At $6,499, Is This 1991 Ford Thunderbird SC A Super Coup?
Ford’s Thunderbird has had so many rebirths over the years that one might think a better name for the model would be Phoenix. Today’s Nice Price or No Dice Super Coupe is one of the sportiest of the bunch. Let’s all be good sports and figure out what it’s worth.
The 2002 Ford Thunderbird Is Peak Retro Cheese
It’s been said that while it’s nice to be important, it’s more important to be nice. Trite as that advice may be, it’s laudably sound and a reasonable practice for wending one’s way through life. Relatedly, the 2005 Audi TT 3.2 that came our way yesterday was presented as being in very nice condition. With its VR6 motor and resto-mod good looks, it was also an important nibble out of Audi’s history, so it covered both bases. A $13,500 asking price sealed the deal, winning a narrow 55 percent Nice Price win.
Owed to some healthy breathing made possible by a four-valve head and electronic wizardry only modern engines can enjoy, yesterday’s Audi VR6 made a healthy 247 horsepower from its 3.2 liters of displacement.
In contrast, the larger 3.8-liter, 2-valve per cylinder V6 in today’s 1991 Ford Thunderbird needs a Roots-style supercharger to build up to its more modest stampede of 230 horses. That factor garnered the blown Bird the Super Coupe or “SC” moniker and made it the top performancer for the Thunderbird’s 10th model run.
A supercharged engine wasn’t the SC’s only calling card, either. The range-topping model also received unique lower body cladding, an uprated suspension, a limited-slip differential as standard, and 16-inch alloy wheels, a full inch bigger than lesser T-birds. Yes, 16-inch was the “big wheel” back then. Oh, and unlike the other 10th-generation cars, the SC could be had with either a four-speed AOD automatic or a Mazda-sourced five-speed stick.
This SC has a five-speed and is touted in its ad as being “lightly restored, maintained, and cared for as a daily driver.” It sports three sets of keys, extensive documentation, and a passing grade from the Pennsylvania state inspector.
According to the ad, the car was repainted in the factory Twilight Blue Metallic in 2023, and that looks to have been a decent job, not something from the Earl of Scheib. Underpinning is a set of SC alloys that have been plasti-dipped in white, which could be seen as a less successful effort. Issues include some rust spotting on the bottoms of the doors and a bit of sag in the rocker trim. On the plus side, it wears newish Verdestein All-Season tires and looks clean underneath.
Many up-market cars from this era have leather upholstery, which tends to age like Two-Buck Chuck. This car’s seats are cloth and vinyl, and they appear to have held up admirably, the front buckets offering a slew of electric adjustments as well. The dash has perhaps not been so lucky as it wears a carpet toupee. Oddly, the present owner has deactivated the shoulder harness mouse belt, so front-seat occupants must sidle under that when entering and exiting the car. Another issue is that the side view mirror adjusters are non-functioning, something the seller muses might be traced to a blown fuse. They would likely have already fixed it if it were as simple as that.
Mechanical issues include what the seller says is a recently discovered exhaust leak and the replacement of the factory ABS system with an after-market, non-ABS setup. Apparently, that’s a thing on these cars.
The odometer shows 167,045 miles, although the actual total is a tad more since the drive gears broke and were repaired. The car comes with a clean title, its manuals, and even its original window sticker. That shows the car’s factory MSRP as $22,626, which seems like a stupid good value considering just how much car that bought back then. It now asks $6,499, and we will have to decide if that’s an even better deal.
What do you say? Is $6,499 a fair price for this Super Coupe as it’s been described in its ad? Or do the decisions made (those wheels, the seat belts) and the unaddressed issues demand a super reduction in that asking?
You decide!
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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