Some people buy their Curbside Classics; others inherit them. In my case, I married into mine. More specifically, my wife came with a 1995 Thunderbird as standard equipment – not a bad deal. When we married, the car was 10 years old, and now that we’ve been married for 10 years, the T-bird is celebrating its 20th birthday, and I’m proud to say it’s still with us. So to celebrate 20 years of enjoying a great car, I decided to write this biography for what has become one of my favorite websites.
Prehistory
When my wife bought her first new car, a Thunderbird seem like a logical choice to her. Her former car –the only other car she’d owned – was a 1967 Mustang, with a 289 V-8 and a 3-speed manual transmission. Her parents had bought the Mustang before she was born, and stubbornly held onto it all though the years of having a growing family. She was driven home as a newborn in the Mustang, years later took her driver’s license test in the Mustang, drove it to her college graduation, then as a commuter car to work. By that time, in 1995, the Mustang reached the end of its road. Twenty-eight years of being a daily driver, nearly 300,000 miles, and a generous amount of Midwestern rust meant that – despite all the sentimentality attached to it – the Mustang had to be put out to pasture.
How does one replace a car like that? Well, she considered a 1995 Mustang, but it was too flashy. The Thunderbird, on the other hand, was just right, with classy, understated styling but a sporty demeanor and a powerful V-8. Plus, the Thunderbird carried lower insurance rates and could comfortably carry four people.
Advertisement for the identical 1994 Thunderbird
So, on December 28, 1994, she bought a Champagne Metallic Thunderbird LX, with a 4.6-liter V-8, from Bo Beuckman Ford in St. Louis, for $17,400. Upon delivery, the car had seven miles on the odometer. In the back of her mind, driving home from the dealership, she hoped she could keep it as long as the Mustang; right now we’re eight years away from being there.
Sales brochure picture
In the mid 1990s, the car marketplace had already drifted away from personal coupes. Once a common sight, full-size two-door cars were dwindling away, with the Thunderbird one of the few remaining examples at the time. In 1995, Ford still sold over 100,000 T-birds, and people who bought one were treated to a very pleasant and comfortable car. But by that time, the T-bird had only two more model years left before being discontinued after the 1997 model year.
Early Life
Our Thunderbird’s early life included the highest-mileage years of its first two decades. At the time, my (future) wife lived in Jefferson City, Mo., and had an amusingly short five minute drive to work. However, the vast majority of its miles were accumulated driving around rural Missouri to visit family. Several times a month, in good weather and bad, the T-bird would drive to northeastern Missouri, a 250-mile round-trip rural drive that included winter salt, ice, and (just once) a collision with a deer. While the deer damage was repaired, the road salt would surface as rust a decade after its last ride down a salty Missouri road.
During its first five years, the T-bird racked up 80,000 miles this way. Reliability was excellent, and aside from a few minor repairs, it led a trouble-free life. In 2000, however, the T-bird was packed up and driven out to Northern Virginia, where my wife got a new job. Its life was about to change dramatically.
Middle Age
In Northern Virginia, the Thunderbird led a life antipodal to what it had lived in mid-Missouri. No more open, rural roads–but no more daily commutes or bad-weather driving, either. And definitely not as many miles. My wife took a train to work and lived in a high-rise apartment, with the T-bird parked in the garage below. Overall, not a bad life for a well-driven five-year-old car. In hindsight, it was these years of 24-hour garaging and low miles that saved the T-bird’s life. Between 2000 and 2005, the Thunderbird logged only about 20,000 miles total, and experienced things (like the tires dry-rotting), that only low-mileage cars get to worry about. The garaging of course, was a boon for the paint and interior as well.
After my wife and I married in 2005, the T-bird’s life of ease largely continued, though it did spend two years outside without a garage. But it became our pleasure car, getting driven occasionally, at a rate of about 2,500 miles per year. Around that time we made one last pilgrimage back to the T-bird’s native Missouri. Having made several similar trips in rental cars or in my own Ford Contour, it was obvious to us that nothing beats a full-size V-8 car for long-distance driving. The T-bird, on open roads, is clearly in its element like few other cars could be.
