I found this ad leafing through a December 16, 1991 Autoweek and decided that, as a counterpoint to Saturday’s ’73 Mustang, it made for a timely post. The first panel, as you see, isn’t the most eye-catching, but with hindsight, it was a perfect way to inaugurate the touchy-feely early ’90s. The cars it was promoting, luckily, were decidedly less corny; we often reflect on Ford as a purveyor of soft, isolated boats in the ’70s, but it’s fun to remember just how well they redeemed themselves as the ’80s wore on.
By the early ’90s, their hard work culminated in a full host of very rewarding cars. And unlike other American manufacturers, where Ford knew its efforts wouldn’t be sufficient, they were humble enough to get help from Japan to complete the line-up. If this ad were printed one year later, the much-improved Probe GT V6 and the Cobra R would be gracing these pages, but with the renewed, Yamaha-powered SHO and surprisingly impressive Escort GT, getting the word out was worth doing quickly.
If this ad were for 1993 models, the Mustang GT would’ve been less boast-worthy, having inexplicably lost twenty horsepower. When this ad ran, though, the Mustang GT was still making a healthy 225 horsepower, nearly ending a very successful run for the original Fox chassis, seemingly getting better with each year in production. Three years earlier, the Thunderbird had switched from the Fox chassis to the ill-fated, porky MN12, but in supercharged SC trim, it gets top billing in this ad, appearing twice.
Because only about 4,000 buyers understood its appeal in 1992, with even fewer caring today, it’s worth taking a moment to remember. No need to deny the car’s obvious flaws as long as we don’t deny its appeal and with 315 lb-ft of torque sent through a limited slip differential to independently suspended rear wheels, it wasn’t especially dull. If I find one in the wild, I’ll snap pictures and write up a very positive full-on CC (same goes for the Probe). While it was big, heavy and not as frisky as the quad-shocked Turbo Coupe of the mid ’80s, perhaps we can more charitably see it as a ’90s successor to the Galaxie 7-Liter.
Speaking of full-sized sport, Ford’s approach to forming a performance line-up was decidedly inverse of its crosstown rivals. Until the sensational Neon came out, after all, none of the era’s domestic small car offerings were as sharp as the Escort GT, while the Probe GT was also more sophisticated than anything like the Dodge Avenger, let alone GM’s front-drive competition. But Chevy gave us the Impala SS and today offers the Chevrolet SS, while Chrysler has given us a number of (very cool) Hemi-powered LX-chassis variants over the past eleven years; it’d be a stretch to consider the Marauder much in terms of competition, let alone a Crown Vic Touring Sedan.
But ‘roided-up big cars weren’t what most enthusiastic drivers wanted, and even with the second-gen SHO, the Probe GT and the Escort GT gone after 1997, Ford kept lead-footed drivers happy throughout the ensuing years with the excellent–and even more obscure–SVT Contour and Focus, alongside ever beefier Pony Cars. So while a lot of time is spent talking about Ford’s 1990s missteps, it’s all too easy to forget just how serious Ford was about proving itself as a maker of driver’s cars in the early part of the decade. Today, we can point to today’s reinvigorated 2015 Mustang, along with the brilliant Focus ST and frisky Fiesta ST as a sign of the company’s current good intentions, but after featuring last week’s blue Pinto and big Mustang, I owed it to the blue oval fans among us to take this walk down memory lane.
Related reading:
CC Capsule: 1992 Mercury Tracer LTS – An Almost Forgotten Gem?
COAL: 1995 Ford Thunderbird LX – Learning To Fly
Car Show Classic: 1982 Ford Mustang GT – Welcome Back
CC Outtake: One Good SHO Deserves Another
In the second half of the 80s and first half of the 90s, Ford really had it going on. While quality (or I should say durability) levels were uneven between the different lines, there was an appeal factor that went across the board. I watched firsthand as several older family members or friends bought their first-ever FoMoCo cars, or their first in a long, long time.
All of my experience was with the big ones, and my one late model vehicle purchase during those years was a 94 Club Wagon.
