Supercharged 3.8 Liter V6 Powered 1989 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe Test Drive

[@josephgeorgeejr7039]

This was my dream car as a kid in 89

[@MrVeilstar]

Dude that vehicle is prestige! What a beauty to see. And All original. Beautiful.

[@louisconrad1777]

My First Car: A Silver Bullet! Man, I had the silver one, too-though it didn’t have the red leather seats. And those shiny, cheap tin climate controls! Ford had to cut costs somewhere to fund that massive supercharger that practically screamed “warp drive.” I remember my dad buying the car from an older friend of mine, someone who understood the importance of getting energy flowing in the right direction, whether it was a 1930s farm tractor or a supercharged beast like that. The moment my dad got those keys and a handful of magazines, I knew the car had a story. At 14, I’d spend hours sitting in that car, reading the ‘89 Motor Trend magazine with the Thunderbird shining on the cover, crowned Car of the Year. To me, the magazine might as well have been a textbook on quantum mechanics, because my friend-who studied that car like it was his life’s mission-had filled every margin with equations and notes, making sure Ford was being honest about everything. And they were. That car is the reason I have to hands down say silver is my favorite automotive color. I’ve never owned a vehicle that made me feel like I was really putting my foot in it. And no matter how good it sounds, if there’s no spinning hard cry in the background, something’s off with the choir! I’ll never forget Daddy giving it all the fuel allowed, from 30 to 80 mph. Hey, that boost needle got my attention. But the end came quick. I finally turned 15, and just seven weeks later, I lost the rear end in a curve and rolled down an incline. So, the last time I exited my car, it was on its passenger side in the rain, and I crawled out the back glass. It’s incredibly hard to type this part… I can see my father reading this and shaking his head, and let me tell you why. That was 32 years ago, which makes me 47, and I’m currently recovering from a crash that should have ended my story then, but I woke up! That vehicle ended up on its side, too. This time It was the driver, and the back was no good, so I escaped through the front windshield. If there’s a rich individual out there who had any connection close to mine for that car… Buddy, you might be fixing to retire! It’d be a good deal, though, because you’re gonna be laughing as those taillights disappear, and as soon as the buyer pushes the skinny pedal to the metal on the on-ramp HE gonna be feeling sorry for that car salesman who traded paper for 3,810 lbs of .9999 SILVER! That’s 33 bucks an ounce. Do the math and find out who won! I LOVE you, Daddy! SEMPER FI

[@deanbarnette1602]

I had a 1990 red Thunderbird SC.. ❤

[@my1vice]

I took one of these in a trade in deal when I was selling Chevys. What an awesome car, I liked it a lot.

[@TimSaundersC4]

Nice Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe! Back in the '90s, I had a 1987 Ford Thunderbird, and I absolutely loved that car. While in high school, I worked part-time at a body shop and painted it Viper Blue, tinted the windows, and added 15-inch five-star wheels. I thought I was so cool back then!🤣

[@marcuscompton3772]

Thought? With that ride, you were! Lol

[@skydiver1013]

1st new car I ever bought from a New Car dealer; 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC, 3.8L V6, 5-speed transmission.

[@86mustanggt]

I remember test driving this and loved it but ended up getting an 89 Mustang GT. That interior color is beautiful. Has to be a rare color combo. The only things missing as a sunroof and a manual transmission. What a beautiful car. I would try to find an XR-7 which is much more rare but if you did I doubt it will have 4K miles. Great car.

[@20vtechnik]

You made the right choice with the foxbody.

[@milfordcivic6755]

I had a 1992 LX. It's still the most favorite car I've even owned. So comfortable and reliable!

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

This generation Thunderbird is very comfortable. They ride much better than you'd expect.

[@20vtechnik]

I have driven and also raced this car (raced in my 91 audi 200 20v). That was decades ago. My initial thoughts were this thunderbird is trash...(Young, semi dumb and lacked experience). It did get smoked by my audi but looking back, the Bird was comfy and it did have a bit of pickup for sure. I hated the way it handled though. It felt like i was driving a wet cigar once i hit the corners. Thinking back, i disregarded this car and i shouldnt have. It is a more than decent car. Its unique and, as previously stated, its comfortable and kind of cool! The auto trans though.... Id like to drive one again to get a proper gauge on how it responds. However, i doubt id get to drive such a low mileage example. Thanks for the review!

