CC Cohort member So Cal Metro has posted a treasure trove of pictures, all of which are fantastic of course, but this one stood out for me. Why is that? Well it features a Taurus for one, but the juxtaposition of the bull next to its Ford brethren really drives home the fact that the 1996 redesign was quite radical for the time. Here is what he has to say about this moment in time:
“ My 1990 Ford on the day I bought it at Mills Ford in Anaheim. The car was about 12 years old at the time. I sold it many years ago, and Mills Ford has since closed.”
I always liked that generation of Probe in the higher trim levels. Very few seem to have survived however.
Ford Probe is a Mazda not a Ford
It’s based on a Mazda platform with Mazda 4-cylinder engines, but Ford supplied enough components and design work that it’s pointless to emphatically state it’s one or another. Might as well call it by what the emblem says.
Ditto with the last-gen Escape you were harping on yesterday, BTW.
There were several switches and other small items on my carpool driver’s Aerostar van – in particular the power mirror switch – that were exactly the same as those on my 1984 RX-7.
Given that the Mazda/Ford partnership formally began in 1979 – and went back even further to Ford rebadging Mazda B-series pickups as Couriers – some minor parts commonality isn’t too surprising.
One of my dad’s coworkers had a Probe. He needed some replacement part for it. The Ford dealer gave him a part number but said there was no stock available because it was a Mazda part. He went to the Mazda dealer who said they couldn’t cross-reference the Ford part number. This would probably be a non-issue today because of the internet, but at the time he was SOL.
Yes and no doubt Ford US tells you the Fusion is American too, its not but of course you don’t believe that either,
Based on the global CD4 platform, Ford engines, designed in American and European studios with a bastardized grille treatment ripped off from Aston Martin, hecho en Mexico and Flat Rock, MI.
So that I don’t go insane in trying to determine its parentage, I don’t call the Fusion anything except a Ford.
On a related note, you’re quite the pleasant person, KB.
Sure, the Probe/MX6 are based on a Mazda platform, but it was somewhat of a collaboration between the two companies. Mazda designed the chassis and engine, but Ford specified where they wanted the “hard points” for the suspension/chassis to be set. From there, Ford designed the body and interior for the Probe, and Mazda did likewise. I thought Mazda and Ford did a great job making two attractive and unique cars from this platform.
Why I mention it is we get it in Mondeo form identical to the Fusion bar some trim its been mooted to send it to Aussie to replace the Falcon in Fusion badging as Mondeos didn’t sell well there.
Wow, it has been a long time since I have seen one of the later box CVs with that 2 tone treatment. That was much more common early in the run, say 79-82. My son’s 89 MGM is a factory 2 tone of silver/gray, but the accent color was only on the lower 6 inches or so of the body and was not so obtrusive.
Can’t say this is my favorite color combo, but I am a sucker for shiny turbine wheels.
Love the turbines as well. Load it up with options, give me the towing package, turbine wheels, and as a former Ohioan lets do a scarlet and grey two tone… 😛
My ’87 Box Crown Victoria had a two-tone treatment. Above the door handles and atop the hood and trunk was navy (with navy half-vinyl roof). Below them was a bluebird blue. It was really pretty.
OMG a Taurus, there is one opposite where I live it leaves on a towtruck occasionally but its back at present ugliest car ever devised, It amazed Aussies and Kiwis that those were a big seller but seeing what else was available in the US I guess they were as bad as some things.
Right-hand-drive Tauri had an extra-ugly duckbilled front bumper which was necessary to meet Japanese lighting regulations that didn’t allow turn signals inboard of the headlights.
Actually the version pictured was considered a huge failure. The styling put a lot of people off and it was restyled relatively quickly. I have a very good book detailing the development history of the ovoid Taurus, named “Car” by Mary Walton. It’s one of those must-read books for anyone who is a true fan of the industry as it exemplifies many of the processes and pitfalls involved in the design and manufacture of a car. (And I’m not a big fan of this generation Taurus, actually have never owned any Taurus for that matter.)
And Ford Australia went down the same road in 1998. The car itself was sound, but that only gets noticed after people are willing to try one.
nlpnt – I think they used the Mercury headlights on the rhd Taurus?
Nice find, would have preferred a 2nd gen Taurus however. The 3+gen are awful to look at, inside or out.
Never fear….Matlock is on the case!
You’d think that winning every case he ever brought to trial would allow him to charge enough to buy whatever he wanted but frugal Ben Matlock realized that underneath the more luxurious Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car was the heart of a Panther and that a two-tone Crown Victoria was all he really needed in an automobile.
No flashy Town Car or Cadillac for Ben. To this day, the image of Matlock driving one of these sticks in my head, I still expect everyone I see driving this vintage Crown Vic to look and dress like Matlock.
It’s the same old school ethos that pushed many doctors and lawyers into Electras and 98s rather than Fleetwoods. You want to look like you’re earning a decent living, but not getting rich off your clients/patients. The new school is different, so this seems odd to us now.
What an interesting juxtaposition of Fords close in model years. The Broughamy LTD Crown Vic with landau, turbine wheels, and lots of chrome against the rugged square Explorer, space age Probe, and jellybean Taurus. Amazing what can change in a few years.
Paul’s “anti-Seville jihad” comment yesterday (Perry Shoar post) made me chuckle.
Maybe there’s an “anti-Probe movement” somewhere as well.
