This 1986 Ford Thunderbird is one of the Vehicles that Killed the Traditional American Car 

That styling has aged beautifully. It's much better looking than most modern offerings, imo.

I was in high school, a gearhead and a Ford guy. Bill Elliott was dominating Nascar and Bob Glidden was dominating the Pro Stock division of NHRA drag racing. The 87-88 T-bird Turbo Coupe is one of the sweetest looking production cars made imo.

There is something so satisfying about the green glow that comes from 80s dashboards.

I'm not much of a car person, but my first car was the 1986 Thunderbird. So I was feeling nostalgic and stumbled onto this video because I wanted to hear the ol' engine startup again. I've gotta say, I was not expecting to be so entertained. Thanks for this.

If I was in the market, I’d buy that immediately and it would probably be my daily driver! Loved those TBirds!

I had a 86 turbo coupe. All my friends advised me to not buy it. 5spd stick, it was fun to drive, a bit of a dog around town, and plenty of get up and go on the hiway. I found that if you drove it like you hated it, the fun factor dramatically increased! We put over 200k on the clock before selling her, the only major repairs were a 2nd gear synchro, and a timing belt. All in all, a fun, comfortable car that in the end, owed us nothing.

I think Bill said it has a 2.8L. Ford used a 3.8L in those T-Birds. Also, Bill didn't mention the curved design of the top of the doors that made the interior much quieter. It was a big deal for Ford cars.

Wow. We had an '85 in "charcoal grey" with the 8cyl engine and the same phone dial wheels. It had the great 8cyl engine but lacked things like the power antenna, keyless door entry and (thankfully) the door window vents. Loved that car. With all the digital displays, the interior felt like the future. In '91, my parents got a black-on-black Lincoln Mk7 LSC, which was even more incredible for the day. It was on the same Fox platform and very similar if you looked closely. They even shared the same doors. And I was handed-down the T-bird that I drove until 1995.

I owned a 1985 Lincoln Mk VII LSC and I was surprised how many people mistook it for a Thunderbird.

When I retire, I will drive only perfect 1980s-era cars from my youth just like this one.

For being old as hell, it looks fairly contemporary. Always liked these.

I've recently turned 50 and clearly recall when these came out and how Bill Elliot drove the hell out of these. My Aunt and Uncle bought an 86 Cougar, essentially the same car, and I loved it. They kept it forever. Great car.

Just sold my 44k mile 92 Cougar and had very rare full blue leather interior for 92. Great cars and very underappreciated. She was minty and truly rode better than most newer cars I ride in

My father bought a brand new Mercury Cougar back in 1984. I loved the front end styling of both vehicles.

2:20, dude, we're not shoveling snow. This beats digging your driveway out of snow.

Seeing another video drop so soon is sheer delight. Great colour on this car, and another history lesson for me on American cars, thanks Bill

Bill you have been a true gent this week with these uploads.

Sweet car! I have a 1986 Thunderbird myself with the 3.8 and only 46,000 miles. Yes these engines were anemic and prone to head gasket issues, but I never had any issues regarding that. I did end up pulling the engine and C5 trans and rebuilding both due to all the seals being shot from age. But I was able to get the horsepower up to 200 and the torque to around 250 foot pounds. Decked the heads, honed the cylinder heads, forged crank, honed intake and larger injectors while also building my own custom true dual exhausts with no emissions. And now I can hit 0-60 in 8.6 seconds at 9.5:1 compression on 93 octane. Still not the fastest these days but she holds her own! These cars shine on the highway with their torque and I can easily keep up with many high performance cars.

One of my absolute favorite cars, so many memories for me.

I preferred the Cougar to theTbird. Loved the more formal roofline.

