1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe - Beware The Gap

This 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe "bridged-the-gap" between the Fox-body, "Aero" Thunderbird of 1983 vintage and the "MN12" Thunderbird that debuted for 1989. The thought at Ford was that there would be too much of a leap between generations if they just fast-forwarded to the '89 'Bird from the "1983" model. Alrighty. Then. Don't you just love it when car companies act as though they know what's best for us without even asking? About the only thing needed to be bridged was the sticker shock that those who had "1983" Thunderbirds would experience when they attempted to trade up to a "1989". Reminds me of the signs in Penn Station back in New York warning train riders to be, "Aware of the Gap" between the platform and the trains themselves.

A couple of years ago I blogged about an '85 Turbo Coupe and I made reference to what a seismic improvement in overall curb appeal these cars were over the '83 jellybeans that never rowed my boat.  Nice to see that I believe I was dead on. The slicing, dicing, kneading, cajoling and bobbing they did to the sheet metal on these cars turned what I thought then and still do now was a misshapen automobile that I could possibly, given the right circumstances of course, actually live with. While still a far cry from a Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS, Oldsmobile 4-4-2 of the same vintage or even a Buick Grand National, again, never say never.

The first Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe debuted along with the new for '83 "Aero" bird and was stuffed with, of all things, a turbocharged version of Ford's misbegotten "Lima", 2.3 liter, SOHC, inline four-cylinder engine. Shout to O-H-I-O, "Lima" refers to the fair Northwest Ohio city of Lima  where the engine was built. It was also the hometown setting for the Fox TV series, "Glee".

Making all of one hundred and forty five horsepower and two hundred forty pounds of torque,  it was even a far cry from the relative tire-shredder that Buick's turbo V-6 "T-Type" was to say nothing of Ford's own god's-green-earth V-8 powered Mustang GT. While it's safe to say that a Mustang and Thunderbird buyer were mutually exclusive, you have to fathom that a Thunderbird buyer would also have cross shopped the similarly themed GM makes and models. Their top of the line sporty models, again, save for the Buick, all having more powerful and smoother V-8 engines.

Thing is, Ford didn't see the this Thunderbird so much as competition for the GM makes and models but keeping up with the likes of Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Yeah, I know. Oh, the things we convince ourselves of so we can sleep at night.

Can't say I blame them given how much advanced technical gobble-dee-gook Ford baked into this car compared to what GM was doing at the time. ABS brakes, electronically controlled suspension, a really sweet clutch and five-speed transmission and of course the turbo inline-four rather than a four-barrel V-8 or turbo V-6. Thing is, GM was about to get out of the rear-wheel drive luxury\muscle car market while Ford, not sure if it was a good thing or not seeing big coupe sales were already sliding south, was "all-in" on staying the course. What's more seeing that even by the time the first of these '87's were about to roll out of Dearborn the MN12's were already making sneak-peaks and word had gotten out that the wobbly-kneed Lima turbo-four was to be replaced by a supercharged 3.8 liter V-6.

Purportedly the "High Output" V-8 used in the Mustang GT would turn the Thunderbird into a gas guzzler but that doesn't make any sense seeing that Lincoln had already been using it in their version of the Thunderbird since 1986. Putting my 1980's goggles on I can only hypothesize that Ford didn't want to use their V-8 in the Thunderbird for fear that it would make the Thunderbird more alluring to Mustang buyers. It's a head scratcher that's all but been made irrelevant by the passage of time. Lots  and lots of time.

Still, in hindsight, the 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe was a most handsome updating of the original Aero 'Bird from 1983. And one, honestly, that could handle the tail lights off a Monte Carlo or 4-4-2 and with a better ride. Of course, given a choice between those cars and one of these I think you know what I'd spend my money on. Get one of these reasonably priced - this thing here was listed at around, I kid you not, twenty grand, and swap in a period correct "5.0 H.O." and you've got a real runner.