Then we all watched starting around 96-97 as Ford started hacking costs out of the cars, making the good ones unappealing, and the bad ones unbearable.
You have to believe that none of this went unnoticed by GM, since they seemingly picked up where Ford left off in 1994 by dropping the Corvette’s LT1 V8 into the Camaro/Firebird/Caprice/Roadmaster.
Which were dropped shortly afterwards. 1996 for B/D body and the F body sold slowly until 2002.
And they turned the great SHO V6 into a half-assed, 60 degree angle V8(WTF) cam-gear spitting time bomb.
Nassar really screwed Ford up by taking the money needed for products and divesting it all over the place. An experiment gone bad.
Ahh, Mr Nassar. He was CEO of a Ford Australia and is now Chairman of BHP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world!
While he was CEO here Ford ran the exact same “have you driven a Ford, lately” advertising campaign sync there was even a Song to go with it.
I always want to buy a 89-93 Tbird, as long as without the Essex V6. but the first time i ended up with a ’95 Mark VIII, since it was easier to find. it was hit by a Dodge Ram so i was looking for another one, however i ended up with a ’93 Mark VIII cuz Tbird is just so scarce. but after two weeks i realized the car was unreliable so i got a ’94 MK8 not a Tbird, there isnt any nice one out there, even Mark VIII is far more common comparing to that. a ’89 or ’90 Tbird would be close enough to Hagerty Classic car insurance giving me a $700 full coverage for a year comparing to more than twice of the Mark VIII. full coverage for my ’78 Volare is only shy of 700 bucks anyway, plus unlimited roadside assistance for all my vehicles but especially for the winter driving LeSbare just in case twice a week.
i just wonder how different a well optioned Tbird could be. it would be slightly slower for Windsor 5.0, but faster in SC. a bit cramped in rear comparing to Mark VIII, but not really necessary to me anyway. but i bet Tbird is definitely cheaper to keep running comparing to Mark VIII when parts are Lincoln exclusive sometimes, and Tbird at that time must have great handing ( i was driving around Willow Run and a ’94-’95 Tbird passed me much faster when i was going 135mph and changing lanes. an early Olds Aurora was faster than both of us though ) that could be much enough to me.
The problem with the 89-93 MN12 Thunderbirds/Cougars, and a big reason they’ve become so rare, is that they were the worst rusters, particularly the 89-92s with the several non galvanized stampings and abundance of sponge like chassis foam. 93+ models, including the Mark VIII, held up much better due to better chassis prep. Rust tends to be much more localized when it happens compared to the full blown all encompassing cancer the 89-92s are prone to. Plus 5.0s are actually as rare as SCs, probably more so, they were only made in 91 and 92 and they didn’t have a huge take rate. The 4.6s were the only V8 MN12s that outsold the ESSEX V6
chassis foam explains i think. here in Michigan, Lincoln Mark VIII rusts extremely fast also usually around 10k rocker panels are long gone. Ford Thunderbird is nowhere to see unless an obvious garage keeper, but not really many people keep an Essex V6 in garage anyway and their cash value is just minimum. those cars are the worst for winter time i think ( handing is far from confident on snowy road. even need to be cautious on rainy days ) but the handing is really rewarding in summer time and mpg is impressive for MK8, around 25-29 cruising on hwy.
i do see Thunderbird SC for sale occasionally but Windsor 5.0 is just rare. by the time they got Modular 4.6, the interior is improved but the exterior does not look as nice as the earlier ones, i dont feel really like it. i think exterior got worse after years, while i never like the rear window of Cougar, always reminds me of my $700 rusty New Yorker Fifth Avenue.
Good point on the rust issues. Here in central VA (and my previous locale of central NC) we don’t deal with a lot of road salt, and yet rusty MN12 Thunderbirds used to be pretty common. The rusty ones have long since departed, and what results is that the pre-facelift MN12s are almost all gone. Still quite a few of the 1993+ ones around, and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a rusty Mark VIII. So whatever they changed that year did the trick.
Kind of a pity as I liked the 88-92 front fasica much better. The smoother look just worked better. And while the side profile was obviously, and admittedly, influenced by the E24 BMW 6-series, that’s not a bad thing at all.