Lovely car. What a time machine. In 1991 I drove a 81’280ZX. My best friend had an 86’ Cougar. We would switch cars from time to time. I loved driving that Cougar. It was so smooth. Always liked the T-bird styling better though

Years ago we bought a new 86 T-bird. It had the small V/8 engine, I loved that car it had very good pep. It was pleasure to drive. Only draw back they were prone to rust around the rear glass. But what a nice running car. Wish we still had it . thanks

I purchased a 1984 Turbo Coupe (Pastel Regatta Blue) in October of 1983 and to this day it is still my favorite car that I have owned. The styling was gorgeous to my eye and considering the vehicles of it's time had more than adequate power, decent fuel economy and the ride and handling was very good. Add to this the fabulous build quality that Ford's Lorain Assembly plant produced made this a truly great car. Wish I had one again....

The "speed" button was for setting a chime to sound at a certain speed so it kept you in check. You could say set it at 66, so if the speed limit was 65mph, when you hit 66mph you'd hear the chime and know you're speeding

Absolutely love these 9th gen fox body T-Birds! My uncle had an ‘87 Cougar when the 9th gens were refreshed and it was such a great car! He drove it everywhere and by the time he sold it, it had over 500,000 miles on it.

Papa Bill I’m so glad you mentioned the XR4Ti. One of my favorite failures in the car industry (at least by US standards). I’ve never even seen one in person, which isn’t surprising. I lust after those Euro suckers. If I was around when they were new, I definitely would’ve bought one. If you find an XR4Ti, please review it!

I believe you were driving a C-5, Bill. Most '86 T-Birds would have had the AOD. The V6 was 3.8L displacement and the V8 was nominally 5.0L (but technically revised to 4.9L during this time for a few years), with a 2.3L Turbo exclusive to Turbo Coupe. (In later model years, the full 5.0L V8 came back as I recall) The V8 in '86 was paired with the Ford AOD transmission only. On the V6 engine, AOD was optional. The base transmission was a C-5, not the C-3. If this car doesn't have overdrive, the original owner did not order the higher cost option or package to get it, but it was available. The interior shown is in great condition, although it also suggests this car did not come with a higher option package. Prior to '86MY, both the V6 and V8 T-Birds were CFI .... the first fuel injected system replacing traditional carburetors on these motors. In 86MY, this was upgraded to a full EFI fuel injection system.

At this point in time to find cars from the mid 80's to late 90's that are well preserved is a miracle. They just aren't regarded very well and it's always a surprise to me to see them. They take me back to my youth.

The transmission D indicator is actually OD, the O is around the D. It’s just how Ford made it.

Mr.B is on a roll, thank you for your variety this season! Epic:)

Love the key pad. Friend had one of these in college. We took it to Florida on spring break, great road trip car.

Nice review. Thanks for taking me down memory lane with the 80’s history lesson, that really bought me back to my youth. You do a good job at tracking down cars from the 70’s and 80’s that are in immaculate condition.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I had an 83 T-bird. It reminded by of the 63/64 T-bird that Grandpa had when I was a kid. Mine had the 5.5 V-8 and it went like a bat outta hell. Such fun to drive. My older brother had an 87/88 not sure which year Turbo Coupe as well. My cousin Bill even had a Cougar.

That’s a badass ride I’m sure someone is going to love this classic! Hope it survives the times..

My mom drove an ‘85 Thunderbird, which was stripped to the bone. No extras. Not even a passenger side-view mirror. It had the 3.8, 3-speed automatic. My dad bought it for her without her input. She wasn’t all that thrilled. But I sure appreciate that model now. I was 16 at the time. That speed button was meant to alert you when you exceeded your set speed limit. Very low-tech, but I used it on my mom’s car.

These were actually pretty solid cars. Definitely better than most American cars of this era. But I am bewildered that someone poured that much love into this particular car and it isn't the V8 model. That is the only model to get IMO.

that rabbit wasn't cleaning himself. he was clearly providing surveillance details to his abhorrent comrades by way of a hidden lavalier mic.

Regarding fit and finish, Ford made a huge effort to improve quality with this car. The ultimate extension of that effort was their improvement of the jaguar brand.

My grandfather had an 84, black with grey interior. I loved that car, I can still remember the ride.

