Retro comfort: Ford adds iconic Recaro seats to classic Mustang catalogue

The Ford Performance parts catalogue contains thousands of upgrade, dress up and restoration goodies for Ford owners that range from badges and decals through to Nascar-spec engine blocks.

While most of the catalogue is devoted to newer machines, occasionally the Ford Performance team turn the clock back and place their attention on a car with a bit more of a retro focus.

Celebrating the third-generation Mustang at Motorcity FoxFest in Detroit last week, Ford Performance unveiled a set of retro-look Recaro seats to help owners keep their classic ‘Fox Body’ Mustangs comfortable for modern backsides.

Produced between 1978 and 1993, the third-generation Mustang used Ford’s compact rear-drive Fox platform (hence the ‘Fox Body’ nickname, which itself was simply one of a series of big-cat code names used by the American auto giant) and was offered as a notchback coupe, hatchback coupe and convertible.

It was notably the first Mustang generation to feature the now iconic 5.0-litre V8 badging.

The Mustang’s initial angular design was significantly overhauled for the 1987 facelift and over 2.5-million units were produced over the fifteen-year lifespan of the model.

The third-generation Mustang was the first Ford model to be offered with Recaro seats as either special equipment in limited edition and high-performance models, or as a $US531 optional accessory.

Considering the car itself started from just $US5,338 at the time, the sports seats were an expensive choice.

The new seats, while still just a concept, are based on the iconic Recaro LX design, first presented by the German firm in 1965.

Trimmed in grey or black suede, the ‘Monza 2.0’ fabric option includes Ford, Ford Motorsport and Recaro branding as well as a contrast tribar motif on the backrest and seat base.

While the seats have been designed for the Fox Mustang in mind, Australian buyers could also look to the retro Recaros as an option for similar-era Falcon upgrades.

The XD and XE Falcon famously featured Scheel seats in the high-performance ESP models, but the EA SVO Falcon included Recaros, as did EB and ED XR variants (or at the very least, they had ‘Recaro style’ seats).

With the correct mounting rails, the new Ford Performance ‘Monza 2.0’ seats would suit this era of Australian muscular Ford well.

No pricing or timing for the Recaro seats has been announced, but you can download the most recent Ford Performance catalogue – all 248 pages of it – to keep yourself busy in the interim.