Semi-retirement
Many beloved cars that survive harsh climates, high mileage, and many other dangers are ultimately doomed by one big change: a family. Having kids turns one’s automotive world upside down, and we experienced this phenomenon in 2007. A 12-year-old two-door car with 100,000+ miles is not the most rational family vehicle. Unfortunately, neither was a 1998 Contour, with a tiny back seat and a poorly functioning air conditioner. But through the fog of sleepless nights and a crying baby, we made a monumental decision: We would keep the Thunderbird.
We did this by buying a third car (possibly the subject of a future article), and semi-retiring the Thunderbird. (The Contour, meanwhile, was replaced by a minivan in 2010.) With occasional, light-duty driving, we hoped the T-bird might last many more years. Light-duty in this case meaning being garaged most of the time: I drove it to work a few days a month, but never in ice or snow, and still tend to drive it about 1,500 miles per year.
Who says you can’t have a 2-door car with kids?
Ironically, our kids (now in elementary school) love the Thunderbird, and get very excited on the unusual occasion when we see another one on the road.
Of course, everyone who has an aging car has to deal with the occasional major repair, and our T-bird is no exception. Several years ago, I noticed rust forming on one of the rocker panels near the rear wheel, a common place for T-bird rust, and no doubt a holdover from its early days in Missouri. We decided to have it repaired (knowing, of course, that there’s no guarantee it won’t come back), and commit ourselves to keeping the T-bird going. Then came suspension repairs, as the whole front suspension had to be rebuilt, at a cost that probably exceeded the car’s value. Again, we decided to do it. And just last year came the dreaded one: transmission problems.
The transmission is probably the weakest link on this generation of Thunderbird, and we’ve known for a long time that a transmission failure was a distinct possibility. Yet it came as a surprise one day to get in the car at work and discover that there was no second gear. Ugh. A new transmission costs nearly $3,000 which, even given our commitment to the Thunderbird, would have been a tough pill to swallow. But fortunately, after taking it to one transmission shop that said it needed a new tranny, we took it to another shop that fixed the transmission with a $300 repair. Yes, the transmission may still fail from something else, but for now we have our T-bird back and she’s shifting better than she did when new.
The Future
Our car is getting old enough that occasionally people comment about it – saying they used to have one, or that it’s in such good shape that we must be original owners (which we are!). It’s a satisfying feeling, of course, and makes us want to keep it forever. Plus, of all our three cars, the T-bird is our kids’ favorite. So, will we keep it forever? Who can tell? We’d love to, and we’re well on our way to doing so, but life throws out surprises, and it’s hard to say whether we’ll be able to devote the time, space or resources to keeping a 1995 car running forever.
But we’ll try. And right now, having survived in excellent condition for two decades and 130,000 miles, the T-bird might get a chance to hang in there for a lot longer. In the meantime we’ll keep enjoying it, and enjoying a pride of ownership that only increases with age. And if we keep it for another nine years, our now seven-year-old might well take her driver’s license test in it…
Awesome article! Keep it as long as you can. That car loves you guys!
I agree – excellent article! I can mirror a similar story with my 1993 Buick Regal Gran Sport 4 door.
Mr. Bill
Give us a writeup sometime with LOTS of pics! Would be fun to see.
Funny, the sentimentality we attach to rolling collections of plastic, rubber, and metal.
I hope the Tbird continues to serve you indefinitely. Nothing like a car with a history.
Also, shocking to think the timespan between 1967 and 1995, and 1995 and now is only 8 years different. 67 seems like the dark ages and 95 seems so recent in every way, especially vehicular technology.
Different readers’ perception of change over vehicle eras would be an interesting CC topic. ’47 to ’67 seems like a lot of change, ditto ’67 to ’87. The next 20 years, more refinement, some shifting consumer trends, but not much change. This TBird doesn’t seem that old to me, but perhaps a 20 year old would think otherwise.
