1989 Ford Probe LX - 2.2L standard engine (non-turbo), 5 speed, white with red interior and had the digital dashboard - it was a hand me down from my Dad. I always felt like I was driving KITT from Knight Rider with the digital dash.
Dad had this "84...not a desirable Caddy for sure...lol
Those cars have always seemed to get much more love than the same year Eldorados. I’ve never understood why. IMO those Sevilles have always looked a bit mis porportioned having 4 somewhat small doors, and the bustleback trunk didn’t really match what the front end had going.
I thought the 1st gen. Sevilles looked much better.
'Tis a shame many younger folks will never know the joy of a fresh, empty, snow-covered parking lot w/ no obstructions at 1am on a Winter night while driving around in a RWD car. And if the police did show up it was usually taken care of with "OK, that's enough...time to go home". Sometimes maybe even more fun if you could convince on of your more adventurous buddies to hold on to the back bumper while you were doing this....for at least 30 seconds or so. Seemed like a good idea at the time
Ah yes, bumper riding LOL. I've done that a time or two haha. The bumpers from older cars were much easier to hold on to. That led to tying a rope to an innertube from my buddies farm tractor and getting pulled around the hood. I can remember some glorious wipeouts, but amazingly I don't remember anyone getting seriously hurt. About when we were juniors or seniors in high school, the neighborhood had a contractor clear the streets after it snowed. It was never the same after that.
Ah yes, bumper riding LOL. I've done that a time or two haha. The bumpers from older cars were much easier to hold on to. That led to tying a rope to an innertube from my buddies farm tractor and getting pulled around the hood. I can remember some glorious wipeouts, but amazingly I don't remember anyone getting seriously hurt. About when we were juniors or seniors in high school, the neighborhood had a contractor clear the streets after it snowed. It was never the same after that.
Really amazing that no one got seriously messed up :lol: Curbs, trees, sewers, whipping around turns and letting momentum decide what was next...lotsa potential 'pain points' and yet we escaped relatively unscathed. :lol:
It all seemed like such a good, normal idea at the time.
The interior was removed 95%, bumpers, ground effects, and hood lovers were removed. It was multiple shades of faded red and had new black front fenders. Came with old steelies with junk tires. I didn’t care, I loved it at first sight.
Put cheap wheels and decent tires on it, got a Maaco paint job, installed the interior it came with (minus carpet and door panels which I did buy and later install) and off I went. Looked decent, sounded great but it didn’t make but 165hp.
I'm better than you....totally kidding.
Mine was an 87 IROC with the 350TPI that I got in 1996 when I was 16.
Sounds like a cool first car, but it was a POS.
Transmission went out a month after I got it.
Rust everywhere
T-tops that leaked any time there was hint of moisture.
Suspension was in bad shape (I realistically shouldn't have been driving it).
Engine ran terrible and never figured out why. Half the time, it couldn't do a burnout.
When it ran well, I did take it to the drag strip and I think it ran right around 15 sec quarter at around 90mph. Pretty sad if you think about it.
That car left a baaadddd taste in my mouth for GM products, been a Ford guy ever since.
YES!!! My dad had a '79 with the four-speed manual. I learned to drive in that car and drove it all the way thought high school when my dad wasn't at work. RWD in that tiny car did make it a rally car in the snow. I learned the fine art of doing donuts in that car and also learned how to throttle steer. In the snow, grabbing 2nd gear and a quick dab of the throttle would bring the back end around and make for very graceful, yet spectacular right hand turns onto the service road leading to the student parking lot.
It wasn't without it's faults though. My dad owned it for almost 20 years and we replaced the rusted out floorpan AT LEAST four times. The final installment was epoxy'd fiberglass rather than the sheet metal that couldn't hold up to the Colorado salt on the roads. 66hp was at sea-level on a cool day. Summer in the Rockies it had way less. On at least one occasion I had to park it on the road near a work site because it didn't have enough power to climb the homeowner's driveway. Elevation was maybe 7~8K feet.
When we got rid of it my dad HAD TO PAY the junk yard to take it! Something like $30~$40.
