5-Speed Supercharged! 1990 Ford Thunderbird
This 1990 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe is being offered for sale by the original owner. Claimed to have 36K original miles, this beauty shows as new. And that makes me wonder, what’s this ‘Bird been doing for the last 33 years? Well, let’s look her over and see what we can learn. This boosted T-Bird is located in Endicott, New York and is available at no reserve, here on eBay for a current bid of $10,100 with nineteen bids tendered so far.
Subjectively speaking, I’ve been hot and cold towards Ford’s famous personal luxury coupe. I didn’t really start to like them until the ’64-’66 edition. In coupe form, I thought the ’67 to ’71 versions were very respectable but the four-door body styles were decidedly “un-Thunderbirdish” in my book. Once you get to ’73, you’re full into cheesy, ersatz, disco-duck mobiles that only got more bodacious as the ’70s ground on. The year 1977 brought some sanity to the bloat and excessiveness that had bedeviled the previous generation but the ’80 further downsizing brought about an economy car vibe. The ninth generation (’83-’88) really put the T-bird back on a proper footing and turbo-charging returned some excitement to the storied model. Finally, Ford hit a lick with the ’89-’97 tenth generation, such as our subject car. It had been a long way around but FoMoCo settled into a design, with features like rear independent suspension and supercharging that were right for the times and worthy of the Thunderbird moniker. Then, what happened? Well, they got it right, so they killed it. It’s a shame too, as the SC Thunderbird, in particular, was pretty popular. Offered between ’89 and ’95, 58K came into the light and 1990 was its best year with 22K finding first-time new homes.
The seller of today’s find tells us, “Flawless car, never even been outside in the rain. Still presents as new. The undercarriage is as nice as it was in the showroom. No scratches, dents, dings, no paint work, flawless car. Not even a wrinkle in the seat. Perfect. You cannot find a better example anywhere“. Well, he’s got me convinced, I can’t find a nit to pick. It sounds as if the only non-original components are the battery and the tires.
The heart of the ‘Bird is its 210 net HP, supercharged 3.8 liter, V6 engine, which in this case is connected to a five-speed manual transmission. Nothing is said regarding this car’s operating prowess though there’s no reason to doubt that it’s not as Ford intended. The engine compartment is complete and essentially spotless.
Inside, the environment’s condition matches that of the exterior – it is like new. The plasticy instrument panel is typical of the era but shows no cracks or blemishes and as stated in the listing, that driver’s seat looks as if it never met a human bottom. There’s a lot of charcoal gray going on inside but it’s so clean it still manages to be inviting. The only down-size is the front seat automatic seatbelts – imagine those in an AI world that’s gone on the fritz.
This is a no-reserve auction and someone’s going to get a magnificent specimen of one of Ford’s best from the ’90s – a decade that gave every auto manufacturer mixed reviews. Time’s almost up – this may be the best (and last?) chance to score a very cool ride wouldn’t you agree?
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Comments
Almost bought one just like it in 90′ It was a really nice driving car..
The dealer also had a bare bones 89 LX 5.0 mustang notchback stripper model on the lot. I really liked the looks of the T Bird, and you didn’t see that many SuperCoupes around.
Ended up driving away in the 5.0 for substantially less money 💰.
The difference in those cars even the ride was drastically different though the LX if i read correctly it had a 5-0 was Most definitely FASTER however the rye was so much nicer and either the Thunderbird turbo or super coupe and as well in the Lincoln LSC with the 50 because all had airbag suspension system that changed and became set for performance versus comfort depending on how fast you’re going or how fast your accelerating It could change automatically or there was a setting to change it manually at least until you hit 85 miles an hour which point the car decided you were performing and needed it firm and designed for control not the comfort rides…… STILL NOT a problem since So at the speeds we’re talking the car was right You needed it said as far as the suspension and handling the way it did get firm for cornering and handling all together better than that airbag ride that was great and comfortable when you just cruising along at 80 mph or more…. BUT having it set automatically was pretty cool
I really wanted one of these back in the day, but couldn’t afford one. Settled for a brand new 93 5.0 equipped version. It was a really great car, performed well and looked the part after I added side skirts.
Good write-up Jim. To me these were nicely styled, sporty cars with decent performance. Original owner, who clearly loved and babied the car for decades. If you are interested in a Super Coupe, this looks like a fine example.
Had a red one with black leather interior, AT though. Great running car..
The 5.0 equipped Thunderbird was a really nice hwy cruiser i bet Keith.
Really handsome Touring coupes.
Owned a ’93 5.0 LX, fully loaded AT.
Swapped the factory “V8” badges on the fenders for the Fox Mustang “5.0” badges.
If I had $1 for every time I had to pop the hood to prove to someone that yes, it REALLY WAS a 5.0. 😆
Why’s it gotta be red? Sadd face.
