I wrote the first draft for this essay from a window seat on an airplane while returning to Chicago after a Las Vegas vacation. This is an annual trip for me, but the added bonus this year was that it was also in celebration of a buddy’s milestone birthday. It was also my first Vegas trip with this particular friend group, with all of us originating from mid-Michigan or specifically from the Flint area. Tim and I were part of the same high school graduating class.
There were several reasons for the selection of this Probe GT as today’s subject car. It was a different black Probe that I had previously written about at CC when I had made my literary faux pas involving the word “behest”, an incident to which I had recently made reference in my piece on a ’98 Plymouth Neon Expresso. The other reason is that, as is my normal tradition, I did a whole lot of exploring in Las Vegas, with exploration being Ford’s intended context around this model name, which had first been applied to a series of show cars. (RIP, Probe I, which was lost in a trailer fire earlier this year.)
There is that fifth grade boy in me that will sometimes snicker when I hear or read a joke made about this car’s name. Most of the time though, when those jokes surface, I’m just like eeewwww. I’m pushing fifty, have had a routine colonoscopy, and do not plan to be late for the next one (that’s my health-related public service announcement for today). Before I had realized that “probe” could mean something most people would probably rather not think about (and it’s difficult to un-make an association), the Probe model name made me think of lunar exploration, and that alone. I had owned a ’94 base-model Probe which was a great car, and at that time, there would have been no way I would have wanted to be known or thought of in a way related to lowbrow jokes about this car’s name. “The name ‘Probe’ makes you think of what? Shut up and forget I asked.”
1997 Ford Probe brochure pages were sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
The beauty of both friend groups with which I have now shared a Vegas vacation experience is that I have always been given total freedom to trek off on my own and take my photos. I also genuinely enjoy making the acquaintance of locals when I’m in that social headspace, which that city brings out in me. There will be strangers who will end up feeling like friends after the fifteen or thirty minutes or so we spend conversing while I have a meal or a (non-alcoholic) beverage. It must be an empath thing, because we often end up finding each other as members of the same tribe.
1993 Ford Probe brochure pages were sourced from www.oldcarbrochures.org.
The second-generation Probe is bisected in my mind between its first two model years, 1993 and ’94, and the 1995 – ’97 models, the latter of which sold much fewer copies as this fashionable, sporty coupe’s sell-by date had by then come and gone. It was the original ’93 that looked the best to me, including the clean sweep of the dashboard before the front passenger’s side airbag arrived for ’94. I’m obviously all for saving lives, and I know Ford engineers probably did the best they could at the time, but the ’94 model’s dashboard lost all the aesthetic artistry and magic of the first-year cars.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the “GT” heckblende between the taillamps of the last three model years, which still looks decidedly aftermarket or homemade. It doesn’t even light up, though it looks like it should. I also think the slanted taillamp lens bisectors aren’t the most graceful or organic means of distinguishing the later models from the earlier ones. There was nothing wrong with the unbroken sweep of the original red lenses with the three small, horizontal, white reverse lights.
It appears that “All American Ford” out of Saginaw, Michigan sold this car, likely from new. I have always personally identified as both all-American and also with the Probe’s “mixed” foreign and domestic origins, as I’m a first-generation U.S. citizen on one side, and from Midwestern farm folks on the other. I wasn’t born yesterday, so I’m sure that to some, the Probe looks purely Japanese and I simply look ethnic, but I love the apparent spirit of collaboration when two differing cultures, on a business or interpersonal level, produce results. The original Probe was no Mustang (which had been the original plan), but I honestly feel like that’s okay, especially given that both cars could ultimately co-exist and attract different audiences in that heyday of sporty coupes of the late ’80s and early ’90s.
I’m unsure of the model year of this example, as a license plate search proved inconclusive. Given that the “PROBE” lettering is missing from the rear quarter glass, we know that this example is from one of the Probe’s final two model years. There were just over 30,100 units produced for ’96 and only another 16,800 for ’97. This was down sharply from this generation’s peak of 89,700 units for the first-year ’93s. Probes in base and SE trim were powered by a 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine with 118 horsepower, but all GTs of this generation were V6 powered. This 2.5L mill made 164 horses, which was ample for its starting weight of just under 3,000 pounds.
Having been car-free since 2003, I have probed my city, neighborhood, and vacation destinations using public transit, the occasional rental car, and often just my own two feet. I will occasionally ask the probing question of friends, acquaintances, and sometimes even the relative stranger if I get a sense that I’ve showed enough of myself to feel free to do so. This is the correct connotation of which I will continue to think of the name of Ford’s other sporty, four-place hatchback of the 1980s and ’90s.
