Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

My first two cars were birds of an entirely different feather. #1 was a 1978 Trans Am powered by a '70 LT1, fantastic power but in very poor condition. #2 was a 1980 Formula Firebird, powered by a 301, mint body but really, really slow. There was also a 66 Galaxie 500 in between those two but it was never a daily driver (It was mint and powered by a 390, but too hard on gas for my high school finances). One day, when I was starting to get bored with the Formula, I saw a white 1984 T-Bird in a used car lot (this was circa 1991). I was smitten. I took it out for a drive and fell in love with it. The used car lot tried to stiff me on the trade in value of the Formula (they offered $800) so I drove away in my Firebird. I was now determined to own a Thunderbird. At the time I paid little attention to "newer" cars, so I didn't know much about them. The internet did not exist so research was not easy, but eventually I found out that 83-86 looked the same and that the Cougars were similar. Didn't know the nuances between the model years yet, but I knew enough to know I wanted one. I sold the Firebird privately for $2500 and immediately started looking. That white one was long gone, so I picked up the local "Bargain Hunter" and started calling. I was only sure of one thing: Unlike the two Firebirds and the Galaxie I was not going to buy the first car I looked at. First came a light sage green/charcoal interior 1985 V6 model in excellent shape but bare bones (no options). It showed 170,000km, and was priced kinda high. Next was a light blue '84 Cougar that I passed on because the car had to be started with a screwdriver on the solenoid. Moving on, was a dark blue 85 or 86 with the 5.0, but the "service" light was on and that spooked me (remember, no internet back then). Finally I looked at a silver/grey two tone Bird but didn't even get out of the car to look because the entire passenger side was rusted away. After all this I ended up going back to that light sage green 85. I called the guy and went to look at it again. I really loved the charcoal interior and the light sage green paint actually looked good. It was an original owner car that was clearly well kept. He came down in price and I bought it, and the rest, as they say, is history. Over the years I learned several things about that car (and the others that I looked at), including the fact that the odometer can only show a maximum of 199,999. Those 170k on the odometer were actually 270k. Also I learned that the "service" light was not actually a problem, that the starting problem on that Cougar could likely have been fixed easy and cheap, and that after two years my 85 rusted away as badly as that two tone grey Bird had. But I was hooked. The green Bird was only the first of several (others included an 87 5.0 Sport, 88 5.0 Cougar LS, 88 5.0 Base, 87 Turbo Coupe (parts car), and a '91 V6 that was the first car I borrowed money to buy and to this day remains the biggest POS I ever owned.

I also, later on, found out that the 85 was a very rare car, probably a one of one. Rare, but not desirable. It was one of very few light sage green Birds made, one of even fewer with the charcoal interior, and even fewer still with its lack of factory options. When I said it was base, I meant BASE. No power windows, seats, mirrors or locks (in fact it only had one door mirror, and the center console switch plate was totally blank). No A/C. No cruise control. No power trunk or fuel door. AM/FM radio with no cassette. Cheapo wheel covers. The only factory options it had were the metallic paint and a front plate bracket still in the packaging in the trunk. It also had a full size spare (original and never used!).

But it was beautiful, it rode really smooth compared to the Firebirds before it, and the V6 was even just about as quick as that 301 Pontiac. When I someday again own a four-eyed Bird it will be painted light sage green metallic, and it will have a charcoal interior. But it won't be a V6, it won't be base, and it certainly won't have base wheel covers...

Three reasons, Ricky Smith, Bob Glidden and Bill Elliot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14XCgzCcfsk

The mn-12 cars had a ton of issues. They rusted thru when they were just a few years old, had a super complicated and relatively fragile suspension for a 4000lb car (a base model v-6 with low options weighed over 3800lbs) and had a ton of odd small problems and recalls.

My friends mom was a real estate agent. One house she sold belonged to an old couple that owned a 94 xr7 (4.6 v-8) with 35k on it, and this was in about 2005. They bought it and gave it to my buddys little sister. abs light was on (still original brakes), the transmission had been replaced(why? Really low milegae) the speedometer didnt work, but the odometer did, and even though it was garage kept (paint and interior were flawless) it had holes every where.

When we took it in for emissions, they put the car up on the lift, and the jacking points went through the car. They showed us where the outside paint looked perfect, but all the metal underneath had rusted away. It was a fun car to drive, especially with the independent rear. Went to a junkyard at around 65k miles a few years after.