ice-capades Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 (edited) Future Classic: 1989-1997 Ford Probe It's the car that Mustang fans love(d) to hate https://www.autoblog.com/article/ford-probe-future-classic/ The Ford Probe of the late Eighties was a litany of pluses and minuses. On the plus side, chalk up the looks: svelte, sporty, aggressive. Put a check mark next to the intent box: the Probe initially was seen as an ambitious replacement for the Mustang. Then there was the involvement of Mazda in the Probe’s genesis. It would be built as part of a joint venture known as AutoAlliance International near Detroit, and offered with a 2.0-liter Mazda four cylinder, a similar powerplant boosted by a turbocharger, and later a 2.5-liter V6 generating 164 horsepower. The platform, drivetrain and suspension were all reliably Mazda, based on the company’s popular 626 sedan. Why is the Ford Probe a future classic? In the mid-Eighties, Ford’s scheme to introduce a redesigned Mustang — a classic in its portfolio for decades even then — was a dicey proposition, even before the redesign came to life. Because of exorbitantly high gas prices around 1980 — when the Probe-to-Mustang concept was conceived — Ford predicted gas-eaters like Mustang would soon disappear. Plus, it was deemed by Ford’s bean counters that a Probe would be cheaper to produce. Edited May 11, 2023 by ice-capades Additional Content 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudz64 Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 I loved my 1994 Probe GT Wild Orchid feature car! Had it for since new, for 10+ years, 110,000 miles, it aged very well and was always fun to drive! Unfortunately it got hit and totaled in late 2006. I found out now only 3,576 were made, and only 1,789 were 5-speeds like mine! It’s a future classic for sure! I consider my 2019 Mustang Bullitt a cousin, as they both came from Flat Rock, maybe same folks worked on both! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ice-capades Posted May 11, 2023 Author Share Posted May 11, 2023 46 minutes ago, spudz64 said: I loved my 1994 Probe GT Wild Orchid feature car! Had it for since new, for 10+ years, 110,000 miles, it aged very well and was always fun to drive! Unfortunately it got hit and totaled in late 2006. I found out now only 3,576 were made, and only 1,789 were 5-speeds like mine! It’s a future classic for sure! I consider my 2019 Mustang Bullitt a cousin, as they both came from Flat Rock, maybe same folks worked on both! My dealership was one of the top 10 Thunderbird dealerships for years, so I understandably drove T'Birds as my company car for many years, especially as my position was directly involved in advertising "Birdland" throughout CT, NY, NJ and MA. Our advertising was "Birdland" exclusive with print and fixed position "live read" radio on morning and afternoon drive times including Don Imus doing "live reads" every morning for many years. To take a break from the Thunderbirds, I drove a '97 Probe GT for a while until it was sold. The Probe GT was fun to drive but I then switched back to Mustang GT's that I drove for the next 20 years along with a few Mustang EcoBoost vehicles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeluxeStang Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Hot take: The probe is better looking than most 90s mustangs. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 I loved the Probe, granted my father wouldn't allow FWD vehicles in our household, but I did rent one for a trip and it was the first FWD vehicle I felt confident driving over 100, hunkered down pretty well. For the price and what it was... Loved the center console canted towards the driver. Then the Cougar took over that spot in '99 and its a shame it all stopped. I remember in '97 Ford killed Aerostar, Probe, Tbird, Festiva cause passenger airbags I believe were required that year...something like that, its been awhile... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudz64 Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 37 minutes ago, ANTAUS said: I loved the Probe, granted my father wouldn't allow FWD vehicles in our household, but I did rent one for a trip and it was the first FWD vehicle I felt confident driving over 100, hunkered down pretty well. For the price and what it was... Loved the center console canted towards the driver. Then the Cougar took over that spot in '99 and its a shame it all stopped. I remember in '97 Ford killed Aerostar, Probe, Tbird, Festiva cause passenger airbags I believe were required that year...something like that, its been awhile... I hit 109mph in mine back in the day lol The rear passive steering really helped the car tuck in on corners and you could really feel it. Yeah too bad Ford killed all many coupes around ‘97…it wasn’t an airbag thing, if I recall they moved to more trucks, and the market was dying? The Cougar was an interesting addition and gave Mercury a unique coupe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Probe are pretty good but the interior plastic quality was atrocious as is the case for most Fords of that era. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said: Hot take: The probe is better looking than most 90s mustangs. I loved my 1998...they went downhill with the new edge design till the 2005 came out. Another Hot take-the 1998 Mustang GT wasn't really much of an improvement, at all, vs my 1986 Escort GT interior wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, spudz64 said: I hit 109mph in mine back in the day lol The rear passive steering really helped the car tuck in on corners and you could really feel it. Yeah too bad Ford killed all many coupes around ‘97…it wasn’t an airbag thing, if I recall they moved to more trucks, and the market was dying? The Cougar was an interesting addition and gave Mercury a unique coupe. Cougar was initially conceived as a replacement for Probe. It was a direct replacement for Probe in Europe. The name changed to Mercury Cougar fairly late in the development. The heritage lineage: Capri --> Sierra coupe (XR4Ti) --> Probe --> Cougar 3 of those were sold in the Mercury showroom in North America but all 4 were Ford outside North America. Edited May 11, 2023 by bzcat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 The Cougar was basically a 2 door Contour.... My sister had a Probe and then a Cougar. She killed both those products off LOL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Believe it or not I cross shopped a mustang GT, Cougar and Lincoln LS back in 1999. Ended up with the LS. Just wanted something fun to drive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 6 hours ago, silvrsvt said: The Cougar was basically a 2 door Contour.... My sister had a Probe and then a Cougar. She killed both those products off LOL I owned a 1999 Cougar too... my first new car in fact. 2.5 V6 170hp and one of my friend had a Contour SE with 2.5 V6 too. We ran those cars hard and did a lot of stupid things with it... ? It's a miracle they survived our ownership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hand-filer Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 I don't see the Probe ever becoming a classic. 90% of them have already been repurposed and are serving duty as someone's kitchen appliance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted May 12, 2023 Share Posted May 12, 2023 3 minutes ago, hand-filer said: I don't see the Probe ever becoming a classic. 90% of them have already been repurposed and are serving duty as someone's kitchen appliance. That is why it would be...my first car was an 1986 Escort GT and they had rot issues in the rear wheel wells, but I still see them pop up for sale online or at car shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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