Is An 85 Ford Turbo Coupe Worth Any Time

[faster]

Have a chance to pick up a bone stock, 40K mile, black, 85 Ford Turbo Coupe 5 speed for $850. Runs perfect, AC, all electrics work. No rust, no leaks, great seats and interior (needs some interior door panel TLC), two new tires. Has a very cheap paint job and missing some exterior trim. Front and rear bumpers good.

Are they worth playing with for a daily driver? My research shows the normal mods only get it into the low 15's, high 14's and it takes money and work to get them into the low 13's. Engine is suppose to be bulletproof, T-5 trans will be a weak link. Think I just talked myself out of it.

Mikey

 

[notacarlo]

I have the SVO. Same engine, but intercooled. They are superb daily drivers and great on the fuel. Go drive it and see what you think. The 88' is the ideal TC, but the 85' is fun too.
Mine has the world class T5 and it is bulletproof. There are lots of mods, but if this is a daily driver why mess with it?
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[JimP]

I owned an 87 back in the day, it was a good car, 87's and 88's were inter-cooled, had the 8.8 rear diff with 3.73's and rear disc brakes. (not sure if the 85 was, 84-86 SVO's and Merkur's were all inter-cooled)

The suspension was computer controlled, it had great seats, interior etc.... but I found mine was thirsty for what it was, mind you it wasn't a light car at about 3.700 lbs and about 200hp. I never hurt the t-5 despite lots of of needless and unnecessary power shifting ( just don't miss the 2-3 and your good). I put about 40,000 miles on it before I bought a 5.0.

I think for $850 you can do a hell of a lot worse, and who knows show it some tlc, enjoy it a bit and maybe even make a buck if you decide to sell it. Now if you had a choice between and SVO and the T-Bird the SVO would be my choice hands down! If you do grab it, first thing I would do is change the timing belt as cheap insurance.

 

[notacarlo]

Agreed.. And my SVO is available but this isn't a for sale thread.

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[chadswe4]

Great car! I had I for about 12 years. Ran great. Great MPG. Light and nimble. Well balanced and much lighter than the 87-88. If I could find one that cheap I'd buy it!
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[chadswe4]

It you get tired of the 4 banger you could always upgrade to a 5.0 and a turbo kit!

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[Heisenberg]

Whats a "Ford"?
Not familiar with that word.

 

[faster]

I have the SVO. Same engine, but intercooled. They are superb daily drivers and great on the fuel. Go drive it and see what you think. The 88' is the ideal TC, but the 85' is fun too.
Mine has the world class T5 and it is bulletproof. There are lots of mods, but if this is a daily driver why mess with it?
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

A very, very good friend owns it so I know it. He took it in trade, drove it but never got around to finishing it. We just bought property out of town and will now have a 40 mile round trip commute to work and I am so tired of driving the Mercury Grand Marquis I bought as a high school car for my kids but I ended up driving it and it is just too boring to live in for that daily commute.

Great car! I had I for about 12 years. Ran great. Great MPG. Light and nimble. Well balanced and much lighter than the 87-88. If I could find one that cheap I'd buy it!
Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

You may be talking me into it. Should have never started this thread Ha, ha, ha...

Mikey

 

[1fastcobra]

This may help u go in the right direction

http://stinger-performance.com/

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[20psiofevil]

I would jump on it at that price.

 

[seeyabye]

Great cars especially for daily driver duty. They are reliable, easy to work on and get incredible fuel economy. My last one got 35mpg on the highway. They are fun to drive with the t-5 but will never be super fast. They don't respond as well to bolt ons as the Turbo Regals and there is very little aftermarket for them. The Turbo Coupes and the Shelby Daytona's are some of my favorite daily driver cars.

 

[seeyabye]

Oh, and if you don't want it at that price, I will take it. Buy it and drive it for a while and sell it to me for more money when you get tired of it!

 

[20psiofevil]

Great cars especially for daily driver duty. They are reliable, easy to work on and get incredible fuel economy. My last one got 35mpg on the highway. They are fun to drive with the t-5 but will never be super fast. They don't respond as well to bolt ons as the Turbo Regals and there is very little aftermarket for them. The Turbo Coupes and the Shelby Daytona's are some of my favorite daily driver cars.

Never be super fast huh? John Hueber, go to you tube and type in that name. also go over to the turbo forums and look for 2.3t's. Some are running 8's.

It costs but you can make anything fast. 10k in the right persons hands can go a long way.

 

[notacarlo]

8's with th400's

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[20psiofevil]

9's with a world class g force. No lift shift mod is an awesome piece of technology but hard to beat a converter on a turbo car.

 

[seeyabye]

Never be super fast huh? John Hueber, go to you tube and type in that name. also go over to the turbo forums and look for 2.3t's. Some are running 8's.

It costs but you can make anything fast. 10k in the right persons hands can go a long way.

You are right. I meant compared to the ease and availability of bolt ons for the Turbo Regals. I suppose anything can be fast with unlimited resources. It would be like putting $100g in a Turbo Regal or $1M in a ZR1.

 

[chadswe4]

Put a Volvo head on it and look out. They start to make some real power. Also talk to the guys at eslinger.

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[notacarlo]

LA3 computer, cold air intake, turbo coupe intercooler, larger vam from an SVO, 3" DP from xr4ti.com, gutted cat, manual boost controller - because the factory controller will blow in half. Header from stinger.

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[Esasky's85GN]

I had an 88. I loved that car. Didnt do too much to it. advanced timing 2 degrees, did a front mount off of a Volvo, took our the EBCS and let that little IHI run @ full 18 PSI! Ran like a champ! Got rid of it with 174,000 miles and was still kicking. Kid I sold it to wrecked it 2 weeks later. :-(

For $850.00, I would definitely pick it up. If I am not mistaken, the 85-86 model years had a better turbo on them that the 87-88s.

 

[faster]

Put a Volvo head on it and look out. They start to make some real power. Also talk to the guys at eslinger.

Posted from the TurboBuick.Com mobile app

Did some research on the web and there are definitely some fast 4 banger turbo coupes.

Oh, and if you don't want it at that price, I will take it. Buy it and drive it for a while and sell it to me for more money when you get tired of it!

It belongs to a very good friend who took it in partial trade for another car he was selling. I will "borrow it" for a while and drive it. If I don't buy it you will be the first to know.

You guys have peaked my curiosity now.

Mikey.