[@robroszk]

The engines on those cars were prone to cracks. Yes, the cars were fast and comfortable but not very reliable which is a crying shame and something the globalists have done intentionally to give USA brands a 'black eye' so to speak in an industry we EASILY DOMINATED for many decades until we stopped manufacturing our own stuff.

[@chipskylark8869]

Body too big. Wheel base too long.

[@Psy6o]

I had the same car same color and all love the seat bolsters

[@RecycledSoul]

I had the Mercury Cougar XR7. 1993 I believe. It was a FANTASTIC car. Grandma's Hot Rod I called it😂. It had a 10 disc CD changer in the TRUNK(That was a big deal back then) and a FACTORY SUBWOOFER.

[@spicydragon3881]

WOW - I had the exact car, year, color, tinted windows but w/ the black interior. LOVED and miss that car. Sold it w/ 42k mi and Regret ever selling it. I'm seriously thinking about giving you guy s a call. This is *SUPER* tempting.

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

Well if the temptation ever gets too strong, feel free to give us a call here anytime! 574-262-2200

[@samueljackson2478]

The 87-89 Thunderbird SC Coupe and Lincoln Mark 7 @ 8 also the Svo Mustang and 79-86 Mecury Capri RS are some of my favorite cars.

[@leonmarcuscherry5118]

Wow. What a great find 😮

[@maryrafuse2297]

It's quite rare when a car could simply be reintroduced and sell very well. My theory regarding this T-Bird is that it would not take much to bring it back, and it would sell in the world market place as well as the Americas. Ford did very well with this model getting the design/style right. Now bring this T- Bird back as a hybrid and the style would put it out front in sales.

[@TheLegendKc]

M6 sister had one, it was red with black interior. The problem that it had was the bottom harmonic balancer bolt broke loose, and then the pulley wouldn't spin, we would of had to get the bolt drilled out of the crank

[@rubber-duck]

I that model of the T-Bird the SC was real nice, I the model before that the Turbo Coupe was awesome too

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

We are big fans of both the Super Coupe and Turbo Coupes here. We just sold a 1985 Turbo Coupe with similar miles last winter and we loved that car.

[@glen7201]

I nearly bought one new,I had a deal made on a red one,but ended up with a new Celica GTS instead, I know 2 totally different cars,but I found the Toyota fit me better at the time. This is a beautiful example,and while by todays standards it would be considered slow,I recall these as being one of the "hot" cars of the day,and it still is one of the best looking cars of the era. I still have the brochure from the dealership when I was about to buy it. I drove a red 96 4.6 car earlier this summer,it was a 40k mile car and I nearly bought it as it was overall in similar condition to this one,and I could of had it for 7k,but I simply have to many cars as it is.

[@SillyPuddy2012]

60+ mph on 35 year old tires, love it. lol. The 5.0 variant of this Thunderbird was the getaway car in the 1995 movie Jade, right after it ran over Angie Everhart’s character. Good car chase in that one.

[@jackc5293]

This really brings back memories... (an 89 supercoupe in this color, tan interior) could have been my first car...😞 My dad sold cars for a dealer but he would also buy cars at the auction and make deals on the side so he always had some sort of used car to go along with his main car and demo. Unfortunately for me not really understanding the situation with the car and my dad not understanding cars mechanically and not wanting to put money into a $1500 15 y/o auction car so he ended up selling his SC to a collector in Vermont for more than he paid for it. The car had an overheat condition that would manifest at idle and my dad thought it was a head gasket problem which did happen on those cars but turned out the cooling system had a leak which could cause the problem. It made great power and being a steam boat but my dad was pressed for money at that particular moment. This wasn't only cool(er) car I could of had instead of what I ended up with which was a 99 Taurus previous rental in gold.... 😡

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

A Super Coupe would have been an awesome first car! That's unfortunate you missed out because of a coolant leak. At least your dad made money on it. Thank you for sharing that story!

