1985 Ford Mustang Twister II Special

A limited edition model called the Twister II was sold in the Kansas City sales district in 1985 on the 15th anniversary of the original.

The 1985 Mustang GT had just been introduced with a revised 210 hp engine (up 35 hp from 1984) and it was already being touted as one of the premier muscle cars of its day. With the encouragement of some long-time Mustang enthusiasts, Ford and the Kansas City district sales office once again collaborated to produce the 1985 Twister II. A total of 90 Twister II Mustangs were produced in October 1984.

They were available as three door and convertible GT’s. The only difference from standard Mustangs was an exterior graphics package and dash badge. Much like the Total Performance Day held in 1969 for the originals, the Twister II special editions made their debut alongside several 1970 models in November of 1984 during a luncheon at the Marriott Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas.

The cars came in mostly Jalapeno Red (code 2R), but Medium Canyon Red Metallic (code 2A), Oxford White (code 9L), and Silver Metallic (code 1E) were also offered. Much like their prior lineage, these Twisters originated in the Kansas City DSO 53.

All featured black hood striping with GT logo, the “tornado with eyes” funnel cloud insignia, and the TWISTER II special lettering on the side. Inside included an alabaster coaster with the Mustang logo, a bronze dashplate, and a sheet of facts and figures from Ford discussing the promotion. The Twister Special Mustangs were available optioned with creature comforts such as air conditioning, power windows, locks and more.

A total of 90 units were sold — 76 coupes and 14 convertibles. Of the 76 coupes, 74 were five-speed manuals and two were automatic hatchbacks. Of the 14 convertibles, nine were five-speed manuals and five were automatics. Nearly a dozen of the coupes came with the optional 3.08:1 rear gears, but none of the convertibles did. The 1985 Twister II’s had varying Ford serial numbers falling somewhere between 109800-109899, 110300-110399, and 112200-112299.

The 15th anniversary of the original Twister and the introduction of the ’85 version was celebrated at a luncheon next Wednesday at the Marriott Hotel at I-35 and Metcalf Avenue, Overland Park, Kansas.

Identify a 1985 Twister II Mustang

The limited run 1985 Twister II Mustang’s were basically standard 1985 Mustang GT’s with a decal package applied by the Kansas City District Sales office (DSO 53). As such, they came with all the visual and performance goodies of the regular 1985 GT’s such as 5.0L HO engines (210 hp, 4v carb/5-speed or 180 hp, CFI/automatic), Traction-Lok differentials, special handling package, quadra-shocks in the rear, dual exhaust, exterior GT markings, etc. (see the complete list of 1985 GT features). The ’85 Twister II received no additional performance enhancements over the regular ’85 Mustang GT. Twisters were available with any of the options available on regular GT’s including sunroof, T-tops, optional axle, rear defrost, power windows, power locks, etc.

1985 Twister II’s came with the following:

Exterior “Twister II” decals – consisting of a large set of black stripes with the cut-out words “TWISTER II” running the length of the rocker panel below the rub strip on each side of the car and a smaller black “tornado with eyes” decal directly in front of each rear wheel (above the embossed “GT” on the rub strip). These decals were not applied at the factory, rather they were all applied at the Claycomo Ford plant transport lot near Kansas City, MO.

Bronze dash plate – this plate reads “1985 Limited Edition TWISTER II, Kansas City District, October 1984” with a running horse emblem/tornado design in the center and was to be placed on the passenger side dash. Many Twister II’s do not have these as the plates were shipped separately to the dealers and unfortunately, it is believed many of them ended up in the hands of salespeople or other dealership personnel as keepsakes instead of being placed on the cars.

Alabaster coaster – this reads “1985 Limited Edition TWISTER II, Kansas City District” with a running horse emblem/tornado design in the center. This was to be given to the new owner of the car upon purchase, however, as with the dash plates, these often found their way into the hands of dealership personnel instead of the new owner.

Press package – this featured a press release about the 1985 Twister II and a picture of the Twister II along with the original 1970 Mach 1 Twister Special. Similar to the coaster, this was supposed to be given to the new owner of each Twister II, but, in many instances, the owners never received one.

DSO code of “53” (Kansas City District Sales Office) – this code can be found on the middle/lower right side of the certification label (aka driver’s door tag) – this code can also be found on the original window sticker, owner’s warranty card or build sheet if the door tag is unreadable or unavailable. The “53” DSO covered dealerships in large parts of Missouri and Kansas.
Scheduled build month of October 1984 – this can be confirmed by looking in the upper left corner of the driver’s door tag – it should say “Date: 10/84” (note: the “actual” build date such as on the owner’s warranty card may be late September).

VIN number range – while the 90 1985 Twister II VIN’s are not consecutive like the original 1970 Twister Specials, the last 6 digits of their VINs do fall within a few certain number ranges – the last 6 digits of the VIN must fall in the following ranges 109800-109899, 110300-110399 or 112200-112299. (NOTE – other non-Twister II Mustangs do fall within these ranges so a VIN number in these ranges alone does not positively confirm a car is a Twister II, it should meet all of the other criteria listed also). The VIN numbers can be found in a number of places on a car and they should be compared to ensure that they all match (for example, sometimes the driver’s door is replaced with one from a different car and the door tag would therefore show the incorrect data for the car). The VIN can be found in the following places: metal tag on driver’s dash at the base of the windshield, driver’s door tag (middle of tag) and buck tag (last 6 digits only).

Limited exterior paint colors – the vast majority of Twister II’s were Jalapena Red (aka Bright Red) (2R), however they were also produced in only three other colors – Oxford White (9L), Medium Canyon Red Metallic (2A) and Silver Metallic (1E) – the original paint color can be verified by checking the code on the middle/lower left side of the driver’s door tag – this code can also be found on the original window sticker, warranty card, build sheet or buck tag if the door tag is unreadable or unavailable.

Production Numbers

Only 90 Twister II Mustangs were produced in October 1984. The table below breaks down the production numbers by bodystyle and transmission:

	5.0L 5-speed (4v carb)	5.0L automatic (AOD) (CFI)	Total Units Made
Hatchbacks	74	2	76
Convertibles	9	5	14
Totals	83	7	90