I sooo wished mine was a manual. Though, being young and lacking Mechanical Sympathy, I did find out if you dropped the auto into "Low" as you were approaching a 90° corner it'd engine brake the rear wheels for you enough so you could slide it (even in the dry)...
I hear ya on the low power. I got out of a speeding ticket once because the person I dealt with at court agreed there was no way I could have been going as fast as the cop said I was since I was going uphill and had 3 other people in the car.
Originally Posted by BudgetPlan1
'Tis a shame many younger folks will never know the joy of a fresh, empty, snow-covered parking lot w/ no obstructions at 1am on a Winter night while driving around in a RWD car. And if the police did show up it was usually taken care of with "OK, that's enough...time to go home". Sometimes maybe even more fun if you could convince on of your more adventurous buddies to hold on to the back bumper while you were doing this....for at least 30 seconds or so. Seemed like a good idea at the time
Never was brave enough to go bumper skiing, but spent plenty of time in empty parking lots/industrial complexes.
More fond memories of whipping doughies in my friend's Quantum Synchro Wagon with the rear and center diffs manually locked (driver controlled via switch in the center console) - the car would spin like a top with the pivot point just behind the front seats.
Mine was an 87 IROC with the 350TPI that I got in 1996 when I was 16.
Sounds like a cool first car, but it was a POS.
Transmission went out a month after I got it.
Rust everywhere
T-tops that leaked any time there was hint of moisture.
Suspension was in bad shape (I realistically shouldn't have been driving it).
Engine ran terrible and never figured out why. Half the time, it couldn't do a burnout.
When it ran well, I did take it to the drag strip and I think it ran right around 15 sec quarter at around 90mph. Pretty sad if you think about it.
That car left a baaadddd taste in my mouth for GM products, been a Ford guy ever since.
My car ran a 16.5 @84 mph lol. While mine was anemic, due to the open diff just stepping on the throttle would spin that one tire all through first and sometimes when it hit second.
My LS1 Z28 in my avatar rips pretty good. Burnouts at will, full throttle always spins the tires hitting 2nd. Not bad for a 2.73 geared auto. I drooled over cars like mine at the dealer lots before I could drive, and then when I had my clapped out third gen.
A 79 Rabbit diesel wasn't what I had in mind but I was always kind of an uber for giving rides,,5 bucks for ride,fuel was 51 cents a gallon,,,,I was always on the road with a full tank that I rarely had to pay for.
my senior year I had a 1983 Black Rabbit GTI...that car was fun
“I have trouble with names and faces, but I never forget a car.”
You have/had some very nice car's DFB a true credit to working hard and picking the right ones.
Thanks! I miss both of those cars for different reasons. I think the TS50 will end up being the "one that got away", I sold mine at the bottom of their depreciation curve and they have skyrocketed in price since. I'm not bitter about it though. I was 15 when the T3 was released in 2001, being a newly inked Ford boy, the TS50 was my poster car!
I consider myself lucky to have gotten to experienced my boyhood dream car, if only for a couple of years. Mine was build number 154 with a build date of July 2002, one of the last made. This car had a few options ticked by the first owner, premium sound and Brembo brakes, it also featured the blue leather trim.
The car also featured in a few magazines under the first owners care. The engine was the show peice though. These were the last cars in the world to be fitted with the, by then, ancient Windsor V8. The engines were delivered to Ford Australia as crate engines, where they were then stripped and rebuilt with a stroker crank, locally made pistons and rods and a locally designed and made high capacity inlet manifold and headers. The result was a 5.6 V8 with a conservative 335 hp and a pretty stout 368 ft lb of torque, enough to make it the fastest Falcon ever at the time. Keep in mind the base 5.0 V8 at the time only made 235 hp! Being an old fashioned OHV V8, the thing roared a beautifully rich soundtrack out those chrome tips.
The guy I sold it to in late 2014 drops me a line every now and then to let me know how it's going.
Thanks: 
Likes: 
Dislikes: 
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Bosko
Bookmarks