SOLD $14,500

[Sam Woodson]

Sold the truck on Thursday, 4x4 2002 model with 33.5k miles. I think it was too low but no one was calling, I kept lowering the price every month, no calls.



I'm still working in Japan, I will be back in December for about 3 weeks. I'm keeping my eyes open for a replacement vehicle, but there is no hurry, but I will buy if I find the right car at the right price.



Currently considering:



1989-1992 Tbird Super Coupe

1986-1993 Mustang GT Convertible or T-Tops

1986 Toyota Corolla SR5 GTS (I haven't seen 1 in decent condition with reasonable miles)

198x to 199x Lincoln Mark 7

1998 - 2000 Contour SVT (Anyone have expience with these? Reliable?)

Volkswagen Scirroco

Volkswagen Corrado



Take care, I enjoyed the list for these 3+ years. Thanks for all the information.



PS - Go Bucks! Go Steelers!

 

[scott r]

I had a '91 T-Bird Super Coupe. Relatively quick car. Kinda cheapish looking on the interior, lots of rattles, typical early 90s model Ford. Didn't give me much trouble though. My wife at the time was doing 60mph through a stoplight (which she says was green, but I dunno), and smacked a kid in an escort. The impact threw the kid out of the escort about 65 feet, then the back of the escort came around and smacked the t-bird right behind the drivers' door. I was actually surprised how well it held up. It was totaled according to the insurance company, but there wasn't a LOT of damage to the body. A dent behind the drivers' door, broken rear glass and the front was smashed up a little bit (forced the front of the car back into the front of the engine). The engine was toast and it would have cost the insurance more money than the car was worth to fix just that I'd imagine. It had about 85k miles on it at the time. Oh yeah, the engine caught on fire too, but they put it out relatively quickly (within a couple of minutes). The insurance company made a killing off of me for that. They probably turned around and sold the car for a couple thousand, as well as raising my insurance rates about 50x what a normal person would pay.

A tip for the guys of the forum...do NOT let a woman drive a "performance" car. This same woman wrecked my Trans Am while driving like an idiot (again, she says she wasn't, but I don't believe it) on wet pavement. In fact, she's wrecked every vehicle she's had at one time or another. She's a really crappy driver.

Oh, back to the topic, get the T-Bird SC if you want something relatively fast and cheap.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

That era of the T-Bird and Cougar engines had a fairly serious issues with head gaskets and some times the heads themselves. If it is the turbo charged engine just assume you will be doing engine work.



Not all of them had issues, however, most of them did...

 

[Brian Duncan]

Find an SHO - I had one that would smoke a Super Coot after just a couple of mods.



Dunc

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

Are parts for any of those cars you list readily available?

 

[Sam Woodson]

I also had a 92 Tbird SC 5spd before, no problems until just over 100k miles it overheated. It rode and handled really well, a lot like the 86 Mustang GT I had before.



The SHO's have too many problems. The original ones have to have the valves adjusted and many people don't know that, including the dealers, which leads to problems after you get many miles on it. I considered a newer SHO, but they are only Automatics and also have a problem with the cams breaking unless they are welded, Ford denies there is a problem though.



The Mustang and Mark 7 have plenty of engine and tranny parts available, both are 5.0's. There seem to be a lot of the Mark 7's with decent mileage available, my wife doesn't like the looks of them though. I do prefer the ones that have all the body moldings the same color as the car, not in chrome. There is a sweet 5spd (very rare) on eBay now, but I'm sure it will go for more than I am willing to pay. A convertible (also very rare) recently sold for just over $10,000 on eBay.



The Toyota is a long shot, just because it appears they have all been run into the ground, fun fast car though, I test drove one back in 88 or so, but it had oversized tires/wheels that rubbed and I didn't buy it. I also like the Nissan Pulsar from the same Era, but again, not much luck finding one with the Twin Cam engine in good condition With a Manual.



I'm open to other ideas, I'd prefer an American car. I'd like something fun to drive with some creature comforts like climate control and a nice ride. I may consider a Stealth with the AWD, as this will be my bad weather/daily driver and something that's good in rain would be nice. Something decent on gas would be good too. The Tbird SC and Mustang GT both get 27-29 highway going from the 2 I previously owned.



Also of interest would be a Merkur XR4Ti if in good condition and with a 5 spd. I'll just keep watching, no hurry at this point.



Thanks,

 

[Jim Reeves]

Did the kid in the Escort live?:unsure:

 

[Jeff C]

I know that Wayne's friend Ryan has a SVT Contour, and it's pretty quick. No rocket ship like a GT would be, but not bad for a 4-door. Wayne can also tune the Contours.

 

[Chris Joyce]

Sam, My first car was a 91 Ford TBird Supercoupe. It had the best metallic silver paint job. I loved that car. It was sporty, fast, had luxuries. It was very reliable except in the snow. Just my 2 cents.:lol:

 

[William Coffelt]

Import a Nissan Skyline from Japan.