Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

They're probably less common than the TurboCoupes. I own one. At some point Marti (Marti Auto Works) will have numbers and data on them, but it will not be anytime soon I think.

They're probably less common than the TurboCoupes. I own one. At some point Marti (Marti Auto Works) will have numbers and data on them, but it will not be anytime soon I think.

I did talk to them. Marti said they should have the info in a year or two.

Sports are kinda of rare, especially 87 Sports. In 87 you could order a LX with the articulated seats and floor shift. The Sport in 87 had the base seats and interior but instead of the buttstuffog cluster it had the full digital cluster. I have seen quite a few 88 Sports, but only 1 87 Sport, and that was in a wrecking yard.

If the VIN is something like 1FABP[COLOR="red"]61[/COLOR]F6JH123456 it's a Sport, the 61 identifies the model...

60 is base bird, 61 Sport, 62 LX & 64 Turbo Coupe...

BTW this info applies to '87 & '88 only...

I did talk to them. Marti said they should have the info in a year or two.

Sports are kinda of rare, especially 87 Sports. In 87 you could order a LX with the articulated seats and floor shift. The Sport in 87 had the base seats and interior but instead of the buttstuffog cluster it had the full digital cluster. I have seen quite a few 88 Sports, but only 1 87 Sport, and that was in a wrecking yard.

Tbird sport was the same basic package as the 87 Mercury Cougar XR7.  Seems like it to me.  I wonder what the production numbers are for the 87-88 Sport???  There are over 25000 TC made in 1988 alone.

Travis

According to the figures that I have, you are correct about more than 25,000 TCs in 88.

1988 Thunderbird
Hardtop 109,991
No breakdown on Base, LX, Sport Coupe
Turbo Coupe 37,252
Total 147,243

I have never seen breakdown figures for the non TCs made in 88.
Ron

With almost 110,000 being base, LX & Sport plus the fact the base and LX likely outsold the Sport 2:1, I'd guess the Sports totaled in the low 20K range... Though judging by the number I've seen, possibly not even that many were built...

I ment moonroof, Im pretty sure thats probably what that means to

I found this online today

1988 Thunderbird production percentages
V6                46.3%
V8                28.4%
TC                25.3%
Manual Trans 15.4%
Sunroofs      12.9%

If correct, then slightly over one out of four Base, LX, Sport Coupes were V8s.

28.4% of 109,991=31,237 total V8s.
 I am sure that many of the 31,237 V8s were in Base or LX models. That should leave the Sport Coupes down in the 20K or less area, as you say.
Ron
PS Thunderbird Registry has 236 "88"  LX & Base cars registered compared to 71 Sport Coupes registered = more than 3/1 ratio. The 87s were 209 to 36 almost 6/1 ratio
Not that these figures are anything conclusive, but may give us some idea.

Nothing against your figures but what's surprising is the "known" ratio of engines, trans, even sun.. err Moonroof there were... I've always heard Ford has no record of such and not having a known production figure for three models would tend to prove my doubts...

When Kevin Marti has reports avail for these models, then we'll know for sure...

ok so to be clear, one last question,
A sunroof turbo coupe in 88 would be the all time rarest?

I would say yes to that, and furthermore i would say a Auto Transmission TC with Sunroof/Moonroof would be among the rarest combos.  Rare doesn't equal desireable always, but lower numbers for sure.

ok so to be clear, one last question,
A sunroof turbo coupe in 88 would be the all time rarest?

Here are some additional production figures:

2.1 Production Numbers
1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Total   121,999 170,551 151,852 165,965 128,135 147,243
V6 57.8%   55% 52% 67.8% 59.2% 46.3%
V8 31.9% 31.4% 34.3% 19.2% 22.2% 28.4%
TC 10.3% 8.6% 13.7% 13% 18.6% 25.3%
Manual trans 10.3% 6.3% 8% 8.3% 12% 15.4%
Sunroofs 2.2% 8.7% 7.6% 12.9%



Sunroof = flip up, no power
Moonroof = full power retract/flip up.................

My 87 Bird is also a sport, it came from the factory with a floor shift auto, 2.73 limited slip, and it had a power driver seat. Now their is nothing stock or factory except for the body.:D

If it's not getting OD, it's really common for the throttle valve cable to have fallen out of the throttle body quadrant.  Sometimes you can replace the nylon grommet (or what's left of it) with this brass bushing (to ensure it's never a problem again) and restore TV operation, bringing back OD.  On the other hand, if you don't have 3rd OR OD, your direct clutch is toast and will have to come apart.  You can probably get one for $12.  If cost or availability are a problem, you can definitely get a replacement Nylon part for $5 that will work just fine in the short term.  In either case, if you're seriously looking at the car, it can't hurt to have one handy.

5.0L roller lifters & chain w/forged pistons, but not a full HO (the HO engine had Mass Air injection, tube headers and a hotter cam)
4-shock rear suspension from Mustang, 8.8" traction-loc diff.
Polyurethane suspension bushings, larger front and rear sway bars, harder springs than the LX, stiffer struts.

There is much evidence that cars were produced and sold as "Sport" models with various equipment lists. That said, IMHO as the original owner of an '88 T-Bird Sport (as it was called), there was a very specific list of options that made the car desirable to me in 1988. The total package was the finest, most highly developed iteration of the Fox platform, perhaps the best car that Ford never told anyone about. It was and is "A Mustang for Grownups". What I remember (and this list may not be comprehensive as I am writing without referring to sales literature) made a T-Bird a "Sport" was:
5.0L roller lifters & chain w/forged pistons, but not a full HO (the HO engine had Mass Air injection, tube headers and a hotter cam)
4-shock rear suspension from Mustang, 8.8" traction-loc diff.
Polyurethane suspension bushings, larger front and rear sway bars, harder springs than the LX, stiffer struts.
6-way power front seats with special center console housing shifter, window and seat controls, also different column, wheel & dash with buttstuffog instruments. I have optional Premium Sound but Sport could be had without that.
Aluminum 4 lug wheels with distinctive eight hole pattern.
I remember seeing Sports offered by dealers with and without the moon/sun roof. It cost about 1 1/2 inches of headroom and was a guaranteed future leak. I called them Rain Roofs and got a car without one.
Am I forgetting anything?
It looked to me like a convenient platform around which to build a Ford V-8 hotrod when the wife was done driving it. So far, so good..