I’m off by 2yo and I don’t really feel them old. It doesn’t have crank windows, doesn’t have a carburetor, and looks aerodynamic. But this car is old to 13ish kids nowadays for sure as it would be like how a ’83 ’84 Tbird appears to me.
Great article. Some cars just end up becoming part of the family, and you could do a lot worse than a Thunderbird. Though I was never a big fan of the earlier models, I’ve always liked that generation a lot. Here’s to many more years of great driving and great memories with your ’95.
I had one of these. It was one of the best cars I ever had. Mechanically trouble free and fun to drive. Unfortunately it started to rust so I replaced it. If it hadn’t rusted I probably still would have it.
Holy cats! I’ve probably seen your car.
I bought a ’96 Thunderbird new when I lived in Jefferson City the first time. It, also, made periodic trips to see the now wife in NE Missouri.
You were smart and kept your Thunderbird when children came along. Now you have a fully operational piece of family history for everyone to enjoy. With it having the 4.6 you only need to worry about the intake manifold. The rest of the engine is flawless for many, many more miles.
This was a joy to read for me on several levels. Please keep them coming.
Amazing! You probably did see it driving back in the day — or maybe passed by each other in, say, Moberly, on the way to/from a family visit.
We were just in Jeff City a few weeks ago (driving our minivan, which is the vehicle to take on 1,000+ mile trips with a family). My wife’s brother lives there, and he bought a 1995 Firebird at the same time she bought the T-bird. He still has it, too, so if you ever see a white Firebird Formula (also with car seats in the back) driving around town, it’s probably him.
Such a small world. We have friends who still have a house in Moberly and we bought the wife’s E-150 from a couple just west of there.
I’ll be on the lookout for his Firebird; there aren’t many floating around here.
I still drive the 95 Firebird to work almost every day. It’s been a good car. You’ll probably see it sometime.
Happy 10th/20th anniversaries! Thanks for sharing your happy T-Bird story. Remember to post an update in 2025, I’m sure things will only get better.
I saw one of these yesterday on Craigslist, a silver 95, and was tempted to call. After years/decades of driving cars with manual transmissions that never gave me transmission trouble, I hesitate to buy a 20 year old car (or even a 5 year old car)with automatic, knowing there could be a large/expensive repair right around the corner. But with a Civic “wearing” 280K miles on the odometer, I will probably need a newer car soon.
Wow great condition T-Bird! It’s nice hearing about how much you and your family love and cherish this car! I’ve always liked these final Thunderbirds a lot, especially the ’95-’97s with the updated headlights. They have a lean, athletic look to them, and the roofline worked way better than the Cougar’s. My mom’s best friend owned two of these, the second I remember from when I was little. Obviously due to your care, it’s no surprise how nice the interior looks as well.
Hopefully you can hold on to it, but it’s understandable that other priorities come first. Putting more money into repairs than a car is worth is always something I’d have trouble with. Keep it as long as you can!
Great post! I remember these well and at the time saw them as a nice modernization of the 1983 design I grew up knowing as the t-bird.
It’s always tough to decide what to do on old cars and whether repairs are worthwhile. I find it comes down to a calculation of whether you can afford to have another car in the first place. If you can, then think about whether one of the costlier repairs would, if not spent on the repair, buy you something that you would value as much or more. If yes, maybe it’s time to pull the plug. If no, fix and keep.
As someone else pointed out above, I’m staggered by how long ago 1995 is. It seems like maybe 5 years ago.
I used to drive one of these with the 3.8…what a dog! The 4.6 was light years better, and I’m sure I would have liked my car more if it had had it.
It’s amazing how some cars just seemed to fade away, and all of a sudden you realize that there are no (fill in the blanks) out on the roads anymore. T-Birds fit that list, and this is a great one.
I also love how the wheels look like torque converter stators. 🙂
Funny thing about the wheels — the left side and right sides wheels are different. The wheels are mirror images of each other, so that the “fins” would rotate in the same direction on either side of the car.
I never realized that until one day when I was looking through a parts catalog and noticed that the R and L wheels had different part numbers.
I have no idea how many other cars have different right and left wheels, but to me it was pretty surprising.
