I posted this on the tips and leads section.
Man, I wish, I wish.......
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ford-Thunderbird-TBIRD-1987-TURBO-COUPE-VERY-CLEAN-LOW-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ250109877013QQihZ015QQcategoryZ6240QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I seen that also,that is one nice TC.
Note:they also listed this one as a v6
*Sighs* And me without the room or money :disappoin .
They actually mention that and correct it near the bottom of the page.
33 bids.I'm curious to see what it goes fopr....if the reserve is met.
WTF? 33 bids, 2 days left and it's only at $1950?
He musta started the bidding at 1 cent or something...
So wish I had the money. !
Niiice TC. That thing is clean.
If I had it,it would have a 5.8 in no time.
If i had the money, it would be mine.
:flame:
:beatyoass:
:bricks1:
:nkhk:
:hick:
Hey Raven,perhaps it's just me,but,I get the subtle impression you wouldn't like my 5.8 idea.LOL.
that thing looks like the pics were taken in 1989 or something. looks really sweet.
Yeah, with a car like that, I'd keep it original and have my Sport as a mod car.
I felt it was my obligation to take the bait. :cheers:
If it was local I might just throw some bids on that, but to add 1k to whatever ya got it for to ship it, I just can't see it.
ill call this the deal of the year. i forgot last years best deal we all saw but this one might just take the cake as far as options go.
ive noticed a deal like this comes around about every 5 or 6 months on ebay,, my turn is coming sooner than later. It will be a TC or a 20th.
Hope it runs as good as it looks, and all the options work. That is a pretty sweet looking TC.
erm this is off topic, but with the TC seats Vs the sport seats, does the TC have less rear leg room. i dunno if the car has full power seats and they're all the way back or a good bit back, but my 87 sport has way more leg room in the back.
i bet there's a guy waiting for the last min to put down a bid that blows away the others and beats the reserve.
it... I've gotta get another TC one day. Never shoulda got rid of that '84.
If the last few sales of really nice ones are any indicator I'm predicting this one should sell for close to $6000.
but its an auto...........
That's even better if you're gonna yank the 4 banger and put in a 5.0 with a 5 speed, you cant use any of the TC 5 speed stuff anyway for a V8 swap.
You get that 3.73 rear with the auto. So if I was gonna get a TC for a project foundation it would be an auto.
why would you buy such a nice t/c for a motor swap?
wait auto t/cs have 3.73 8.8's? what did the manuals have?
Don't worry Vin, I'm with ya. 'cept I'd stroke it out to a 408:D
You are probably dead on target. If anyone gets it for less than 6,000...then they got a bargain, provided the powertrain is o.k.
Driving to get it wouldn't be a problem for me, it would be the hard decision on what to sell at home to make room.
I see you have much to learn grasshopper... heheh
It's elementary my dear Watson...
These cars are not and never will be collectable so there is no reason other than personal preference to keep the original drivetrain intact. Therefore when contemplating a resto-mod build you want to start with the nicest, cleanest car possible. Then you can pour more money into cool stuff rather than spending your cash on things like weather stripping, rust repair and other borring stuff. The nicer the foundation in the begining the nicer the finished project will be.
BTW, the manual TC's have 3.55 8.8's.
They are collectable....just not collectable for the "Band-wagon Jumping trend of the Week Buyers"
I'm sure there are alot of members on this board, myself included that would love to own that car (or one as nice) and be able to store it to preserve the "niceness" of it. It is a collectable in my opinion, but then I love those cars already.;)
i know but id buy a v8 car for a v8, if i bought a tc it would be because its a 2.3t, otherwise id make a v8 car look like a tc. and HELL YES, im stealing the 3.55's from my black t/c for my freaking lincoln!
When's the last time you heard of a 3.8 Aerobird going for $6G US? I'd call them collectible. There just doesn't seem to be many decent looking ones left. Personally I think the motor was the entire point of the car.
