At present’s Good Worth or No Cube Tremendous Coupe might be the final really fascinating Thunderbird mannequin ever made. Let’s see if this extraordinarily well-kept version from the North is price bringing house the Canadian bacon.
With Honda’s wonder-twinning with Nissan to stave off the Toyota-Subaru-Daihatsu-Suzuki-Mazda-Yamaha juggernaut, one has to marvel what’s going to occur to Nissan’s Infiniti model, the lesser equal of Honda’s Acura. Judging from the responses to the 2015 Infiniti Q60S Sport we checked out final Friday, few of you care to search out out. Regardless of its good situation and cheap specs, a lot of you discovered it too nameless, and the Infiniti model total eminently forgettable or the least aspirational. A $17,998 asking worth couldn’t sway opinion within the Infiniti’s favor, both, inflicting the coupe to fall in a hefty 76 % No Cube loss.
OK, one other week and… checks notes… one other V6-powered, manual-equipped GT coupe!
Over the past seven many years, Ford’s Thunderbird has had so many lives and re-imaginings that it could have maybe been extra applicable to dub it the Thundercat. Launched as a two-seat convertible ostensibly to compete in the identical area as Chevy’s Corvette, the Thunderbird didn’t actually hit its gross sales stride till Ford redesigned it as a four-seater for its fourth mannequin 12 months, on the similar time increasing the mannequin line with each coupe and convertible roofs. The subsequent two generations adopted this sample, however issues turned topsy-turvy within the late ’60s with the introduction of a bigger T-bird and the addition of a four-door mannequin.
The four-door lasted only a few years earlier than being killed off by the following refresh, which was a good greater automobile than the final. As was the case with most massive American automobiles within the late ’70s, Ford’s premier private coupe noticed a downsize with the following technology and was shrinky-dinked as soon as once more initially of the ’80s. We don’t speak about that first of the Fox-body T-Birds, however the one which changed it in ’83—the Aerobird”—proved there was nonetheless slightly rustle left within the ol’ T-Hen’s feathers.
That Aerobird was adopted by what’s arguably probably the most technologically superior automobile ever to put on the Thunderbird title, providing, for the primary time within the mannequin’s historical past, a multi-link unbiased rear suspension, supercharged engine, and a easy, BMW 6 Collection-esque physique that constructed on the earlier technology’s aerodynamic achievements. This wouldn’t be the final Ford to hold the Thunderbird title, however upon its resurrection in 2002, the automobiles didn’t carry the identical cachet and pleasure as did these fashions.
In the event you missed all that pleasure and are hankering to see what the fuss was all about, then we will thank whoever saved this 1989 Thunderbird Tremendous Coupe (henceforth, SC) in such wonderful situation that we now have the chance to present it a go firsthand. Plus, it’s a Canadian automobile, which suggests it lacks the annoying automated seat belts for the entrance seats plaguing U.S. market automobiles, so it has that in its favor.
In accordance with the vendor, this Mild Titanium over a grey and black inside that includes leather-based seating surfaces SC exhibits a mere 25,494 kilometers on the odometer. That works out to about 15,800 miles for the metric-deficient.
I’m actually slightly confused by these numbers for the reason that speedo exhibits mph as its major delineation, and I’d assume which means the odometer reads the identical. Regardless, this SC appears to have only a few miles/kilometers beneath its belt.
The vendor providing the massive coupe describes its situation as “wonderful,” and the images within the advert bear that out. The paintwork seems to be as excellent as you might need, and there are not any noticeable imperfections on the manufacturing unit alloys or the plastic headlamp lenses. It’s the identical story within the cabin, with no put on evident wherever and even the manufacturing unit AM/FM/cassette stereo hanging round for aesthetic worth.
Even the engine bay seems to be to be in as-new situation, and who doesn’t love that polished intercooler pipe snaking over the left financial institution of the V6? With its blower maxed out at 12 kilos of enhance, the Essex 3.8 makes 210 horsepower and 315 lb-ft of torque.
On this SC, that will get routed by way of a Mazda-sourced five-speed guide to a limited-slip rear finish. The vendor notes no mechanical points in any way on the automobile. Additionally it is promoted as having an accident-free historical past and a clear title. The asking worth is $23,951 Canadian, which, at current alternate charges, works out to $16,636 Freedom Bucks.
Would you pay that form of money to get what’s probably the most effective model of the Thunderbird’s later generations in what seems to be to be museum high quality? Or does that worth have you ever flipping the hen?
You resolve!
Vancouver, BC, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to Don C. for the hookup!
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