The Super Coupe wheels were that way also. My ’96 had the SC wheels but with different center caps as part of the Sport Option.
The directional wheels were pretty common, especially on Fords in those days. I have had several vehicles of Lincoln, Ford and Mercury divisions. The first set I looked at for two weeks before I figured out why they didn’t look right. It was me who had mounted the snows without understanding the dynamics. I believe a V8 with two doors to be the ideal long term driver – they don’t get stressed.
On the Lincoln Mark VIII, the optional rims and LSC rims are similar, they have opposite pattern on each side. Strangely, it’s not true on Cougar, even though they share most parts. ( I happen to assemble both Cougar and Tbird models, and Revell was smart enough to mold same chassis parts on the same tree )
The Subaru SVX is another car that has directional wheels. Half the few that I see nowadays have one or two mounted backwards.
In my opinion, this pearl of a car will go another 20 years and 130,000 miles with relative ease. The only possibly insurmountable problem that might arise is computer/brain-box failure. Who knows? I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better car of this era for long term ownership.
My sister-in-law has the exact car, color and engine. It gets very little use and is starting to rust on the rocker panels too. But she loves her “Bird” and will probably have it until it dies. (or she does)
The overall proportions of this big coupe still look just right. I have always liked a big coupe and this Thunderbird did the theme perfectly. The Lincoln LSC was maybe just a bit too big and ponderous but the Bird is spot on.
As for the durability concern with the automatic: it might be fun to transplant a Tremec five speed from a Mustang 4.6. I have a S197 Mustang 4.6/5 speed and it is a very satisfying drivetrain set up. I have no idea how hard a job it would be to do to the T-Bird (which was never designed or sold with the manual) but if the car is a keeper maybe that would be something to consider. Not only would the manual make the car more fun; it might also become theft-proof.
Enjoy the car. It looks very nice.
Swapping a manual for the automatic would make this a perfect car, in my opinion. Like you, I have no idea of the actual practicality of doing so, but it’s sure fun to think about!
Pretty sure these t-birds had manual transmissions.
The 89-95 Thunderbird Super Coupe had a manual trans offering. It was the Mazda built/designed M5OD. As for how practical it would be to put this trans into a regular T-Bird, I am not really sure. I would imagine it is doable.
It’s true on Cougar too. And in the first few years, they had a lot more varieties, like full digital dash just to name it.
The Supercoupe trans is actually it’s derivitive the M5R2. It won’t mate up to a 4.6 bellhousing though(but it will any 3.8 or 5.0). Manual transmission swaps have been done quite a bit, the S197 TR3650 transmission is the closest thing to a bolt in.
Great story! My hat’s off to you.
Thanks for sharing the history! I’ve always liked this generation of Thunderbirds – I spent many an evening “walking the lots” around this era and looked at and read many a sticker at Burlingame Ford. As someone above said, the proportions are just right and they are surprisingly roomy in the back. I wasn’t originally a fan of the gold-ish color but as I’ve aged I’ve come to appreciate it a lot more. Your car looks to be in fantastic condition, I hope you enjoy many more miles with it.
” wasn’t originally a fan of the gold-ish color ”
I think you mean Mocha Frost there, Jim. 🙂 That was the lower color on my 94 Club Wagon.
The roominess in those cars are good. They added few more inches on wheelbase for Mark VIII but I think a lot goes to the slanting rear window.
Actually the wheelbase is identical, both are 113″
My fault, I see both having the identical wheelbase. Looks like they added quite many inches on Mark VIII to the overhangs.
That’s one lucky Tbird. What a great family story.
It amazes me to no end that auto marketers could ever think that random combinations of letters and numbers (hello CT6 or MKS) could ever be as evocative as names like Thunderbird !!
Just yesterday I was window shopping, I mean Craigslist surfing, for a ’95-’97 Thunderbird with the 4.6L engine. Eric, your story put the finger on my soft spot for these cars.
It must be a Thunderbird, not a Cougar with the chopped of roof line, and not a Lincoln Mark VIII either, looking like flounder out of the water.