It’s amazing how the LTD/Crown Victoria/Marquis developed. When their redesign was first introduced in ’79 they looked so awkward compared to their GM counterparts.
Sometime in the 80’s they developed this kind of “mature” look where the design was quite nice.
The Ford Probe had a joke image in the UK after Gareth Cheesman(comedian Steve Coogan’s cringe making salesman) was seen to drive one in his TV show.
Your 90 model would be the pick of that lineup in all honesty but compared to the Exploder MX and ugly Taurus its a standout.
I too have always hated the ’96 – ’07 Taurus. That has got to be one of the ugliest cars to ever soil roadways anywhere (along with the 2000 – 07 Ford Focus and the 2000 – 05 Toyota Echo). Even if it is/was a decent car in every other way, I have no idea why anybody would want one of those because it is just that hideous looking.
IMO the original Focus was a nice-looking car in hatchback form, and the wagon an acceptable compromise for the amount of room it had.
The sedan, on the other hand (and like the Echo) suffered from too many awkward lines where the trunk had been tacked on and the roofline foreshortened.
Personally I like what they managed to do with the basic 96-99 body shell to mek the 2000 and up cars look pretty good. Especially since the mid cycle refresh wasn’t supposed to happen until the 2002 model year and They probably didn’t intend to redo the rear window nor did they likely intend to do as many other significant changes. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t have a more radical design already roughly figured out before they wadded it up threw it in the can and started with a fresh sheet of paper.
I traded a friend my Mustang GT for an ’89 Probe GT. The Probe was a much better car in looks, quality, economy, and handling. Actually fairly practical for a sports car. It wasn’t as much fun though.
The turbo was known to be troublesome, you had to be careful to let them cool down before shutting off the car. I was careful and it didn’t give me any major trouble.
It was built in the same factory as the Mazda MX-6 but they were significantly different. The Ford was clearly the sportier of the two in looks and handling.
I purchased a one year old 1989 Crown Victoria with 12,000 miles in October 1989 with that same color combination, but it was the base level, not LX. I loved that car and kept it until September 2001. In April, 2004, I purchased a brand new 2004 Crown Victoria, which I still have.
I only see the Explorer and Taurus in large numbers these days.
The numbers of Explorers of that generation still on the road took a serious hit during cash for clunkers as they were the number one vehicle crushed. Of course there were a number of years when the Explorer was the best selling “car” in the US outselling Camry, Accord, Taurus ect.
Ugh. I changed the alternator on my sister’s ’89 Probe in a 7-11 parking lot about 30 miles from home back in about ’00. What a disaster. I remember having to undo the exhaust system from its mounts, remove a heat shield, and loosen this Rube Goldberg-style contraption that tensioned the v-belt to the alternator. The rest of the accessories used a separate serpentine belt, but the alternator alone had a separate v-belt (from what I remember). I was not a fan of that vehicle.
I’ve loved reading CC for a long time, but with my old car on here I figured it would be a good time to make my first comment! These 1988-1991 Crown Vics were my favorite and I’d been looking for one for a while. I actually wanted an ‘S’ model with no roof vinyl and steelies with covers. But after test driving several clapped out former municipal police cars and taxis from private sellers, I’d sort of given up on the idea. Didn’t want to inherit someone else’s project or problems.
When Mills Ford of Anaheim advertised this 1990 LX (I think it was actually around 2001), I went over for a look. It had the 302, not the police-spec 351, but the dual exhaust was supposedly good for a few extra HP. The interior was perfect and everything worked. The exterior was pretty sharp too. I wasn’t thrilled about the roof, which was not only vinyl but also the big boxy brougham top with the small backlight…a far cry from the basic steel-roofed S that I wanted. But it seemed to be in great shape, around 130K miles and they were asking somewhere just south of $4K. I liked the idea that from a dealer there was at least a short warranty, in case the tranny dumped itself in the driveway on the way out. The car drove beautifully and I do love the sensation of driving from a living room sofa that these cars give. No shortage of power, and it was smooth and very quiet.
I kept it for a couple of years but cut my losses when I got that nickel-and-dimed feeling. Over time I lost the radiator, AC compressor, heater core, and finally the last straw was the alternator. (The radiator was the only thing I fixed among those.) It was a third car for me anyway, so I sold it (with full disclosures) for a few hundred bucks to a teenager who I suspect had dreams of the thing lowered with Daytons and hydraulics. Meanwhile, I’d still be game for that perfect 1991 ‘S’ model.
Thanks for the story and the great pics, So Cal!
I see a proper Ford sedan, one o’ them new-fangled passenger trucks, and then a number of metallic blobs that appear to have wheels behind them. Maybe aliens trying to blend in? Can’t fool me, dagnabbit.
Having considerable box Panther experience, I really like that Crown Vic. Not a color combo I would have picked at the time, but I appreciate the different look it gives the car.
Two tone seemed to be at its height in the ’77 – ’85 era. It seems to have started with (or had a big jump start with) the Chevy B bodies which were frequently featured in advertisements as two tones. A black / silver combo was frequently pictured, and a two-tone deep red was also advertised. My parents eventually had a ’78 Caprice with the two-tone red after my Grandfather could no longer drive it.
I thought the background looked familiar. I visited Mills Ford quite regularly, from 1986 on up until my move to Oregon in 2009. Good friends with the body shop manager there, Paul. I wonder where he went…?