This one was rated at 155 horsepower, which was 15 horses better than the output of the 5.0-liter V8. The engine is the 2.3-liter straight-four often called the "Pinto engine," but with an EFI-equipped intercooled turbocharging system added. The hood scoops are functional, delivering cold air to the engine air intake, so it makes sense that someone would have swapped a later hood onto this car. The build tag says it was built in Ohio in December 1985 and then sold out of the San Jose, California, sales office. Those of you who know Fox Thunderbirds will recognize that this hood comes from a 1987-1988 car, while the grille is likely the one that was on this car when it came off the line at Lorain Assembly. The Lincoln Continental Mark VII was a family member, too. This Thunderbird still had the Cougar as its closest Fox relative, of course, but the Ford Mustang/ Mercury Capri were siblings to it as well. The 1980-1982 Thunderbirds were also built on the Fox Platform, but they were boxy and blinged-up, bearing a strong resemblance to their Mercury Cougar XR-7 siblings. ![]() The hottest of this generation of Thunderbird was the Turbo Coupe, and I've found a rough but fairly complete example in a Silicon Valley self-service car graveyard. The most nimble and aerodynamic of all the 11 generations of T-Birds was the 1983-1988 version, built on the Fox platform and given extensive wind-tunnel work to achieve an Audi-grade drag coefficient. ![]() Ford sold Thunderbirds in various configurations for nearly all of the second half of the 20th century and even for a few years in our current century.
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