I had a 1983 Turbo Coupe. It was black, grey interior, electric Recaro seats,4 wheel disc brakes, TRX tires and rims, and a 5 speed transmission. When the 2.3 finally go out, at 225,000 miles, dropped in a 5.0 HO from a StatePatrol Mustang. I loved that car was sharp looking and drove like a dream. Thank you for the video brought back great memories.

It is pretty common knowledge that you test every digital speedometer cars you need to get them up to know if they will read triple digit speed. ALWAYS a plus to know.

We enjoy your content and have never commented, but we love this era of Mark so much. Used to eyeball them back in the early early 90's in Honolulu HI i think they imported a lot of the Lincoln versions there.

I purchased an 86 TBird brand new. One of my favorite cars. Drove it almost 10 years and 200k miles, she went every day without a hitch.

I want to thank you for all the work you put into these videos. I know you're never going to see this, because it's a 2 year old video. Like you I would like to have one of these. It's just one of those cars that makes you remember your youth in a positive light. Oh yeah I was surprised to hear that you and I are the same age. I was born in 1971 also. If you were born in February that would be crazy. Once again love your work. Please keep up the great work. Thanks😂

Bill, The engine in this is the 3.8 liter V6, not a 2.8 liter. And it does have a 4 speed electronic overdrive transmission. All Thunderbird/Cougars beginning in 1984 had the 4 speed automatic. My Dad had a 1988 302 LX Thunderbird. I loved it. If this car you have had the 302 I’d be seriously thinking about calling your company.

The XR4Ti was the high performance version of the UK Ford Sierra, which was quite controversial at launch because of its "jelly mould" appearance. It also meant the end of the Ford Cortina name, its predecessor, which had been through various incarnations from 1962 to 1982. The XR4i, as it was badged in the UK, didn't last long. It was replaced by the XR4x4.

I have this car in Silver with 3.8L and only 68,000 miles. Restoring from a 12 year time in a PA. barn. Love it !!

Mom had an 83 Cougar with the 302 V8. It was a fantastic car for my Mom and handled like a dream on the open road.

This was a fantastic review. I had some laughs and learned something too. Thank you.

In a 3.8 car the 3-speed auto transmission was probably a C5. (Basically a C4 with a lockup torque converter). They were in the process of switching over to the AOD, which is a whole different design internally, with a planetary gearset borrowed from the FMX). The 3.8 had the bellhousing bolt pattern of a 302; at one time the thought had been that the V-6es might replace the V-8s altogether, but there was still demand for the V-8s and the overdrive transmissions reduced the fuel economy concerns for many owners. And the 302 was a more reliable engine. The crazy part is, the Turbo Coupes with automatics had C3s and A4LDs like other 2.3 vehicles, even though these had more power and were catering to people more likely to drive them hard than the V-6 cars and even some V-8s; Ford got around the limited torque capacity, initially, by detuning the turbo. The choice of transmission back then really followed the displacement and design family of the engine more than it probably should have, once turbos came along and you'd have to consider that smaller engines might have more power and torque than larger ones. Another assumption - more realistic in the 80s than now - was that most people who were really going to put the spurs to a Turbo Coupe would want the 5-speed manual (the T-5); but even that unit needed beefing up over the years and improved a lot by the late 1980s. Ironically, they were using the A4LD (or, its electronic descendants) behind the 4.0 in the early Explorer SUVs - really heavier vehicles and more power than appropriate for a glorified Pinto transmission, but the 4.0 was a "small" (60-degree) V6 that was a descendant of the 2.9 (which shared a bellhousing pattern with the Lima 2.3 4-cylinder). So they just did some beefing up to the A4LD; it got better but it was never very happy with much hauling or pulling. The "big" (90-degree) 3.8 V-6 was never in trucks, but a larger version of it (the 4.2) was in F150s and vans from the mid-90s. I'm not a fan of any of the Essex V-6s but I know some people had great luck with theirs and others who basically had a boat anchor around 120K.

The V6 was only tolerable. If you got the 5.0, this was a hell of nice car for the time, and far, far better than anything from GM or Mopar.