I bet the transmission trouble was a case of changing fluids and maybe some solenoids. There is a very good website for MN12 owners: http://www.tccoa.com/
The transmission problem was actually an accumulator spring. Replacing that part (the $300 repair) solved the problem.
About a decade ago, the transmission started slipping at times, and changing the fluid helped. At that time, a transmission shop advised that frequently changing the fluid in the MN12’s helps a lot. We’ve taking their advice, and it probably did help — haven’t had slipping problems since then.
That’s the 4R70W, isn’t it? Same box as in my ’97 Crown Vic if so. I was getting the infamous “trans rumble” and occasional slippage last year, and was afraid I might be looking at a rebuild or replacement, but a fluid drain/flush fixed it right up. These boxes (and their predecessor AOD-E from what I understand) like fresh fluid and frequent changes, as you’ve discovered as well!
What else is new about Ford automatics. Their C4 automatic, my 68 C4, needed to have the fluid completely changed out every 30,000 miles. No different now and should be mandatory if you want them to last. Even better throw on an auxiliary cooler and have peace of mind unless you have an AXOD or AXOD-E with internal lube problems to begin with and better be changed every 30K.
There you go. Some shops like to rip their customers off. Transmission slips? You need a new transmission. No, it was an accumulator spring.
My dad bought this car new in 95 but he had leather seats & sunroof. It was a nice car & fun to drive. I loved the v8 & it was comfy & don’t remember it burning lots of gas. He put 90k miles on it with no trouble before trading it for a Volvo.
Wow, what a nice t-bird! It’s in fantastic shape for a 20 year old car and you’re right, it’s probably got a lot of good miles left in it. Once you hit 25 it’ll qualify for VA “antique” plates, and the corresponding drop in insurance premium (though you won’t be able to drive it to work anymore under the use restrictions.) Hang on to it, it’s clear the car has become part of the family…
I drove one of these only once. A good friend’s father had one, the same year ’95 LX V8, pearl white with gray leather, and he was looking to sell it. I was interested, as I was in the market for an automotive upgrade. And the price was right–he’d put a ton of highway miles on it (it was sitting at 180k) so he said he’d give it to me for $3K. This was in 2001, mind you, so that was for a six year old car! Sadly I couldn’t quite swing it as a student and John ended up using it as a trade-in on his next car. Always regretted that, even with those miles, it looked great, drove great, and would have been a heck of a car.
Great story! I can imagine how your kids (and their friends) will really love this car. To me it’s still a modern car, but to them, it’s a rare classic!
Your bride plainly has good taste in picking the 4.6 instead of the six, that probably would have left you with a big bill for head gaskets. I really liked these cars back then.
And you are right about how keeping the car indoors and using it less frequently has saved it’s life. My 93 Crown Vic has been really showing its age the last couple of years. Life with high school and college students is demanding, and I am wagering that it may not make it’s silver anniversary in 2018. But who knows.
I shudder to think of the demands that high school / college kids make on the family car!
Great taste in cars by the way – my daily driver now is a 2006 Crown Vic.
Yes that’s very true. As I was born in the ’90s, cars from ’80s and ’90s are not really old to me, but to 10ish boys nowadays they look at my ’94 Lincoln Mark VIII in the same way when I was 10yo looking at a Lincoln Mark V, and they look at my ’78 Plymouth Volare like how I looked at early Plymouth Valiant ( very vintage to them already, even though I still remember what antenna is and what crank window is, but push button transmission is really old to me except on newer Lincoln MKZ )
Numerous repairs including a transmission at 130000? Not dependable at all. Sounds like Russian Roulette every time you get in it. “Trouble Free” to me is trouble free, like the Accord I had for 8 years and NOTHING except the computer went bad at 17000 miles and was repaired under warranty, and that was it for 222000 miles. No belts, hoses, transmissions, etc. Now that, to me, is trouble-free. Face it, it’s a Ford.
Because Honda has never had transmission issues…
My roommate has a ’02 accord in family since new, and the reliability… Really nothing to brag about, just another car.