[@davidmulligan42]

My friend had an '89, silver with black leather. After driving it I ended up buying a '94 SC, white with gray interior. I put 138k miles on it in six years. It still looked good, but it had too many mechanical issues for me to fix it at that point. I still have the window sticker and a bunch of magazines with reviews from when it first came out.

[@fortytipper]

I've been hoping Hoovie would get one of these or the earlier Turbo coupes

[@chrisstephenson8311]

The “Supercoupe”👍🏻

[@joey86bu1]

I used to love these cars!

[@bobbyserchion]

Oh dog you got the car of a life time man my hats go's off to you dog 😊😅😂

[@Eogyu09]

Loved my 1988 xr7 87 T bird v6 and 1992 v6 T bird. Xr7 was the best of them.

[@Estevan-rk1dc]

I dig that interior color I have a 94"LX with that color inside more champagne color outside ...got it for free from sitting owner said get it out my driveway got it running just fine got it cleaned up good just stretched it's legs from FL to GA did great What I really want is a 90" SC 5spd navy blue Loaded from the sunroof to the factory Cassette and CD player Haven't seen a CD player in one yet but my uncle had one He checked every option he could when he bought his brand new in Spring of 90" Would love to find one just like his BUT It was a special order So good luck to me on that one sweet car thow

[@thyslop1737]

Boss had 1984 Thunderbird with 5.0 liter. It was a rock'n car and had the upgraded stereo. Always thought the car looked great.

[@DigbyOdel-et3xx]

I always liked the Super Coupe. I found its styling great, more than enough performance,a great livable gran tourer... In many ways a better car than their Ford Mustangs.

[@Jag-leaper]

I never thought that this design aged very well it looks very much a product of its time

[@mid-s_to_earlysViBEZ]

I love it! 😅 *It looks bad@ss, IMO.* 😄 *Classic design, imho.*

[@blacktoothgrin4348]

I had an 88 turbo coupe, quick little car,5-speed. My best friend had the 92 supercoupe 5- speed and would run mustang gts all day.

[@mopargm9329]

I've always been a GM and Mopar guy but I have to admit I have always loved these Thunderbirds and the Mercury cougars on the same platform

[@RichardinNC1]

I had a new 1990 TBird Super Coupe. Same titanium color but a gray cloth interior. Great car but a few flaws. It had a good bit of understeer but would snap oversteer in the wet (pre traction controls). Plus a huge drop 2-3 in the automatic despite the incredibly low torque curve. Unfortunately my car had engine electrical gremlins that couldn’t be resolved such as dying after starting and way too fast idle at random times. I got tired of the issues and traded it after a year at a loss.

[@frankm7707]

Those GT+4 were great all season tires back in the days. I had a set and it lasted 50k miles.

[@grayman618]

They were very good driving cars with good power. As they age electronics are a problem along with the ecu. Nice car.

[@chrisstephenson8311]

I had a 86 t bird with the non H.O 5.0 motor and had the digital dash that still worked👍🏻 was fun to drive and do burnouts😝 then I got to drive an 86 mustang svo for 2 weeks and fixed a boost issue and got it to 19-20lbs of boost and that thing moved out!

[@blacklegacyassets]

Still a nice looking car

[@christopherkeene3647]

Now all the men have to have huge trucks that do nothing but go to the office and shopping 🛍️ 🎉

[@danaevans3387]

Missing valve stem cap front driver tire

[@crazyone1067]

😍I'm watching for the car and the presenter.

[@dog01b52]

I had a 1983 Thunderbird with the 302 in it and my friend had a Thunderbird Turbo, Think they called it the Pinto engine. lol. But it only made 15 more horsepower and he had a standard. Mine was automatic and I still was able to beat him racing. His Turbo went out several times. That year was not a good year for Ford as we both had issues with our cars and Ford would not step up. They really were a lemons. A Ford Rep from Detroit call and after telling him about the issues and the incompetency of the dealership he laughed at my issues. I said well I'll quit buying Ford, and still to this day will not buy a Ford. Old saying (F)ix (O)r (R)epair (D)aily. This is why the foreign car market took over, Just got it build it a bit better. Taught by William Deming.