I was never comfortable calling this car a THUNDERBIRD. But I ALWAYS loved it and thought it was an absolutely beautiful… car. At the time.. “ WOW” comes to mind. Fabulous car and excellent presentation Bill!

3.8L V-6, not 2.8....and only throttle body injected. Multipoint injection came in '88 and added 20 hp, up to 140hp. I had an '87 and definitely could have used the extra 20 (or better yet, the 5.0L). But this is splitting hairs...very well done again, Bill!

This takes me back to the time when Ford wasn’t a one product (pickups) company.😣

I had a buddy in college with one of these. It had a 302 in it. Pretty quick at the time. Thanks for reviewing this car!

This was a great trip back in time for me. I had an 87 Thunderbird loaded up like this one... loved that car. Served me well for 200k miles.

Lovely example. I have the same car in the same colour with the 302 V8. You one has a lot more options though. I reckon they look great. Thanks for the review.

Love these and I don't see it as what killed the American car. I see it as the car that saved Ford. It was the first Ford that signaled things were about to change in a very big way. It set the table for the Tempo/Topaz and Taurus/Sable. GM never recovered from Ford completely kicking their butts in the eighties.

I still have my 86 Elan'. V8 84,000 miles. It was my first car. It's nice to have a car from the Reagan years, when America was GREAT.

In high school, one of our friends had the 86-1/2 version of that Thunderbird with the newer, pointier nose, flush headlamps, and circle taillights. It was a deeper shade of red, but had the same digital dash. The manual climate control is correct with that dash. His T-bird had the "5.0" EFI V-8 and console shifter (vs your column shifter). As teenagers, we all thought that digital instrument cluster was top notch... so much so that when my friend wrecked the T-bird, he replaced the analogue gauges in his new (to him) i87 Cougar XR-7 with the same digimemories!tal cluster (which required a LOT of rewiring) Thanks for the memories!

Thank you so much Papa Bill. I love these Thunderbirds. A staple in NASCAR. When I think of these I think of Bill Elliott, and vice versa.

Hey Bill, love your videos. Can you do a review of the Lincoln LSC variant? My aunt had a 1993 LSC and I loved that car so much. I never got to drive it but my cousin would pick me up and we would cruise around NYC on the weekends. Man that was a beautiful car.

I worked for Ralph's Supermarket through the 1980s. The produce manager at my Newport Hills location drove a new Thunderbird elan. Cool car indeed. And now, two years later, I am the proud owner of a 1997 Mercury Cougar 30th Anniversary model, purchased from Copart in New Braunfels, Texas for $1,500 and a Run & Drive donation! Only 68,455 miles.

What a time capsule of a car. Looks brand new. Great review as always.

Wow great 80's bird very nicely equipped, almost like the Mark VII. Hope you find one of those someday! Cheers

The ultimate Aero bird of that era was the Chicago Edition with the 5.0 and moonroof Black & Dark Gray with a thin red stripe awesome depending on the driver it could go toe to toe with the M GT. 5.0 very stylish and practical & comfy a real head turner of the era

HOLY COW!! Two Curious Cars reviews back-to-back. The.Best.Week.Of.My.Life!

Rabbit acting suspiciously!!! I was a mechanic at the time and worked on a fleet of these TBirds and Cougars. They were great cars. I remember the display panels dying was a common occurrence.

I got to say I love this mans commentary. You sir are funny. Keep up the good work and the hilarious commentary. Rabbit must be a scout. 🤣 I loved the retro modern Thunderbird. The biggest problem for me was it just didnt have the power. If they would have put a supercharged 4.6 v8 at the time it was out that thing would have killed it in sales.

I believe the face of the Ford cassette desk was pretty much used in all Ford and Mercury vehicles from 1986 thru around 1990. I know because my Dad had the same cassette deck in his 1988 Mercury Tracer wagon.

As usual, highly informative and very entertaining, thanks Bill!

I look forward to all your vid! I love the knowledge that I get on cars and your vids are HILARIOUS AND INFORMATIVE!

Greetings from wexford to one and all.

This car will always be memorialized as the pro stocker that carried Bob Glidden to so many victories.