No timing belt in 220K? Either you forgot those two very expensive 100k service items, or you were showing us all how russian roulette is really played.
Really, high miles in 8 years is one thing, but 20 years is something else altogether. Time really can be the great equalizer. My BIL bought a 92 Camry V6 the year before my mother bought the 93 Crown Vic. Both cars got perfect maintenance and easy use early in their lives. Two nephews got the Camry around the time we got the Vic, maybe 10 years ago. The Camry’s last 5 years were quite expensive, and a transmission finally killed the car 3 years ago. The Vic still lives.
We own two Fords and a 2010 Honda. So far, we’ve had more problems in the first 5 years of Honda ownership than we’d had with our first 5 years with both Fords combined. I’m not impressed.
I wouldn’t call a fried computer, even under warranty, “trouble free”. I racked up 228,00 miles on my ’03 Mustang in 5 years of daily use. I take care of my cars and treat the with respect but I don’t drive them easy either. During all that time I replaced the brake pads, the throw out bearing and the stereo . The stereo was under warranty. I also had a crack in an exhaust manifold welded up. It never made me walk and was still running and looking good when I sold it. Unlike Hondas of that vintage I didn’t have to worry about a $1200.00 timing belt replacement every 100K miles. Except for tires I never spent more than $100.00 on anything on it. Face it, it’s a Ford.
Lots of parallels to the story of our ’89 Thunderbird and my wife and I. We were engaged and bought her the pristine low mileage LX V-6 Bird in 1993. Terrific road car for two – toured the Southwest for two weeks in it. We had it for about 3 years as a daily driver after our first child was born, the backseat did work, probably better than just about any other contemporary two door.
We talked about upgrading it to a new V-8 Thunderbird on multiple occasions – our V-6 was a bit anemic. But, those discussions didn’t pan out, and it was traded on a new 1999 Chrysler Town & Country LX when we were expecting our second child.
Thanks for the reminder of how nice these cars are.
Great article. Feel the same way about my cars. They’ve always been purchased with a long time horizon involved.
Two are now with my brother, one I’ve owned for nearly 35 years and the Onion [05 Saturn ION] is now ten [bought it new] with 63,000 miles on it and patiently waiting a professional birthday detailing]. Seats covered since year two.
Loved the 83 T-Bird redesign.
This generation looks good as well but was the subject of a lot of fury by Ford management for coming in too heavy and way over-budget. [See the book: “Car”].
That gives it even more history and the way it’s survived makes it’s worthy of all the attention you can give it.
People have spent more money on lesser things and will never have the sense of pride, satisfaction and the pleasure that you and your wife have gotten. And at very small actual expense over 20 years.
Great story. Just think of all the money you have saved by keeping this car, and fixing it when it was broken.
I have kept my cars for a long time too. Once the car is paid for I figure I might as well hang on to it and drive it until it dies.
I have never had to make a car payment. I cannot imagine having to do that, and pay all the other bills that come along in a person’s life.
Among few things to keep an eye on MN12/FN10 cars, rust is the biggest issue. The rust resistance barely exists on that platform somehow and it shows first on rocker panels before rear wheel wells. ( but take a look at the engine bay and suspension tower too ) and the car is somehow very sensitive to wheel balancing for some mysterious reasons. The handling is excellent on dry and smooth surfaces but on wet road, it’s a big handling trap ( so I don’t lend my car to others younger than 60 to drive, except mechanics ) and it’s an invitation of trouble to younger guys especially because how good it handles and some version comes with powerful engines. And the front suspension is picky, the ball joint needs often lube to keep it straight, otherwise it will confuse mechanics. But what it returns is a car handles as good as a car 15yrs younger ( 2005ish, if counting from ’89 ) with lower than usual wind drag and it’s worth it.
I think I just like the “design language” if mid/late-90s Fords overall–the T-Bird, the Contour and Taurus, and so on; it seems gentler than the current look, if that makes sense.
