FORD THUNDERBIRD SC
Year of manufacture 1992 Recorded mileage 32,000 Asking price €14,950 Vendor E&R Classics, Kleiweg 1, 5145NA Waalwijk, The Netherlands; 0031 416 751 393; erclassics.com
WHEN IT WAS NEW Price $19,823 (1989) Max power 210bhp Max torque 315lb ft 0-60mph 8 secs Top speed 139mph Mpg 22
This top-spec, low-mileage, early-shape Thunderbird is in great condition and is already in Europe, just a few hours on a ferry away – rather than a month in a shipping container. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to sample the unfairly maligned 10th-generation Thunderbird, which made its debut in 1989.
This is a car with a mixed – or simply forgettable – reputation, but it was actually a bit of a pioneer. Unlike the previous Fox-body-based Thunderbird, the 10th-gen had its own unique chassis, and a fully independent multi-link set-up front and rear that was more advanced than even BMW’S E28 6 Series, and certainly more modern than anything American other than the Corvette. You could get a Thunderbird with a big V8, but the SC performance model was actually powered by a supercharged V6 – the 3.8 ‘Cologne’.
It was well reviewed in its day, selling in America for half the price of the BMW, but Ford didn’t like it much internally – it was too complex, too heavy, too expensive and, well, too forward-thinking. A facelift dumbed-down the styling, and the model became regarded as a bit of an old man’s car.
Now, though, the late-’80s ‘sharknose’ styling of the pre-facelift car is back in vogue, and a Thunderbird is an interesting – and cheaper – alternative to a 635CSI. This car, for sale with E&R Classics, is in very good condition thanks to its low mileage, and yet is the price of a well-used example of the BMW. Equipped with the cost-option automatic, this is a fully loaded Thunderbird, also benefiting from electric black-leather seats, a sunroof, air conditioning and cruise control. Original and unrestored, it must be one of the bestcondition Thunderbird SCS left worldwide, let alone in Europe.
Although it’s increasingly rare, even in America, sourcing parts shouldn’t be too tricky because the Cologne engine was used in nearly every US Ford product of the early 1990s and, despite that advanced suspension, the T’bird is still built with typical American simplicity. The supercharged 3.8-litre V6 is neither as smooth nor sonorous as a BMW straight-six, and the Ford is not set up to be especially sporty. But as a comfortable, quick coupé – Motor Week gave the car its ‘sport coupe of the year’ gong in 1989 – it is soft and composed rather than lithe or agile. Many would rather a BMW or a Jaguar, and in a lot of ways they’d be right, but for those who enjoy older cars because they like something different, this Thunderbird is surely number one.