Really liking the front and back lighting views you give at the beginning of the videos now!

Bill was being verwy, verwy quiet when speaking about that rabbit! I loved this video and this Thunderbird is beautiful. Thanks.

Wow. I had that exact color on an '85 Cougar.

I use to have one of these it was gold it was a really good car. You'll notice it has no Ford badge.

Analog gauges were standard for '83 and '84, digital dash for upper levels. For '85 and '86, digital dash was standard, but the upper levels had a different kind of digital dash, and only the performance version had the analog.

Like the new showing of the lights and startup in the intro. Good idea

I can never say too much in favor of the Ford keyless entry system!! I drove Cougars and Grand Marquis for that.

Are you sure that’s not a 3.8 v6? Also I think those are called phone dial wheels

My first car! My dad bought it new, and I bought it from him 8 years later. Mine was charcoal grey. Everyone thought I'd be buried in "Smokey".

One of my all time favorite vehicles was my 1984 Thunderbird Turbo Coup. Mine was tricked out with a Calloway Turbo w/adjustable waste gate, Motorsport intercooler, Hurst shifter, BBS wheels with Yokohama AVS tires, Borla exhaust, K&N, etc. It would run even with a GT Mustang, but was more comfortable, classy and fun to drive. 👍

Man eating rabbits, is a thing.

I had a friend who had an '87 equipped similar to this one except is also had automatic climate control (which had a fault causing all the indicators to flash). I remember the digital speedometer topping out at 85 MPH (even though the car would go faster).

Wow Bill! Pumping out the contemt lately. For a little while it seemed like there were no new vidz, and I was like "WTF", where is Curious Cars, and then BANG! Love it!

my grandpa's brother had one of this generation T-Birds, was always fun going for ride in it.... thank you for the awesome videos. Very informative. keep up the great work and watch out for those cats and birds

There’s the intro we’ve been missing. My favorite videos start with Bill’s miserable weather report! If it’s a nice morning it almost ruins the video! 😂

I remember my friends parents had the cougar. I thought the digital gauges were so cool when I was ten. Great video. Lets go Brandon!!!

I love that 'Bird. I bought my wife that one when it came out. It was the E'lan model. Thunderbird was always on top with style back then. The E'lan had the automatic digital AC control. And the digital instrument cluster was all one big screen instead of those three individual displays.

I had one of these in 91, had the 5.0 in it. Two tone blue with the blue interior. Same rims as this one. Loved that car. 😁

I had an '86 Turbo Coupe with the three-speed auto (shifter on the floor) when I was in high school. It was black with bordello red interior. It had a blacked out front grill, fog lights and shared the same 15 inch wheels as the Mustang LX 5.0. It was a very nice combination of sportiness and luxury. Got pretty decent gas mileage if you weren't trying to race anybody. I think the power rack & pinion steering setup on the turbo models had a lot more weight to it than the one shown in the video. I think it had an almost 50/50 front/rear weight distribution. I remember it always handled well and felt nicely balanced, even in the snow.

I had a red 1991 T-Bird. Really loved that car. It had a 3.8L engine, it looked good and drove like a dream. I also liked the big boat T-Birds from the mid 70s but never had one.

Sweet ride, Bill. It's a little trip back in time for me...I had an '83 which I ordered as soon as they came out. I thought that styling was so forward thinking that I just had to have one! Mine was white with a beige interior. If I remember correctly I think I had the 302 V8. I sure had a lot of great times in that car, so thanks for the trip down memory lane!

My family had three TBirds when I was a kid. My uncle had a black 83, my grandparents had a gold 84 then a white 86 Elan which I loved. Good to see one in such good shape.

Buddy in high school had one with. 5.0 in it and always did burnouts. Then another buddy had 1993 super coupe. Loved it.

THE SOUND OF THE DOOR CLOSING IS AMAZING

Another great week With Bill we had the Cordoba earlier in the week and now my favorite generation on the T-bird

My friend had a turbo coupe like that one; same colors. He loved that car. Great review!!!