An enjoyable article, Eric 703! I’ve got a Taurus a few years younger than yours (similar mileage), and I recently “renewed my vows” to stick with it ’til at least its twentieth birthday, unless it really turns into a money pit. Somewhere I read that a car’s 15th birthday is often its lowest point on the depreciation curve (when they get easy to get rid of, and hard to convince oneself to keep), but I’ve decided to hang with this one (yeah, sentimentality is part of it)–enjoying the quiet satisfaction of seeing fewer of them on the road with each passing year.
Your T-Bird found a nice home, and I wish you many, many more years of happy motoring .
Congratulations on your “vows,” and good luck with your Taurus!
Interesting observation about cars reaching their low-point at age 15… definitely seems to be true. For both of my previous cars, I sold them at 12 and 15 years respectively, when it became tough to justify keeping them. Beyond 15 years, it almost becomes tough to justify letting them go, instead.
I bought a 93 Intrepid ES and it was a fine appliance. Never left me stranded. However it had the same personality as a Sears toaster. A year later I traded it on a 95 T Bird LS. V8, leather RWD it was fun, compared to the Dodge. At 50,000 miles the dreaded torque converter shudder arrived. By the time I got it to the dealer it had 51,000 miles and the dealer would not honor the 50,000 mile warranty. The district manager would not help. I printed out around 70 complaints about the shudder on low mileage Fords with the 4L70Wtransmissions the answers were all the same sorry but no longer covered under warranty. much as I enjoyed that car I traded it on a one year old Stealth ywin turbo, twin intercooleres, 4 wheel steering. Put 180,000 miles with only a clutch master Cylinder. Tires were pricey. As much as I like the new generationMustangs I am staying away from Fords. In fact my daily driver is a 1990 Buick Reatta. They were hand built by a group of technicians and did not move on until supervisor approved it.They were built in their own factory. It has 158,000 miles And only repair has been one one AC compressor. All Reattas came loaded, only option was a 16 way power seat, love it when people walking by say, TWO SEAT BUICK? Really, yes really.
Those people walking by must read the letters on taillight.
Reatta is built in Lansing, which is famous for specialty vehicles and they did keep a tight eye on few production lines, it was one of them.
One of my good friends has a ’96 Thunderbird and man, oh man is this an entirely different story. Hers has every body panel faded from its original midnight green, splits in the leather, most of the console panels gone, not being able to open the passenger door from the inside. But like Julie, the car has character and I’ve got a lot of good memories attached to it. Of all ’90s Fords, I was least familiar with the T-Bird up until a couple years ago, but even in its condition, that T-Bird gives me a new appreciation for the nameplate. It would make a helluva contrast piece to this article!
Ya know, you can still beat a car to death.
I’ve owned two 1997 T-birds (wrecked one, sigh!) and have never had the problems you described about your friend’s car. My current bird has a factory power antenna which has never been repaired and still works smoothly.
I did look at a 96 bird for sale once, and while the outside looked clean, the interior looked like it had been used as a stable.
Agreed, paint oxidization is definitely somewhat unique to Ford clearcoat paints of the time, especially the darker ones, but the other stuff is the result of abuse, plain and simple. I often grab what I can from these when I’m at junkyards and the variances in condition with the same amount of mileage is huge. Some of the nicest interior pieces I’ve hoarded are from 200k mile cars, some of the worst were in sub 80k ones.
Great story by the way and my family had a similar tale with a 1995 Voyager, but New York living for 17 years and getting totaled did her in. I still have the build sheet, window sticker, everything, and I even know she rolled off the assembly line late August 1994 on a Friday just before 1500 hours.
Eric703,
I noticed what probably looks like an Arlington County sticker next to the safety inspection sticker on the T-Bird. Are you in the county?
I live in the City of Alexandria and I also have a sticker next to my inspection sticker on my old Volvo. I can’t believe they would levy a personal property tax on motor vehicles.
Interesting comment on coupes not being used for family cars anymore. Seems like it used to be quite common. My mom drove only coupes for 15 years, though it was rare for all of us 4 kids to go with her at any one time. My friend’s parents, however, frequently traveled with all 4 of their kids in their family car – a 1983 Monte Carlo SS – until the mid 90s.