Edgewater Glen, Chicago, Illinois.
Sunday, July 21, 2024.
Rather in the same fashion that a Mazda MX-6 lurks just below the Ford in question, just beneath my (infinitesimally) thin veneer of suavity and sophistry there lurks an sometimes-appallingly low-grade sense of humor, and it has refused all exhortations of age and experience to leave. But that confessed, it stays somnolent when a Probe pokes at it (for which we can all give thanks). Well, except in relation to the tradition of journalist blockbuster headlines, to which it has frequently responded: you know, “Big Secret Probe Into Minister’s Back-room Interests.” THAT sort of thing deserves a smutty response, as it just begs for it (as did the Minister, but I digress).
I too think the original car was the better looker, though like the Mazda, it somehow melded interesting and pretty ideas – the floaty roof, the long fold down the flanks – and ended up perilously close to blandness.
All-American, says the sticker. Like all claims to purity, whether of country or thought or righteousness or race, the claim doesn’t stand too much close scrutiny.
Besides, to circle back to the low-grade, it’s stuck on the ass, which is amusing: for humans, is unquestionably the best place for such words to reside.
Ah, yes – the MX-6! When I was mentioning the two halves of the second Probe’s run, I wasn’t referring for the debut ’89 cars, but that car definitely made a much stronger impression on me upon its introduction. Its thick hood area notwithstanding, I considered that car one of the best-looking new Ford products of my (admittedly short) lifetime up to that point.
The word and name probe / Probe does definitely and unfortunately lend itself to all kinds of tomfoolery.
As far as all-American, I know no one (that I know of) whose ancestors came over from England on the Mayflower. That said, my Native American friends are all super-cool almost without exception.
Oh! I must confess I’d never heard of the first ’88 Probe till this moment (not sold here), and had to think to remember the first MX-6, so I am referring to the first type of the second gen MX-6 and Probe. That particular Probe is definitely the better of those two, especially because Mazda was in its weird trying-to-resemble-obscure-old-Italian-cars phase, and the Ford is (to me) close to excellent (though falls down somehow, as I said).
The only all-Aussies I’ve met had relatives going back about 60,000+ years. The rest of us mob have 240-odd years at best, which doesn’t really count.
“Probe”, among other connotations, sounds inquisitive. Shouldn’t reporters ask probing questions?
Yet, while the name Probe kinda, sorta works, it doesn’t convey the sense of adventure, to me, that Ford may have been striving for. I can see Ford (and Chrysler’s theme: We are explorers, going on an expedition, with this being an excursion from our main trip, we are intrepid tourists, taking a journey, being escorted on our way to see Victoria’s Crown. That’s no bull. Many of the good names for the exploration theme seemed to have been taken…
However, with the mention of colonoscopies, that brought up an unsavory thought. Years ago, when in my mid-20s, I was at work and one gentleman in his early 50s (my current age) showered us with his experience of having just had a colonoscopy. He called it a fiberoptic f-ck. I cannot get that association out of my head. Even when I’ve had my own such procedure, that was in my mind the whole time. Isn’t it awful how some things cannot be shaken from the brain?
Another that has long been unshaken from my brain is the question of how the trajectory of the Mustang nameplate would have played out had this been christened a Mustang, replacing the Fox bodies one for 1993.
Oh dear! “Fiberoptic f*ck” is pretty bloody funny. (I know, it shouldn’t be. See above).
It’d be much nicer to say about a colonoscopy that it’s necessary because the dentist was having such awful trouble with the back teeth.
Jason 🤣🤣, if I wasn’t on a crowded morning commute L train, I might have laughed out loud. More bon mots as only Shafer can deliver them.
The first Probe sold well enough to warrant a second generation / hypothetical second-generation front-drive Mustang. The name would have died, though, with these second-gen cars. And we would have had none of the great Mustangs that have since followed, including my favorite – the ’05.
Now you’ve done it! I’d always referred to a colonoscopy as “the invasive procedure” but this new descriptor caused me to almost spit my juice onto my keyboard!!! 🙂
Haha – mission almost accomplished!
I agree. From the wheels, to the GT font, to the aforementioned tail lights, the earlier ones (93-94) are sharper. My dad had a 94 Probe SE. which was just a base Probe with a few more convenience/comfort options and the GT front end sans fog lights. It was no rocket, but decently zippy with the standard 4 cyl and 5 speed. I was always angered though that the Ford salesman convinced my father that the SE had a special 4 cyl with 150hp. I knew it was BS, but it made my dad happy, so I didn’t bother telling him the truth.