The Mark VIII does have an unfortunate amount of Lincoln-specific and therefore hard-to-find parts, but that was why it was so special. It was really its own car through and through (technically the FN10 platform, not the MN12 like the T-bird/Cougar), unlike the dressed-up Fords that are in the showroom today.
I knew the T-Bird SC was not a big seller, but I didn’t fully appreciated how low the numbers were until now. I did occasionally see one back then. I still see the 3.8, 5.0 and 4.6 cars on occasion. The 4.6 was probably the best fit for this T-Bird’s image. Modern, but still traditional.
I remember the 90s, And while I’ve never found the Ford Probe to be very exciting, I still liked the Mustang and the Thunderbird of this generation. I wasn’t crazy about the Ford Escort of this generation either.
In 1989, being 16 with a new license, I was more interested in new cars than I would be ever again. Super Coupe or SHO? That was the question. Not that I had the cash, then or now, for that matter! Still like the looks of those ‘Birds.
I know what you mean. I wasn’t into either the Ford Taurus or the Mercury Sable until the SHO debuted. It’s too bad the Sable didn’t get the same treatment.
We bought a ’91 Probe GL after the Mazda dealer wouldn’t let us drive a 626hatch. It was a great car for us. Drove and handled nicely, got good mileage around town, excellent mileage on road trips,hauled a ton of everything, except passengers (no head or leg room in back) and totally trouble free. Still mechanically going strong it died of rust at135k (MN and VT are not kind to cars). My only complaints were rear visibility, and how high the liftover was for the hatch. I think it would have made a fantastic 2 door sport wagon but I may be the only one who would have bought one.
It was the first Ford auto I owned and is part of the reason that about half the cars, and 2 of the 3 100k mile cars we’ve owned since then, have been Fords.
I remember the 90’s too!
LOL
The most important vehicle for Ford in 1991 was the all new Explorer 4 door SUV. Some said that only 2 doors trucks matter since they are ‘sportier’, but reality is utility is what matters.
That’s definitely true, but this post was about the much more flingable cars featured in this ad. Quite a line-up, in my opinion.
I really dropped my the ball in my predictions about the Exploder.
I remember going to look at them and thought it would be just a low-volume fringe product. Oops.
Mee too. I was sure that the 2 door would outsell the 4 door. After all, look at how many Blazers and Bronco IIs had sold. Doooh.
“…the Escort GT gone after 1997…”
The 1998 Escort ZX2 replaced the GT coupe, and had DOHC engines standard. It was a hit with tuners, evan more so than the E-GT. So, it is not as if Ford ‘abandoned’ the sport compact market all the sudden.
They were unattractive and less tactile; and in non-SVT form, the Zetec was not nearly as zingy as the Mazda B-block. The 91-96 Escort GT was superior, in my opinion and regardless of that, showed a much more substantial effort by Ford management, versus the reskinned 97 Escort line-up. I’d also take a Focus ZX3 over an Escort ZX2.
Look at how many two-door models Ford had in the early 90’s compared to today:
Festiva
Escort
Probe
Mustang
Tempo
Thunderbird
In 2014, we only have one — Mustang
‘Tis a shame. I understand changing demographics, economies of scale and such, but I wish we had more options for affordable two doors these days. Sigh.
The only Ford my entire family has ever owned is 1960s Falcon before I was born so the only early 90s Ford I am very familiar with is a 92-94 Econoline I was tasked to keep an eye on for about a month.
I loved those “porky” Thunderbirds. They rode and handled quite well for their size. I had one as my second car in the late 90s which I wrote about a while back. I have yet to own another car that has the same mix of comfort and handling. I await your super coupe write up; as I lusted after them at the time.
And on the other side of the world I can’t remember any similar ads, but there were a few performance options here in 1991. The Laser TX3 looked identical to the Escort GT above, and could be had with a 1.8L DOHC turbo (Mazda BP) with 156 hp and AWD. Then there was the Telstar TX5 turbo with a 3-valve 2.2L 134 hp and monster torque steer.
