For some time, vehicles from the 1980s and 1990s were essentially ignored by collectors, at least, models that weren’t supercars or exotics. However, in recent years, many models from that era have become increasingly popular and more valuable. That trend applies to the Ford Thunderbird, as we’re seeing more of that particular model from the 1980s surface for sale at various collector car auctions, oftentimes, with few miles on the clock. Now, this 1986 Ford Thunderbird keeps that trend going, and it’s one of the lowest-mile examples we’ve come across lately.
This 1986 Ford Thunderbird is currently up for auction at Cars & Bids, and it has traveled an incredibly low 2,000 miles. It has lived its entire life in the state of California, and as such, doesn’t have too many flaws to note – save for a couple of typical scratches and dings in the bodywork, coupled with some wear on the cassette tape holders inside the cabin. Otherwise, it’s an amazing survivor by anyone’s standards.
As far as amenities go, this Ford Thunderbird has a few, including a power antenna, windows, door locks, and mirrors, along with cruise control, power-adjustable seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a digital instrument cluster, and air conditioning. Power comes from the naturally-aspirated 3.8L V6, which was factory-rated to produce 120 horsepower and 205 pound-feet of torque, flowing to the rear wheels via a three-speed automatic transmission.
Of course, this is just the latest T-Bird from this generation to surface for sale in what has been a rather long line of them lately. Early last year, we came across a 1984 Ford Thunderbird with just 16k miles on the clock, and last fall, a 1988 model popped up for auction with 38k miles, too.
We’ll have more cool auction finds to share soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Thunderbird news and non-stop Ford news coverage.
Closing the week at $10.58 per share.
Some OEM-style upgrades for this particular ST.
Such as a bottle opener that doubles as a hanger.
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That’s just sick. I had an ’86 Cougar LS and NEVER would have thought of keeping it as a collector item. Plus, this T-Bird has a strange option packaging. Some luxury items that my Cougar didn’t have but not the 5.0L V-8 that mine did. This is a base model and mine was the Elan equivalent. I had a LOT of problems with mine. Malaise Era typified. Sent me packing to…gasp…Honda. I’d bid 50 cents, max. Hollywood might want it but nobody else should.
Lol, so your car was low mileage and mint condition like this one? Or it was just an average old beater. I'm thinking the latter.
Of all the cars my parents had (many), our '86 T-Bird 5-liter was by far my fav. That car had a great combo of style, luxury, and power. I recall we had to replace the water pump, and by the time we traded-in, the intake manifold gasket was leaking. But we beat that car, so I'm not surprised.
Is there anything uglier than a Ford made in the 80s?
Your mom's Hyundai.