Thats my point exactly a turbocoupe is special cause its turbo 2.3, now if i had one with a bad motor, and i had a v8 laying around yea swap it
I remember how popular the 87-88 TC were new. At $ 14,000 new, it was pricey, but it developed a bad rep for the turbos going out and the A4LD weak trans. Too bad.
Most things that are popular new will have a repeat in popularity, especially when they are 20 + years old.
They are definitely collectable for the T-Bird fans.
My 87 TC was only 12 years old when I got it with a blown 2.3. Few people wanted it.
I kind of wished I had kept the best 87-88 TC of the 17 I have bought, then kept it stock.
If thats the case, why are so many people paying the money for a mint TC? Few years back, 2500 was a lot of money for a nice TC, not people are getting 7+ for them. Not collectable? You tell me.
Right now, they are only collectable to enthusiasts. Give it a few years, and theyll be "officially" a collectable car. Especially when they start going for over 10K.
I'm probably gonna piss some people off here but I concider the 2.3 turbo the biggest mistake Ford made with these cars. They would've been perfect cars with the 5.0 HO drivetrain... and yes, I owned an 87 2.3 turbo for about 6 years so I have plenty of experience with those engines. Thats why I dont like them.
The Turbocoupes were GREAT cars with py engines and transmissions.
Let the flames begin, heheh...
It's easy to make power with lots of cubic inches. Anyone who has to have alot of engine to make power may have their own issues with size. Besides, we all love underdog stories. The 2.3t is the 80's version of the little engine that could.
I kinda like the 2.3. It's not a powerhouse or anything but it's really easy to work on and fun in a daily driver sort of way. That being said, it would take some sort of miracle to keep a 2.3 in my car if my built short block ever let go. I'd be different from all of you guys though, I have an LS1 to put in it...
:D
Too bad the TC came with a turbo 4 cyl. But there was no way Ford was going to put the 5.0 H.O. in a Thunderbird. It would have hurt their Mustang sales. Or at least that was believed at the time. Bad call on Ford's part.
I will say that I am impressed with that little turbo 4 in such a large car.
All my 5 speed cars got 30 mpg and the automatics got 25 mpg.
5-speeds were much more impressive tho.
The Sport should have gotten the HO. Still, the TC was a great idea. What makes you think the 2.3 turbo was a py engine? py electronics, sure. But then, Fords like to catch fire don't they? 4-pots and V8's alike. There was nothing wrong with the 2.3 turbo other than drivers' lack of knowledge and poor wiring. And remember, in stock form the TC always out performed the 302 birds. Always.
Ford flirted with a turbocharged 3.8 for '87 to compete with the Grand National but dropped it. Now that would have been killer.
It would probably still blow head gaskets like a SC but it would have melted the tires.
(http://www.bobgford.com/gillypics/turbocoupe/turbocoupe/P4270038.jpg)
The way i take that picture is that you could switch between Regular gas and premium is this correct?
That would be correct. A little more boost for the higher octane.
8 hours left on the auction
Current bid $2300
Reserve not met
Real curious what this TC will bring.
Interesting , never seen anything like that.
I think it did more than just increase boost by a few pounds, which keeps it usefull after the BCS is replaced by a manual unit. Fuel pressure/timing, maybe?
It retards the base timing from 10* to 8*, and it keeps the boost at 10-11psi in regular mode. Premium mode, the boost is 15psi.
High bid was $ 3,150. Really amazed me !
More interesting was there were 17 different bidders. Bidder # 17 bid in the last few seconds.
I would have thought this car would have brought more.
For an auto TC that's not sporting many desirable options (leather, moonroof, metallic paint) that's actually pretty good. Still a very good deal, but showing the strength of the market that an auto TC can overcome the stigma for decent cash outlay.
Reserve wasn't met either
yeah, missed it by 850.00 ;)
How do you find out this info?
. If I had the money/space I would have picked it up. I really want an 87-88 TC in very good shape to preserve. It would have to be an auto just because it would be an odd ball, like my LX with a HO and column shift:hick: .
He posted his phone # so my wife called it.
She asked and he told her.
Ah! I thought maybe it listed it someplace, looked all over for it.
Thanks