Bowing for the 1955 model year, the Ford Thunderbird was the personal luxury car answer to the Chevrolet Corvette. The Thunderbird, or T-Bird, was produced continuously from 1955 through the 1997 model year, and again from 2002 to 2005, and through 11 different generations.
Luxury and performance were not mutually exclusive in the Ford Thunderbird. The 1957 Thunderbird’s 312 cubic-inch Y-Block V8 could be optioned with twin four-barrel carbs or a McCullough supercharger. The second generation T-Bird would offer a 430 cube, 350 horsepower V8 for the now four-passenger car. The fourth gen Thunderbird would offer 428 horsepower as an option.
As the Ford Thunderbird entered the 1990s with its tenth generation, another performance package was offered in the guise of the Thunderbird Super Coupe. The SC was powered by a supercharged 3.8-liter V6 that produced 210 horsepower (remember, this was the end of the Malaise Era, and 210 ponies was a pretty big deal).
The Thunderbird Super Coupe was well equipped with standard electronically-controlled speed-sensitive power steering, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, Traction-Lok differential, and 16 x 7-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Goodyear Eagle tires, and an Adjustable Ride Control System.
Our feature Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe has covered just 65,000 miles from new. The paint appears to be the original finish, and aside from some very light road rash on the nose, is in exceptional condition. Panel gaps are of factory quality. Glass presents well, with no undue damage noted. The wheels are bright and polished, with no curb rash present.
Under the hood, the 210 horsepower supercharged 3.8-liter V6 is backed by a five-speed manual transmission. The engine bay is in decent nick, particularly for a 31-year-old car. Most everything appears to be in good nick.
Inside the Ford Thunderbird, the gray cloth interior shows little sign of wear, with only minor wrinkling present. The leather-wrapped shifter and boot both look showroom fresh. Carpets are colorfast and free from stains. Seatbelts are of the automatic variety, with the shoulder portion automatically securing the front seat passengers. The Thunderbird is well equipped with power disc brakes, power windows, power locks, power mirrors, power sunroof, and cold A/C.
This extremely clean Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe is currently offered by Showdown Auto for $14,900. Is it worth it? Tell us in the comments.
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Comments
The Thunderbird SC was also fast with a top speed of 145mph my brother had 1
When they came out they were considered heavy, but it’s was just ahead of its time in tech and IRS. The first and last truly excellent T-Birds.
I had a 1987 tbird turbo coupe that car was amazing! The problem with SC was the supercharged 3.8 was detuned from its original torque and HP because the crank shaft couldn’t handle it so the Ford engineers decided to detune the motor, I was a Ford service manager for many years! The SC was still a great car!
I can’t help thinking “Thunderbird” is a name worth applying to an EV. They’ve done it for Lightning.
I had one almost identical to this. The only differences were that it was an ’89 and did not have a moonroof. Other than that, it was identical right down to the five-speed, Bright Red color and cloth interior. I bought mine new and sold it in 2012 with 86k miles on the clock. Great car, especially for highway cruising where it typically averaged 26 mpg.
I am the original owner of a 1989 similarly equipped except having an AOD. The paint on mine is in poor condition but the body and interior are very good. Approximately $3000 has been invested in new parts. It has 76k miles and I’m only asking a third of what they want for this car.
Sweet I have two red 1990s
This year of Tbird is to ugly to live. They should all be demolished!
I have a 1987 T-Bird V8 midnight blue, always garaged, never seen weather with only 2,500 original miles. Everything on the car is original including the tires which are on a rack!
I have one just like it, black interior, truly the best tbird ford ever made, 87 turbo coupe 2nd best, I wouldn’t sell mine for 25k, cars today are too expensive, too many computers, I’ve owned 3 tbirds, the 90 super coupe is my pride and joy , it sat on blocks for 10 yrs til got motor replaced out of a 93 s.c. , waiting to get repainted, drive only on special occasions.
I own a 97 tbird lx 4.6 v8… i am a member of several tbird grpups and i can tell you the SC in the article is no where near worth the asking price.. half that if theyre lucky..
Do a Coyote swap and it could fetch more than asking price. 400hp better than 200hp and maintain gas mileage
Wow, this TBird SC is very clean. I had a 90 TBird SC, Titanium with the same gray cloth interior but with an auto. Nice car but it had electronic gremlins they couldn’t resolve.
My buddy and I test drove a lightly used 89. We both did back to back burnouts. Almost identical, dropped the clutch at 3500, slod to the right till redline, power shifted into 2nd, went left till redline, power shifted into 3rd, back to the right before she hooked up.Such a cool experience, my buddy bought a 91