Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I was driving through Brooksville today along sume rural road and I spotted a body shop with 2 Maroon TC's. One had a body kit that really didn't look like the MCK plastics one, so I stopped. I talked the gentleman who owned the body shop and he said that the TC with the body kit was a "Roush Turbo Coupe" and that it wasn't for sale, but the other TC was. At first I didn't want to believe him, but upon closer inspection it sure seemed real. It had Roush Emblems on the dash and in some other areas. The body kit sure didn't look like the MCK one. Everything else was stock, and to top it off...it was an automatic, which made me even more suspicious.

So I contacted the guy who owned the other TC and while we were talking I told him that I'd never seen a Roush TC before, and he says " I've got the article from Mustang Monthly about it. Jack Roush has two of them sitting in his museum."

I've never heard ANY mention of a Roush TC in my entire life until today. I asked the guy if he could scan and email me the article, so when he does, I'll post it for all of you to see.

Wow.  Never knew  that either.  Interesting.

Not that I'm callin' YOU a fibber...but I wanna see it before I believe lol.

ANYONE can take some ripped-off emblems and throw on a car....lots of TC's were auto..and there were several effects made for these cars....just sayin'

I'll be the first to retract my words if it's legit though. :)

IIRC there were actually a few Roush TC's. They were built by Roush himself (or his garage, anyway) and were used for his driving school back in '87. They featured a 5.0 HO, Mark VII front brakes, TC rear brakes (yes, five lugs up front, four out back), 3.08 gears (suppposedly better for the type of driving they were doing) and I think some were five speed, some were AOD. They were featured in the 1987 Motor Trend COTY issue. I dunno if any ever made it onto the street.

So what happened possibly is that the emblems for those were found and thrown on this TC. This thing looked exactly like a regular TC except for the emblems and body kit. Like I said, as soon as I get the email, I'll post up the article.

Thunderbirdsport302: These Roush emblems said Turbo Coupe on them.

Here it is: page 2 of the online article

"For the Mustang's 25th anniversary, Ford asked us for a powertrain proposal for a 25th anniversary edition. We started with a marine 351 engine and added the marine camshaft and put fuel injection on it. We gave it back to Ford and they said the performance was improved over the 5.0-liter but it wasn't enough. At the same time, we were working on the Thunderbird Turbo Coupe with the small Borg-Warner turbocharger. So I hung two turbochargers on the 351, one on each exhaust manifold. Ford said it was irresponsible. It was so fast you couldn't keep it in your lane if you stepped on the gas. The result was that they did something that did not have a powertrain feature for the 25th anniversary. The only car that I think was done correctly is here in our museum. It's a one of a kind."

And this was why this TC I saw was bone stock...

And here's the link to the article in its entirety: http://www.mustangmonthly.com/featuredvehicles/mump_1010_jack_roush_ford_mustang_auto_collection/index.html

Well there are two remaining Shelby Cougar's (not foxes) and 1 is here in FL so its possible that he got ahold of one of those Roush TC's. Its also entirely possible that he ebay'd the emblems from somebody and stuck em on a stock TC. Won't know unless he lets you check out what's under the hood... but what they're talking about above is the Mustang. He just mentioned the fact that he was working with TC's, that's what gave him the idea to use the turbos for the 351 he was working on in the stang.

why didn't you take pictures of the car when you saw it? :(

Steve, you're right about that section being about a mustang...But Roush himself said they were working with the Bird, so I'm still convinced it could be real.

I didn't take pictures of it because I don't have a picture phone, nor do I carry a camera with me everywhere I go. I should be in that area sometime next week again, so I'll take pictures then.

this sounds interesting,  my parents live just north in Inverness,  maybe I'll send pops by for a few spy photos.

I have some pics of one that somebody posted. They are on my other computer, I'll find them and post them.

 
That's where my parents live also, and where I lived when I was in high school, and where my daughter was born...awesome. :)

Pics...

More....

Thanks cougarman for sharing...

Interesting that Roush Racing would order FULLY OPTIONED turbo coupes for their racing school.  And Automatics to boot!  The shifter is for the A4LD (PRND321), not for an AOD (PRNOD1).  So I would assume this one has the 2.3T and A4LD.

I guess Roush did sell them as street cars with their body kit, name and emblems?

I love that TURBOCHARGED emblem.... do all TC's have that?

...ohh yeah, and WTF was that in the JY???

That's a Buick Grand National/T-Type emblem. Until some aftermarket companies started making Ford-looking Turbocharged emblems, that was all you could get for many years.

That's exactly what the one I saw looks like, minus the wing, and the exterior Roush badging. Same color and everything.

Is that a jy? It almost looks like a consignment yard or w/e.

I forget who, but somebody posted those pics a long time ago. Yes it's a junkyard.

 
Oh, I see. I didn't think that was stock, but it actually looks it.



...wait you whaaaaaaaaaat? How is this possible? I thought every phone had a camera nowdays.

 

Nope. My phone is from 2004-ish, and all it can do is dial and send text messages (which is pretty challenging for it, as half of my messages barely ever send). As long as my parents are covering my cell phone bill (10$ a month) while I'm in college, I don't need anything fancy. I just don't see that point in having internet and every other doohickey under the sun on my cell phone. I do wish I had a camera though...

So this is kind of funny...
 
I have pictures of the TC that I saw in Brooksville a few days ago, just emailed to me by a friend of the current owner.
 
 

 
 
 
Look familiar?
 
It's the same car cougarman posted, even the same pics. The car has been repainted, and I guess the new owner opted to take the external Roush badging off (why?!?). 
 
I'll get pictures of how the car looks now as soon as I can.