Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

I don't know if anyone has brought this topic up before, but has anyone thought about how rare our cars have quickly become these last few years? Between the "cash for clunkers" and people just simply throwing these cars away, you just don't see them on the road as often as you used too. In Owensboro, Kentucky alone, I'm always keeping an eye out for an 83-88 Cougar or Thunderbird. You just DON'T see them anymore.

On a side note, it's increasingly harder to find certain parts for our cars as well. I remember the days of going to junk yards to find seats or emblems, etc., but now I can barely find parts on Ebay! And you can forget about finding reproduction fenders or corner panels! It's easier to purchase and find parts for my parent's '66 Mustang than it is for my '85 Cougar.

This isn't a rant or anything like that. I just find it interesting how rare these cars seem to be getting. I'm curious what will happen to the value of our cars in the next ten years or so.

I seriously doubt the value will go up much anytime soon. you can still get parts out here, but not like you used to be.able to. Guy right next door to me drives an 87 bird, another guy that works next door to my work has an 87-88 turbo coupe.

they've been rare around here for years. I think you guys up north had a whole lot more than we ever did anyway. The seemed to never stray too far from their production plant lol.

I know of about Three silver turbo coupes right around where I live, another metallic gray, and a few 5.0 and v6 birds. Theres more than you'd think its just about catching them on the road, thats the tricky part ;)

I have mental notes of where countless cat/birds are. Most are in people's yards or driveways. I never see them on the street though. There is one beat-up 87 'bird that drives around town, but that's about it. There are none in the local junk yards either. And I live near probably 15 yards. None exist in any of them.

Oh the good old days. I remember when I had my first cougar, there was 3 ROWS of fox cougars and thunderbirds at one local junk yard. Probably 75+ of them. Now there's nothing. That's the thing with any old car though. We are lucky enough to be on the fox platform, so drivetrain and suspension parts will be plentiful for a long time. But take care of those bodies, they will be gone soon enough.

Derik , Might see Paula's cougar over at this weekend's BBQ fest event in Owensboro friend.  :rollin:

This made a pretty big impact on Panther cars didn't it? I really didn't think so, and my mom suggested it in the midst of my frustration at every used car lot across the country wanting 4-5 g's or MORE for a nice Vic / Grand Marq. They used to be $1000 or less vehicles...not so easy anymore.

I feel like as far as cougars / thunderbirds, nothing has changed in my neck of the woods anyway since I started driving. People know me as the guy with not one but TWO cougars, with mods and loud obnoxiousness no less. Then again I don't see many people playing with fox mustangs, either.

I noticed this too. When I wanted a winter beater, I thought I'd get a crown or a grand, but man, a nice one is untouchable! I never saw that coming. I saw one for a grand the other day and it looked like it was ready for the demo derby.

It's not just these cars getting rare, and it's not necessarily cash for clunkers. It's mainly high s prices making them disappear from junkyards, and with lower parts availability fewer people are keeping old cars on the road. When's the last time you saw a Chevette? Or K-Car? Or Tempo? 80's Escort? There were millions of all of those things on the road back then - all of my friends in high school in the late 80's were driving those cars, and now they're rare as hell.

I was looking at a 87 grand marqui wagon earlier today. $700, body is in good shape but it doesn't run.

My DD since Thanksgiving. The MO title said "Transfer on death" so I think this used car lot owner inherited it or got it for a few hundred. $2600 total including shipping it here from Pacific, MO. The whole underneath looks like that. The driveshaft and rear axle have a LIGHT coating of surface rust. I had just enough time to get some Transtar Body-tec and Rusfre black non-rubberized on a bunch of spots, drill holes in the stupid spot at the front frame bulkheads to make drainage exist and solve a design flaw, this year I'll be coating everything copiously. The Vic was great (still have it) but got wrecked up awhile back, I really always wanted 4 power winderz and the reeeealll plush seats. Plus there was hidden rust I found too late. For $800 locally it was great at its original intent but it was time to step up.

I couldn't believe I found one this cheap. And the 69K on the odometer has to be real. The gear lever is way too tight not to be LOL. Thing is, a lot of these dreamer-price cars....sit. No one's going to pay 7K for a 150-horse 4000 lb 15 MPG realistically, old-ass barge from a time still wrought with quality issues for interior bits, paint and such. All I know is I'm extremely thankful and love the shiznit out of this thing. Everyone says I'm driving grandpa's car. Why wait 'til I'm a grandpa to enjoy REAL luxury? :rollin: 3.27 axle, I'll get a basic Trac-Lok unit, throw on the GT40 setup I bought for the Vic, and it'll be the Power Broker. Or something like that lol

I loved my wagon, but at 16mpg i couldn't justify it. i traded my cougar for it, and i would do it again in a heart beat.