[@twany442]

I wanted one so bad!

[@riverfreddy]

I had a black 89 Cougar XR-7, 5 speed. Hot❣️ Frederick Chavré of Maple Valley

[@tg8150]

My Mom still has what this car evolved into- an original first year Lincoln Mark VIII. It’s a much better car. Quicker, smoother, more advanced and tons more luxurious. The T-bird was cool, but ultra old fashioned engine and very prone to crankshaft issues. Mark VIII engine was all aluminum 5.4 V8, independent rear suspension that would later trickle down to the Cobra Mustang, and torque that would throw you into the seat back.

[@chrisstephenson8311]

I had an 86 mark 7 LSC with the mustang fox 5.0 H.O. Motor and that thing moved for a big car but man what a ride…the most comfortable car I’ve ever driven with the factor air suspension!!

[@billyclemons8201]

It really must have been nice to spend money on a brand new car literally not to drive it, all because you thought it was going to be a classic one day. What privilege some people have!!

[@samueljackson2478]

Question: How hard is it to swap the Automatic Transmission to a 5spd or 6spd mustang Transmission on one of these if anyone has done it and has a cost please drop some information I would love to do a swap.

[@james-he7xv]

you have 36 year old tires on that thing! sounds safe

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

If you were planning to put miles on the car (especially highway miles), you would definitely want to replace them. If you were planning to have the car judged, you would want to leave the original tires on it. You'd be leaving points on the table by replacing them. It all depends on how you plan to use the car.

[@67judge]

On that one ☝️ if I owned it I would powder coat the wheels 🛞 to a factory silver. Paint the body molding from black to body color and throw on some Michelin PS4 tires 🛞. That’s it !

[@jimmyze013]

replace the tires yesterday!

[@ValorMotorsports]

5 speed I'd be into it. But them transmissions are noted for issues in the automatic. And head gaskets are a guaranteed problem I bet within another 20k miles.

[@dab5617]

These were too heavy to be fun, but weren't bad looking.

[@TheSchmed]

That boy got big arms

[@alimirolyaee7543]

fine

[@sweets6865]

I had a 90 LX.

[@Spyke-lz2hl]

Gotta change those tires if anyone plans to drive this thing.

[@AbleMable]

Too bad it wasn't the rare manual version

[@ericvonp]

Gf had the 5.0

[@stevengirouard6840]

That's what sucked.. the seat belts

[@ecc5119]

Pull off the blower add twin turbos.,

[@sagnbaby]

ok so long story short its about a 30000 dollar car. lets cut to the chase!!!

[@ericvonp]

You have to be kidding….right? Don’t b a sucker

[@roadrunnerorange]

Great car, absolute shit in snowy winter.

[@pacman-qt1ix]

I had the 96 v8 it want that fast my old VTEC Acura was faster than that

[@Mr86Nick]

Lame. A buddy of mine traded his 86 5.0 for one and thought it would be as fast as a Buick GN. Not even close. Definitely a bad trade.

[@flea4061]

Automatic? Boring.

[@monkeywkeys3916]

Hey, its got the Original steering Wheel, tho.

[@kennethanway7979]

I dunno...drops a lower gear...kicks in the blower.... maybe slower response, but a rocket when it kicks!

[@danp7463]

I agree, a good friend of mine his Dad had one with manual gearbox. That car was fun to drive.

[@BrandonQ1995]

Around 20k manuals were made from 1989-1995. Over 30 years later, I'd imagine there's less than a third of that left at best on the roads.

[@williamfswann]

Not really, try driving one instead of being a keyboard quarterback

[@willieguapo]

I'll give you $9K

[@rocksolidmotorsports]

Thank you for letting us know

[@treborretsnom6186]

It's automatic... Boooo

[@benstoned]

The super chicken