I agree with the comments of others that 20 year old cars don’t seem as different as they used to be. My DD is 20 years old, and it doesn’t seem outdated in most respects. Sure, it doesn’t have traction control, remote start or a back up camera, but I don’t want any of those things anyway.
My 21 year old Cougar has traction control. A primitive system that only pulses the brakes under 30 mph but it’s got it. The trunklid isn’t super tall (compared to fatass modern designs)and I’m not an idiot so I don’t find rear view cameras necessary either. Remote start can always be added but newer cars don’t necessarily have that anyway, pushbutton/keyless start is much more common but I still think that’s a gimmick.
Most difference I find between driving it vs. a newer car is it’s height. The MN12s feel like sitting in sports cars compared to most cars today, even compared to current ponycars, and because of the now extinct low beltline I can comfortably rest my arm out the window. Power wise the 4.6 is plenty peppy, gets about the same mileage overall as a current big V6, the independent suspensions ride and handle great, and the interior materials are pretty much the same.
I have been looking hard the past two years for a nice lower mileage 1994-97 vintage T-Bird but every car I have looked at has issues that kept me from buying it. One really clean 96 had the dreaded torque converter shudder and the transmission really scared me after seeing fluid leaking under the car after it idled for a few minutes while I poked around under hood. Another 97 example had heavily oxidized hood and trunk lid paint (not apparent in the pictures) and the tan interior was just nasty and falling apart. Probably from neglect. Yet another 94 example with the 3.8 had a strange miss at cruising speeds which in turn made the torque converter chuggle. Opening up the antifreeze reservoir and seeing nothing in it told me the engine may have had a cracked head or blown intake. It seemed to smoke at idle more than I thought it should have and the dealer said it was just condensation. Riiiiight. I looked into the 3.8 and found out it is a real pile and that head gaskets, cracked heads and blown intakes are common issues. The 4.6 is much better but also has intake issues, faulty ignition wires from the factory in certain years and does like it’s oil. The last car I looked at late last year was a beautiful light green 1994 with the 4.6 but it went down the road as if it went through world war II and it’s interior was stained and many things were loose like the center console, the passenger dash vent was broke, the headliner was messed up and I walked out of that dealer wondering why people can’t take care of there cars. If I’m going to shell out 3-4K I would at least expect the interior to be clean and stain free and the suspension in good order. The hunt goes on.
Nice article, hope the T-bird hangs in there another 10 years. My truck was 6 when I got it in ’76, sold it in ’06 for $500.00 more than I paid. My car was five when I got it in ’91, I hope to get 6 more years at least out of it. My present truck I bought new in ’04 and is kept under carport and only has a little over 14k miles, I hope to get another 19 years out of it, if I do it will probably be time to hang up the keys. Great story, few of us have the determination to keep a vehicle for the long haul. Have always like this series of T-bird, and a ’67 Mustang is also a car well worth keeping long term.
Mom had a 1989 T-Bird – we shopped and shopped different two door cars and she almost ended up with a two door Honduh Accord. We hadn’t looked at the T-Bird because the trunk looked so shallow from the outside, but we ended our shopping one day and stopped to check out the T-Bird. What a revelation! For the same price as the Honduh, we could get the T-Bird and there was no comparison at all in the ride and room of the T-Bird. It was like comparing “cars” with an “automobile” and there was simply no comparison.
Mom was smitten and I negotiated the deal. She kept the car for 15 years until she wanted something smaller. It was beautiful dark red metallic with grey interior and was quiet and road well and the 3.8 v-6 had a nice growl.
Hey there, loved the article, i myself have a 95 in green, its not perfect, I’m in the process of putting in a new fuel pump so i dropped the tank and I’m doing a whole fuel system rebuilt, these are awesome cars,you have the sleeper look but lots of power underneath, i also have a 91 mustang GT convertible so when the 4.6s came out i wasn’t too keen on them but it grew on me and now i have come to respect the engine quite a bit,again thank you for the article, your car looks beautiful,hope it brings you many more years of joy!!