Yeah I don't see many of the older Vic's/Marq's either. Or many of any generation really. It does seem that the few older style ones that I do see are super cool though. I never seem to see any old rust buckets driving around.

Really seeing any car from the 80's is a rarity.  Be it GM, Ford or Mopar.  I think is just those years are dried up and gone, except for us few enthusiasts that care for cars of the 80's (regardless of manufacturer)

I know of a few birds and one cougar up here, but most are beat to death. The cougar is the only one I do see on the road, it's in rough shape but sounds pretty strong. Minnesota winters aren't kind to these cars. I'm still amazed how clean mine is, other than some speckled surface rust underneath it's completely solid.

The problem with fox birds/cats is that, other than us enthusiasts, nobody sees them as anything other than parts cars and s steel. The Mustangs get all the nostalgia and the drag guys like the Fairmonts and LTDs, so our cars slip through the cracks and get forgotten about. By the time everyone else catches on, all the birds and cats will be gone.

I got lucky with my Town Car too. I bought it for 750 bucks from a lady who just needed the money. It's a little rough, but I couldn't find another panther anywhere for under 1000 in anywhere near the condition mine is in. For a winter beater, it doesn't get more luxurious.

Yeah, I was just going to say, I still see first gen (81-89) Town Cars around where I am, they go for cheap too.

I agree with ThunderChicken, daggum s metal, and by the way I would love to find an old 80's escort gt. I used to buy nothing but 90-92 town cars until the same thing happened, they are scarce around here, the last I had I sold to a good buddy  after a couple years of him hounding me about it, man do I miss it....

My friend showed me a picture of a beautiful red/grey Ford EXP allegedly sitting in his girlfriend's parents' garage, I don't know why they parked it. But apparently it's not beaten to hell / rotten away.

Exp, + sho swap -fwd (rwd conversion) = the shizt.

Three fox tbirds/cougars...I see them every day....My friends mint 88TC auto( he left it here when he moved to AZ) my 88TC T5, and the mighty XR7....

There are a couple more Turbocoupes in my town....and a few regular models...its been awhile sense I have seen a 4 eyed bird/cat....besides mine.

Travis

your own cars don't count lol

Saw a two-tone brown 1987 Cougar yesterday on the road, in really nice shape.

A little pee came out.

In my area (Gastonia NC), my car is unknown.  No one knows what it is really.  I see one other than mine every 2-3 months.  However, when people see my car and they know what it is, they normally chase me down to a parking lot or something wanting to ask about it.  It's pretty crazy.

I saw a 83 tbird cruising down the street two days ago, and a 1984 cougar last weekend on i-80.

I know I'm really, really late to this thread, but I just joined not too long ago.  In 10 years, I've seen MAYBE 7 83-86 Cougars, and everyone of them were beat up.  The canyon red '86 Cougar GS I just bought could easily be the most pristine Cougar in all of Spartanburg, South Carolina, if not the entire state.  They are UBER-rare here, and really, they have been since the 90s.

Saw an 87 about 5 blocks from my house last week as I was driving mine.  Body was straight.  Paint was rough.

There's a small two-bay shop practically a stone's throw from home, in the back of the paved lot for a large gas station in town. Was a Mobil and now an Xtramart. But the shop was built in the '80s I think, sort of "along with" the gas station building, I'm not sure the history. I don't know much about their work, but the guy gets plenty of business. I have seen a two-tone brown 87/88 Tbird with wire hubcaps there for a few days once, and a white one that seemed to sit there a couple weeks or more.

He has a mid-90s black Chevy rollback that has "not for hire" on the door bottom. That usually sits in the pizza place parking lot next door. This spring it had a dark blue very nice 87/88 TC on it, snowflakes and all, for a couple days. Last night, got fuel, noticed a medium blue 87/88 bird, seemed like a base model with the flat slotted disc-type hubcaps, like the white one had.

I definitely need to stop in and talk to this guy and see if he's a fan as well...

Based on several sightings over the last 5-10 years, I'm convinced there are quite a few Thundercats in this area...they're just in hiding and don't come out a whole lot. And they certainly aren't modified. I remain basically alone in that arena, and all of the hot-rod related events around here are usually a pretty good indicator of who's playing go-fast.

When s went up higher than hell a few years ago, everything older than 10 years in a lot of yards got smashed.

That ThunderCougarEscortStang is now resurrected as a ed Kia, or something.

4Clunkers didn't help either. Many an Explorer/F150 I saw in the yards, looked like like good solid vehicles....with that dreaded orange stripe on the hood. Makes me f*cking sick.

Some ole car guy said it best one time...It's better to restore them than to crush them.

In the north rust eats most cars before they die mechanically.

Still need to get/make an "I survived Cash for Clunkers" for my daily. Old 80s BOX PANTHER, the quintessential vehicle everyone expected to get destroyed by that BS!!! :)