Heather Benton’s ‘89 Mustang LX

Hot rodding is in Heather Benton’s blood. Her 1989 Mustang LX is an extension of the sport that’s been part of her family for three generations.

“I have always had a passion for cars and Mustangs,” Heather told me. “My Grandpa was a huge hot rod guy. He loved his old Fords. And my dad had a 1970 Mach 1 when he was young but had to sell it before I was born.”

As if that hot rod heritage wasn’t enough, Heather’s boyfriend Lamar Taylor got her even more into the sport.

“When I met Lamar in high school,” she said, “he was big into hot rods. Seeing and helping him really got me into it. His Fox Body Mustang was one of my dream cars.”

If the name Lamar Taylor sounds familiar, there’s a good reason. His Mustang was featured in GHR in 2020, and his Nova appeared in 2021. I’m pretty sure Lamar and Heather are the first boyfriend / girlfriend pair to have their cars on the site. That’s pretty cool.

Heather had a minivan – which is about as far from a hot rod as you can get – but sold it because, she said, “I wanted a Mustang.”

She had her heart set on a Fox body and after looking at a bunch of cars, she and Lamar found the very car she wanted – a 1989 LX fastback, for just $2500.

Heather’s 5.0 liter V8 has a full complement of aftermarket parts. A Trick Flow intake gets fed from a BBK throttle body and spacer. The exhaust has BBK shorty headers, an X pipe, and Flowmaster mufflers. The small block also features an MSD ignition and underdrive pulleys.

When Heather bought the car, the guy she bought it from said it needed a clutch.

He lied.

“Lamar and I towed it home and fixed the clutch,” Heather said, “but it ended up being the transmission. So we replaced it with a new TREMEC T-5.”

The T-5 drives an 8.8″ rear end with 3.55 gears. There’s a set of 17″ Cobra wheels with 245/45/17 inch tires mounted on the cross drilled and slotted brake rotors.

The clean lines of the fastback are enhanced by the 2″ cowl hood. The Mustang’s Indigo Blue paint was applied by a friend of Heather and Lamar.

Heather’s next modification will be a tribute to her family’s past. “My future plan,” she said, “is to put in the low mileage 302 engine that I inherited from my Grandpa who has passed away.”

And her Grandpa would be proud that Heather’s not going to keep that 302 stock. She’s going to install GT40 3 Bar Cobra heads, and a E303 cam and roller rockers from Ford Racing, along with some other go-fast goodies.

Wrenching on the Mustang is great, but what Heather really likes is driving it and taking it to car shows. Last year she and Lamar drove it five hours to the Chocolate Fox show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. And she hopes to turn the Ford into a street/strip car soon by getting it out to the drag strip.

As strong as the Mustang is now, Heather wants to make it even better.

“It’s still a work in progress,” she said. “I want to make it faster and improve the handling, but I’m very happy to have the car I wanted and keep my family passion for hot rods alive.”

Photos courtesy of Heather Benton
Click here to see the photos of Heather’s Mustang