph national speed limit. The goal was to save fuel after the 1973 oil embargo. The base variant also took an estimated 13.1 seconds to 60, which lands it among the slowest Mustangs Ford ever sold with the least horsepower. The thing is, Ford was under a lot of pressure due to the 1979 oil crisis. It did offer a 5.0-liter V8 the previous year but was forced to drop it for 1980.

That said, there were still four engines to pick from in all, even if none of them were especially quick. Besides the base, Ford also offered a 3.3-liter inline-six making 91 horsepower. There was a 4.2-liter V8 as well, which managed 119 horsepower, though it was the least of any Mustang V8 before or since. Only the turbocharged 2.3-liter four – standard on the Cobra — broke past all of them at 132 horsepower. Databases estimating its top speed put it between 112 and 118 mph. Ultimately, regardless of the engine, the fastest you could go on any 1980 Ford Mustang was between 96 and 118 mph.

Ready to get your own '80 Mustang? Just keep in mind that what a Fox Body Mustang is worth today swings hard by year. If you can't find an '80 Mustang specifically, try broadening your search to makes between 1979 and 1982, since the design went mostly unchanged through those years.