Bless you for letting your dad have that. And shame on the salesman. He had to know the truth. I did like the SE and the dress-up bits – I thought that was an effective way to create a midline trim level with existing parts.
My base model ’94 was plenty responsive with its five-speed manual and the air conditioner off. It was a pretty fun, economy-minded car to drive. It was far better dynamically than my 2.3L-equipped ’88 Mustang LX.
I’ve never had the pleasure of driving one of these, but if they are essentially a Mazda, I imagine a little Zoom-Zoom was baked in, even if it was only perceived.
Like the rest of you guys, I think I like the first gen better too.
Regarding Anal Probes… Sorry, Colonoscopies, while a necessary evil, I never relish the idea of drinking 4 liters of anti-freeze the night before this happens. It is not fun. I’ve had two now, and the last time, my original doctor’s son (same practice) recommended some pills you take at rapid pace the night before with about half the amount of water as the anti-freeze solution. Either way, it was the same result. A very sh!tty time. My doctors’ last names?: Khan. So every time it’s time for a colonoscopy, I hold my fist to the sky and shake it violently and yell, “KHAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!” You Trekers out there will know what I’m talking about here.
Too bad there’s no way to give you a “thumbs up” for that comment concerning your doctor, LOL!! 🙂
Those Mazda mechanicals made for a very reliable, efficient package. Aside from needing the CV joints replaced, my bought-used ’94 Probe needed precious little in the way of repairs in the time I had it.
That body and interior, though, was all-Ford. The controls and instrumentation was very much laid out like in my ’88 Mustang, even if aesthetically updated. It was easy to get used to.
I also remember reading that the second-generation Probe was the first Ford to be styled by a female lead designer at the organization. I thought that was cool.
The Star Trek connection is too funny! I’m thinking now of Montalban in costume…
Haha, good one on the Dr KHAAAAAAAAN connection. Also, going on the Trek connection, too bad Ford never did a TNG mash-up commercial with Picard calling to “launch the Probe!” Incidentally, that’s the closest this name got to being a good choice. Yeah, deep space probes are pretty cool, like Voyager (or V’ger – couldn’t resist), but the other connotations sink it. It’s about as bad as the Chevy Nova in Spanish-speaking countries: good luck arguing for the celestial phenomenon when all your neighbors snicker that you bought a car that’s a “no go.”
Oh, and strangely enough, according to reviews at the time, the Mazda variant was actually softer and less sporty. Reviewers seemed to favor the Probe, I think mostly because of that. Obviously, this was before the whole Zoom Zoom era of Mazda. I get the sense that they were more middle-of-the-road in the 80s, even into the 90s. Maybe they saw the success and love for the Miata and decided to re-frame around that sporty mindset.
It was 1996, and the only year I spent in Michigan. i was teaching in Mt. Pleasant and it was not pleasant and no Mount to be found. I needed something to cheer me up so why not buy a new car for my planned exit. I looked at the Probe GT and the Chrysler Sebring LXI. After short test drives in both I ordered the Sebring. The body style of the Probe looked good but just about everything else about it came off as cheap compared to the Sebring.
Alfred, I like your thought process around justifying the purchase! I think I’ve been to Mr. Pleasant only a handful of times, and as a kid. I don’t really think of the Sebring and Probe as being similar types of cars outside of being two-doors. As the Sebring was still by then an upmarket, almost personal luxury type of cars I could see how the impression was that it had a nicer interior. I have seen Probe GT interiors that looked great and with which I would have been thrilled if I had owned a GT. As it was the interior in my base-model ’94 was still very nice, even if not up to par with the luxuriously trimmed ’88 Mustang LX I had traded for it.
One of these years, I’m going to catch up with you while you’re in town.
Evan, this absolutely needs to happen!
Even in German-speaking countries, the model name “Probe” caused confusion and even amusement.
The German word “Probe” means “test” or “attempt”.
So in a sense, a Ford Probe is a Ford that is not yet fully developed.
Oh, wow. “Attempt” sounds pretty weak for a model name. I’m surprised Ford didn’t just give it an alphanumeric name for markets outside the U.S., kind of like renaming the original Mustang the T-5.
A cousin of mine had a late 1st generation Probe, which looked great (in my opinion), but gave her lots of trouble. She and her husband started referring to it as the “Probe-lem,” and now it’s that association that I make with that name. Not at all what Ford intended, but better than colonoscopies.
