Have you considered a shift kit for your transmission? There a number our there. Transgo has a realtively cheap version and there are others. I can look them up if you are interested. Give you more control over whats going on.
http://www.transgoperformance.com/
Bout the time your were buying the AMX I was buying the first performance rotary, Mazada Rx2. Those were the days....
I like Fords but I am really interested to see if the GTO can make a come back. When that car first came out it really changed the game.