Cool car for sure, I didn’t even know these existed. It would be a good understated, adult substitute for an 80s-90s Camaro/Firebird.
I had 3 of these between 1989 and 1992 as company cars. Great cars and a lot of fun to drive. The little secret was that the automatic was way faster due to it being equipped with a 3:27 rear gear, vs. the 2:83 ratio that came with the 5 speed. No optional choices were available, and while the 5 speed was a lot of fun to drive, the auto, was much faster.
Beautiful T Bird, in a flawless state. My wife had a ’94 V-8. Had about the same HP as this car. And it was a lot cheaper. The problem with these was the bang for the buck.
I have a90 sc auto took it to the drag strip people were surprised it smoked the tires that much ran 16.1 e.t at 87m.p.h for around a 3500 pound car not bad I like car I have friends there g.m. and mopar guys they like the car I plan to keep it and restore it someday
Had one identical to this car, same year, same color. It was a nightmare after 100K miles. At that point, the head gaskets blew. I was a bit of a shade tree mechanic back then and didn’t think twice about pulling the motor but I had no idea what I was in for. I also realized the motor mounts were shot and as long as the motor was coming out, I might as well attend to the slipping clutch and, well, why not replace the rings and bearings? Eventually hammered it all back together but it never idled right after that. I gave up and took it to the dealership but even the Ford techs couldn’t figure it out. So glad I found a buyer. If you insist on having one of these, be forewarned that even replacing the plugs will cost you about a unit of blood.
Plugs did suck to do on these.A few 4 letter words were uttered while I did a set.I will comment below.
Wow!
Never saw a cleaner one!
I’d pay less than 20K for it.
I had 2 in the past, both V6s, no SC though.
Very expensive labor to replace the heater core if it gos……like a 8 hour job.
Did you have a lot of problems with the super coupe? I didn’t own that version is long as the turbo coupe/TC . I bought that car when it was almost a year old special ordered with ALL bells & whistles including sunroof, premium sound & keyless entry…it only had about 15,000 miles on it when I bought it & since I drove over 1,000 miles per week The price I paid wasn’t a big deal but financing it for 30 months to get it paid for BEFORE I push the mileage past the bumper to bumper factory warranty of 100,000 miles required short terms and a payment of over $500 a month would shock people who kept going to the window to see where the Lamborghini was they thought I was buying lol. But the good thing was as I might have mentioned I changed the engine at 225,000 miles the motor finally wore out… HOWEVER Sounds good with no car is unemployed so I also spent about $1,200 the year before redoing the airbag suspension and the summer before that $1,000 plus labor to replace The turbocharger…etc . When I bought the turbo coupe there were only two cars on the road that had 16 in wheels, obviously the turbo coupe the other was a Corvette and you would NOT BELIEVE what it COST For four tires and an alignment especially when you’re used to driving a cougar couple years older and four tires and alignment were around 5:50 650 all the sudden I’m paying almost $1,500, I had to get a credit card at that Texaco station I remember so I could pay the bill Because I wasn’t prepared financially and I was shocked to say the least…. Other than those things being done there was no other work other than basically replacing brakes once in a while and one time the clutch had to be replaced since I had not driven a clutch before except for back when I was 18 with my first car almost 20 years earlier so first clutch didn’t last as long but I got my money’s worth out of that car My kid was driving it when it was almost up to 300,000 miles when he blew the whole thing up/motor was toast after… racing against that Porsche and blowing the motor kids comment back to me when I complain what he DID SAY WAS that he was WINNING lol
what?
Back it 89 or 90 one of our customers at the repair shop had one of these.His was the anniversary edition in black with the special badging.I think it had black and grey leather seats with blue piping.His had the aode trans.He’d beat the snot out of it and loved it.Only problem he had was smoking a trans every 100k or so had to take the gas tank down to get the driveshaft off that sucked..I remember putting spark plugs in and it was a pain in the arse.The supercharger belt wasn’t fun either.Otherwise the car was reliable and we never did any engine repairs I might of done motor mounts too. We always and only used Mobil 1 in it every 6k miles.He was a salesman so he’d rack the miles up .Got rid of it at around 250k.They did run hard.Wouldn’t mind driving one again.glwts.
It is a good-looking car. Happened I’ve had a 91 V6 plus my current 94 V8. Did plugs once on the V6, it was a bear getting my hand in some areas to get the old plugs out and the new ones in, the 94 SOHC is a whole lot easier and accessible.
I like the 10th generation body, IMO it’s both good looking and fun to drive. Ironically back about 1997, Ford took 3 T-Birds with the DHOC engines and trannys from the Mustang, transplanted into the T-Bird and took them on the Hot Rod Power Tour. I was seriously considering trading my 94 for a 5 speed 98, right up to the moment Ford said the T-Bird was cancelled and crushed those 3 cars shortly after the completion of the Power Tour. Boy was it depressing to see the end of the T-Bird!