Way, way better than colonoscopies. The “Probe-lem”. I don’t remember reading much about the reliability of the early models. I had an uncle (since deceased) who had owned an early GT, which had a turbo four. I think of turbos of the ’80s as being somewhat more trouble prone than modern ones, though I’d generally assume that by the late ’80s, Ford should have worked out those problems.
I wonder if things would have been different if the Probe had come out three or four years sooner. As it was, the market for 2 door cars was starting to sag around the time the car was introduced. Also, I always felt that the car was more about its styling than its driving experience. But then maybe this is from Mrs JPC’s experience with a Probe when she rented a car while traveling. She remembered it as one of the slowest things she had driven (and she had a Plymouth Colt at the time). I think it was in Ireland, so perhaps the Euro version had a less powerful engine than we got here. Still, these never developed a deep fan base, it seemed to me.
It wouldn’t surprise me to find out the European-spec cars had different powertrains (a la the Ford Capri), though I don’t know is the case. I think that many Mustang fans were just relieved it didn’t go front-drive. As for the rest who could appreciate the Probe on its own merits, the market for this type of car shifts quickly. I’d be curious to see what fan clubs are out there for what I still maintain was a great car, no matter what it was called.
The Probe was never sold in Europe, so it must have been something else.
Unfortunately I have to disagree with you here.
Ford imported a number of vehicles intended for the US market beginning in December 1990. These were converted by installing a transmission oil cooler, taillights with yellow indicators, removal of the third brake light, deactivation of the daytime running lights and the installation of towing eyes and were officially offered by German Ford dealers.
The information in question comes from the German-language Wikipedia – and I enjoy Wikipedia with caution. But it corresponds to my personal perceptions. Most of these cars had red or black body paint.
If I remember correctly, this was an attempt to close the gap left by the discontinuation of the Capri series.
I stand corrected. Thank you!
As you can see here (from 12:26 on), it also was importeted in Britain.
I think the gentleman making these videos is a rather competent one.
Oops –
Here it is.
Thank you for linking this! I have seen videos from this content creator before, and I like his work. I will have to watch this one later. “New Coke”… oooouch.
I had remembered that the Probe was sold overseas in what turned out to be limited quantities, as one my my animated screensavers (remember those?) from almost 25 years ago was partial footage from a U.K. Ford Probe TV spot. It was pretty cool – it was shown at first from the perspective of being blasted into space in the car, later panning to the Ford Probe sitting on the surface of the moon. I now want to see if I can find it somewhere.
I’m probably in the minority about this – as I am about most issues (Standard v Daylight time, door frame vs tire sidewall pressure, tube TV picture vs flat screen, etc.) – but, I prefer the first-gen Probes, with their integrated sideview mirror fender look.
http://img.carswp.com/ford/probe/ford_probe_1988_images_1.jpg
I loved the first Probe and thought it had really forward-thinking style for 1988. Aesthetically, I preferred it to pretty much everything, including the Celica. A few niggles, though: the cowl seemed way too high and the front clip way too thick. If there was a way to squash it down (which Ford couldn’t – just look at the shock tower bumps), the looks would have been peerless.
I also loved many things about the second Probe. They fixed the thickness of the front end (which actually now needed those pop-up headlights), but some of the distinctive touches were gone, like the aforementioned side view mirrors and the tilting dashboard / steering wheel cluster that pivoted as one unit.
I’ve never had one, but I get the sense that the Probe was a pretty good car with not the best timing and definitely not the best name. I just wonder what the board meeting where the name was chosen went like. It might have worked ten years earlier, when NASA was big into space probes, but without something like that to piggyback off of, the name just has too much downside.
I’m kind of split on first-gen vs. second-gen Probe styling. I like the first-gen because it’s got a good 80s vibe while the second-gen has a bit much of the 90’s jellybean look. But I think the second-gen is proportioned a bit better. The powerplant choices would probably tip the scale for me. The Duratec V6 and updated base four are both welcome, especially the V6.
Ultimately, I don’t know that the Probe is a truly great or timeless car (even with the name aside), but it seems like a solid sporty coupe. In particular, it tested well against the likes of the Prelude and Eclipse, and while tastes vary, it seems like a prime choice in that segment. All that said, a true sports car drives the rear wheels, not front.
Great observations. I think you’re correct that the space connotations that were intended were passé by the time the first Probe arrived in the late ’80s, while in the late ’70s, it would have worked better. “EXP” was a much better name for the restyled two-seat Escort than “Probe”.
Let’s play “what if”. What if the EXP had been named “Probe”? This would have freed up the EXP name for the actual Probe. I think that might have been cool.