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Sub-10,000 Miles: 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe

This Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe has under 10,000 original miles and is said to belong to a woman in her 80s. It appears to be a part of a larger collection, which makes us wonder what else will be coming up for grabs. Although the seller is correct to point out the attributes of a Turbo Coupe that make it a desirable specimen, this one is an automatic with a 40 b.h.p. penalty for transmission longevity. Find it here on eBay for $18,500 or best offer.

So many of these cars had red interiors; I almost expected it here. What I didn’t expect was the tacky air freshner or the heavy bolster wear on the driver’s seat. The center console is fairly scratched up, the pedals are dirty and the horn button is faded. Yes, this car is allowed to show some signs of use, but even the wear on the floormat is heavier than expected. The mileage may be low, but perhaps the Turbo Coupe wasn’t handled gingerly.

This generation of the Turbo Coupe benefitted from an intercooler being bolted to the 2.3L turbocharged mill, essentially making it an SVO in fancier duds. Thankfully, this iteration of the Thunderbird lost the chrome grill treatment and received a blacked out nose, aggressive air dam and fog lights. The seller doesn’t offer much in the way of details about mechanical health, and is adamant no test drives will be offered.

The paintwork does look quite nice, and in general the exterior of the car shows better than the interior. Even so, the lack of pictures for such a time capsule example is disappointing (along with the vertical photos, ugh). While I don’t think the price is necessarily unreasonable, my personal preference is to find one with a manual transmission in the same condition. That said, the automatic could be tolerable if you’re willing to roll the dice and turn up the boost…

Comments

  1. Avatar Hoos Member

    I wonder if the driver’s window motor is bad, or if the glass is missing. Nice car, and I think the interior would clean up well, but I’d be looking for a third pedal.

    Like 0
    • Avatar GH

      Old post, obviously this car is long gone….
      Still these are of interest to me.
      I always found it to be a plus that certain performance oriented Fords like the Turbo Coupe, Mk VII LSC and SHO came with an optional automatic.
      What is the deal with gearheads being obsessed with sticks? Ahhh….the hotrods of old were all sticks? A purist you say?
      Well the hotrods of old way back in the day had manual crank starters too. Want one of those?
      For those that plan to use their luxury sport coupe as an actual grand tourer, rather than a drag strip sled or a stoplight racer, an automatic is a desirable and even preferable option. Especially for cross country jaunts. Caroll Shelby had a number of his personal cars, even roadster Cobra’s, converted to auto. Too bad he never offered the same for his customers….
      I have always felt a major failing of SVT was that the automatic wasn’t at least and option on the Cobra Mustang. It was an option on the competition’s 5.7 liter Camaro.
      If you love rowing through the gears like in days of old, knock yourself out.
      But there is nothing wrong with a well sorted AOD tranny for a long drive where you have better things to do with your right hand….
      Back in the day I owned at various times a 5.7 liter El Camino and a 5.8 liter Cougar that blew the doors off of many a slushbox equipped Chev, Ford, and a rice burning supercoupe or three. Never missed that pesky little clutch one bit.

      Like 0
  2. Avatar KSwheatfarmer

    My brother had an 88 manual trans,beautiful car,bad fast,out ran the cops twice.Life was not good for the boy for a long time after those dumb stunts. He eventually grew up but of course the car did not last long,rolled in the first year.

    Like 0
  3. Avatar Jay

    I know these are said to be the Mustangs kissing cousin, just didn’t realize they used almost the same front seats.

    Like 0
  4. Avatar Ian

    Hmm, an Ohio car that probably took lots of short trips.

    But in all fairness a flash will show all the flaws, and those seats have probably never been cleaned.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Beatnik Bedouin

    Nice car, and the seller would be advised to take some better pics for an $18K+ example.

    I’d love to drop the mill out of a Turbo Coupe or SVO into the Low Sierra.

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Rick

    Not sure if it is the lighting but the drivers seat and steering wheel look beat. Not sure a little old lady would have put that kind of wear in the drivers area, especially if she only drove it less the 10,000 miles.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Emilio

      Rick is being very diplomatic. I have been watching this website for years and never wrote a comment before but i feel compelled to speak now. This car having only 10k is total bulls**t! In addition, Jeff Lavery should have been more circumspect in his write up. Perhaps not actually come out and call the seller a liar (like I am) but by emphasizing the likelihood that higher mileage is much more consistent with the interior wear. Just saying…

      Like 0
    • Avatar dgrass

      Judging the mat, lower sear side, and felt wear, my first guess was this belonged to someone in their 70s or 80s who drove it sparingly. Ebay ad seems to support this.

      Like 0
      • Avatar Rob S.

        Um….hello? She was 50 when she bought this….Probably loved the sporty Tbird back then. A purse on the console would scratch it up. Bolster wear is not hard to do. YES this looks like a low mile car! Imagine what the interior would look like at 100K. Some of you BOZOS would complain about the color of a free $100 bill!

        Like 0
    • Avatar Dennis Clouser

      Something is off here. You can easily buy new mats, but the lid on the center console and the other areas seem fishy. Also – 5 owners???

      “Listing for a friend. All sales will be in person and cash. she is over 80 and im not going to let her get scammed.” Seem too defensive and why would an 80 year old woman even buy a car like this?? And all the other cars around it?

      Like 0
  7. Avatar JimmyJ

    Pretty dirty for mileage but probably clean up.
    I’d want to drive it before buying ,it’s not like it’s a Hemi Cuda with drum breaks!
    The auto sucks but turbos are meant to bump up the boost and rebuilds aren’t too expensive.
    Nice car but you could do better,cheaper.