I bought a demo 84 Thunderbird Elan 302 fuel injected had the stupid 85 mph Speedo but had a trip computer that would so mph over the trip I was flat to the floor hit the computer showed 121 mph that was a great car silver metallic and red velvet interior
I’m out of breath reading these posts without punctuation.
I was interested until I saw the stupid American style seatbelts. Don’t mandate wearing seltbelts like other countries, just equipe cars with these idiotic things. Otherwise a beautiful car
Mfgs had a choice, either add airbags or auto seat belts at that time. Back in those days some of us still were clinging to the quaint idea that we lived in a free country, and nobody had the authority to mandate what I must do inside my own vehicle.
Times change and freedom was fleeting.
Blame it on stupid Americans with a safety related deathwish and refusing to buckle up. Some don’t want some belt around their waist while others “don’t want to be ‘trapped in the car’ and erroneously preferred to be “thrown free of the vehicle.” “Nanny government” finally got tired of the ER carnage and told auto manufacturers its either automatic belts or airbags, pick one.
I have always had a fondness for Thunderbirds and have owned many. Some were just not my style. I am surprised that the author didn’t include the Retro birds of 2002 to 2005. They are great cars and underappreciated. I have a 2005 50Th Anniversary and I love it. It has been the best one of all the T-Birds that I have owned. I hope someday Ford will do another Anniversary Retro model. I would be interested for sure.
I’ve got a ’90 35th Anniversary SC. with 27,000 miles on it. Really like the car…only complaint is it doesn’t have enough leg room…I’m pretty tall. I don’t remember the notchback 5.0 Mustang having the same problem.
Some of the SC specific parts are getting hard to find. Suspension parts are particularly scarce. The later SCs have true dual exhausts. To retrofit ’em to the earlier models requires changing the gas tank, so I haven’t done it. Even though there aren’t a ton of them around there’s a SC specific parts/website that does a good job.
My first nice car was a ‘91 T-bird I bought when I graduated basic/AIT/jump school in the spring of ‘93. I really wanted a Mustang 5.0, until my dad went to pick up the one I put a deposit on and tried to get insurance for it and was told that full coverage for a 19 year old with a couple speeding tickets was… $5500 a year. The insurance payment was more than the damn car! Needless to say I didn’t get the 5.0, but man I loved that T-bird and treated it like a baby. After I got out of the army I started working construction and traded it for a Dodge Dakota with the 318, and then promptly got laid off and lost the Dakota. Very sad day.
If I bought this SC, I’d immediately take it to a tuner shop and build the engine for revs and a lot more boost, they only rev to 5500 which doesn’t scream “high performance” to me. I’d build the engine with forged internals, install a high-lift cam and a much bigger supercharger and then enjoy the heck out of driving it on every nice day. These are great looking cars that are very nice to drive, on the highway or twisty roads.
Ford was building performance back in the early 90’s. There was the SC, the GT, and the SHO.
I picked a ’91 SHO and had a lot of fun with it.
I also owned a ‘91 SHO and can confirm that they are a blast to drive! Hands down my favorite fwd car I’ve owned, it was really quick, luxurious, reliable and handled extremely well for a front wheel drive car. The Yamaha built 3.0 liter V-6 was an engineering marvel and looked as good as it ran. Every time I would pop the hood to show it off, invariably the first reaction from everyone was “wow, that’s a sweet looking engine”! Never failed to impress people.
GI, I’m glad you had a good experience with your SHO. Mine wasn’t so great. I bought it used with very low miles from a Ford dealership, so it was basically new.
But, I would have a small mechanical issue almost every month. The alternator, the electric fan, etc. Since they were all specialty parts, every repair trip was $400 or so.
After enough of those, I traded it for a Maxima.
It took about 25 years, but I’m back with Ford with 3 in the driveway.
But, that SHO was a fun car and quite the sleeper.
I’ve always loved the Super and Turbo Coups. This one would be my ultimate T-Bird. Plan on replacing the head gaskets at some point. The more time on the clock, the fewer miles it takes before the 3.8L gaskets gives up the gasket ghost. Once the plastic interior parts start crumbling away it is an uphill battle to find parts. These observations are solely based on my personal experience.
I owned one, same everything. 290k+ miles and only replaced battery & tires, just changed the oil every 6,000 miles and checked compression of the engine by it’s own electronic system. Ex-wife wrecked it and bent the frame, that was the end of a great car. Didn’t use oil and pretty good on gas milage, so I can’t complain about anything.
I had a 90 third in the same shade of red but with a normally aspirated V6. Loved that car. Looked like nothing else on the road and rode like dream. But, it really started rusting bad in the rockers after only a couple years. Front end bushings, Tie rods, started going bad too. Noted the problem changing plugs too, but the worst were those rubber valve cover gaskets.
Stupid autocorrect, tbird not third.