The most significant car though was the return of the 5.0L V8 in the Falcon which was available in the S-XR8 with T5 manual and 3.23 LSD, slightly stiffer suspension and optional 16″ wheels.
Looking for ads I found this magazine cover of the Falcon S-XR8 being compared to the Commodore SS. I am pretty sure I have a copy of this one. Both cars had 220 hp and 290 lb-ft. The Commodore was a bit lighter at 3000 lb versus the Falcon’s 3300 but performance was practically identical.
For the next model the clumsy “S-” prefix was dropped leaving the XR8 name, that is about to return after a few years’ hiatus, for the final Falcon. It will be a cracker too, with the supercharged 5.0.
Here is the Telstar TX5 (a badge-engineered Mazda 626)
Am I allowed to think that Telstar is pretty? Because I kinda really do.
I would say pretty was on the strong side of things, they were a slightly blandified Mazda 626. A nice overall shape but no character. The following model was better looking (better all-round actually), and the Ford version was better-looking than the Mazda. This one is practically identical to the one my mother had, they later color-coded the bumper inserts.
Re the below comment, I was only really comparing anything the Fords and as I said thought I would share the magazine cover find. These cars weren’t great as performance cars anyway being basically an appearance package and mild suspension change. Mechanically they weren’t anything that couldn’t be had in the rest of the range.
Well, I don’t know if I can compare GM’s global efforts to their dithering back home during this period. The Astra always offered some nice hot versions, and then there were the Opel Senator and Lotus Carlton in Europe as well. I think what makes this ad unique is that it shows how, at the time, Ford was pretty unique among domestic manufacturers in giving buyers in all segments something fun and up-to-date. It’s easy to forget, without seeing an ad like this.
You guys down under got a lot of good stuff from French manufacturers, European GMs and Ford in addition to your right hand drive Japanese connection and big V8 Holdens/Falcons.
These particular models make this my favorite Ford era by far. It’s just too bad the lesser versions of these cars were so clearly decontented and softened up for the masses.
The Thunderbird SC was way ahead of it’s time, the current trio of pony cars are much more in line to that loaded up 3800lb IRS equipped coupe than the comparatively sparse and light 92 Mustang, that’s for sure.
Yeah, this really is my favorite Ford era as well; that’s why I posted this ad. Glad you appreciate it!
Also, that’s a great line, “I’m not fat, I’m just ahead of my time!”
I’ll take that teal colored one with the NY tags in the fourth picture. I don’t really remember that particular 90s model, though, must have been an early example of “retro” design.
Thinking of the MN12 Thunderbirds as successors to the 7-Litre Galaxie is actually a pretty clever idea. Hits the nail on the head, in my opinion. In SC trim, it can also be seen as an American interpretation of a Grand Touring car, at a price point that makes it within the reach of the masses. Compromised? Yes, but it’s hard not to be when you can’t price the car high enough to avoid them.
Looks like a pretty decent BMW 6-series competitor too, *-“properly equipped” no doubt.
I imagine they could do a similar thing today with Lincoln if they felt so inclined. Arguably they need to, as they need some image improvement.
Ships passing in the night though–the 6-series went out of production after 1989, first year for the MN12. Competitors in power, perhaps, and style, maybe, but even the very nice Mark VIII interior didn’t feel BMW quality. A great design and fantastic seats, saddled with questionable materials and parts-bin switchgear etc. Handling? No contest. And the 8-series went balls to the wall high tech, with a V12 in the top model.
They *could* do something like that with Lincoln today, i.e. bring back the Mark series, but they’d have to either base it on a lengthened Mustang platform (not necessarily appropriate) or develop something from the ground up (the brand would probably be dead by that time). When they abandoned the RWD platform after the LS’s departure, they lost the ability to properly compete with Cadillac. I’m starting to think Ford wants to let Lincoln wither some more to justify killing it.
I think a ‘stang-based competitor would be quite appropriate. I’m sure it’s quite the substantial platform and these days, has world-class dynamics. Maybe Ford is entering Total Performance, Take Three these days.