    Like 0
  8. Avatar CanuckCarGuy

    I had an ’87 with a 5 speed and absolutely loved that car… very impressive torque from the 2.3 turbo. I also had an ’84 Mustang SVO, but it was brutish in comparison to the turbo Tbird…the SVO liked to wag its tail under hard acceleration, but the Tbird would squat down and launch nicely.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Derek F

    I personally believe the mileage claims. The headlights have obviously spent A LOT of time indoors to be that clear. And these interiors didn’t wear that well- the coloring is vivid and the gauge cluster very tidy – it just looked like it was stored in a barn with a dirt floor and dirty folks climbed in and out with no regard for cleanliness.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Rob'sGT

    Seller’s comment about VIN is vague. I wonder if he/she updated the VIN as it doesn’t match description (it comes back as a silver, 35K mile T-bird register in GA as recent as 2016).

    This one looks like it could very well be low mileage, but photos are sadly lacking in both quality and quantity.

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Mr. TKD

    How much would it cost to switch this car over to a manual? It might be worth it if you could get the car at the right price.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Lawyer George

    I had 3 Turbo Coupes: 1984; 1985; 1987. The 85 was an automatic which was a disappointment right after coming from a 5 speed ’84. It was relatively fast but not as much fun as the 5 speed which felt like they were V-8’s. I liked the front end and tail treatment on the ’88’s so I grabbed a white 5 speed with red leather seats. It was fast and very comfortable to ride in even on winding roads. The car would get 28 to 30 on the hiway and 18-22 in town. It was a great car which got a lot of eyeball from the younger set. Some young woman ran a “no left turn” light right in front of me causing me to T-bone her Pinto wagon. It put the front end of the coupe about 2 feet further back than it had been from factory. The insurance company told me they were going to fix it, but I told them no. I saw it a few months later completely repaired. The driver looked pleased. I was too because I was sitting in my 1990 Black Super Coupe when I spotted him. The 1990 was a dream car equipped with black leather, 5speed and the factory wheels only they were chromed. It was a supercharged V-6 and went like the wind but still returned 27 to 32 hiway. A beautiful, sexy, cool car that would set you back in the seats even when carrying 3 passengers. Every time I see an add for low mileage ’87 or 1990 with leather I get the urge to buy it. I resist because I only drive about 700 miles a year and I have 8 cars. Yikes.

    Like 1
  13. Avatar grant

    Surprised no one’s called bs on the mileage so I will. It’s either rolled over and been taken care of or its a rollback. No way the interior gets that beat in 10k miles.

    Like 0
    • Avatar KEN TILLY Member

      @grant. I don’t think the speedo has been rolled, or turned back, I think it was either disconnected or the cable broke. Either way it’s done a lot more than 10,000 miles or a bunch of hobos have been living in it!

      Like 0
      • Avatar dgrass

        If you drive 10000 miles 2 miles at a time, and get out/in at each end of travel, you have 20000 times an ass has either sat down or gone out of that seat.

        Most of the wear is to the pivot points on the floor mat as well as the seat itself. In other words, where the ass and feet move on ingress and egress. Wear typical of someone who might have mobility issue.

        I don’t have any interest in this car, but reading the comments here was what lead to my post. Making an educated guess is one thing (what I did for instance regarding the wear), senselessly shaming something you are completely unsure of another.

        Don’t agree? The plastics and pedals on this car tell the read story.

        Like 0
      • Avatar Rob S.

        @dgrass. Well said! Enough said.

        Like 0
  14. Avatar JW

    I wouldn’t mind having this car but not for that price, the auto trans is fine for a driver car and as far as the interior I’ve known a lot of ladies that ran their cars through automatic car washes but never took the time to clean the interior.

    Like 0
  15. Avatar Emilio

    If a speedo breaks and a seller does not say so the intent is the same as if they rolled it back.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Andrew

      That’s why no test drives. Speedo doesn’t work

      Like 0
  16. Avatar RH FACTOR

    I worked on these at the dealership level and I prefered the autos because the torque convertor kept the boost up and you lost it with the std. on every shift. That said, they used the weaker C-3 trans in these, so I dont know what the long term held for them. Nice cars though. People would want a v-8 until the salesman let them drive one of these. Smooth rush of power.

    Like 0
  17. Avatar Miguel

    I would bet the odometer has been broken for a lot of years.

    I would look for a higher miler but one in better condition that could probably be had for around $1500.00.

    The rest of the $16,500 can buy a lot of gasoline or whatever repairs the car would need.

    Where on earth do people get their pricing?

    Like 0
  18. Avatar Franimal007

    Interior looks like more mileage. The pictures are horrible. Cracks me up how peeps on flee at want top money and can’t present the item well.

    Like 0
  19. Avatar Big Al

    I kinda like these birds, but I’d buy something else first. Good conversation guys, I got nuttin to add.

    Like 0
  20. Avatar Justin Rhoads

    These are a rare bird but not worth that much and I love the red interior it was a shock to me everyone I find has blue interior which I just cant stand

    Like 0
  21. Avatar Larry K

    Mine was silver. 5 speed. Beautiful cars for the time. You know how nice a cars is from your washing it. I’d much rather polish this Ford than say, my probe.🤛

    Like 0
  22. Avatar Scott C

    I bet mileage tampering, I have owned several, it shows 100k type mile wear…to me….

    Like 0
  23. Avatar M Williams

    Not believing the mileage, it’s rolled over past 100k, but kept in a garage. Not worth 5k.

    Like 0

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