North American Turbocoupe Organization



Purchase value
Luvturbobird Offline
Junior Member
#1
Hello,

I'm new to this group, but not to the love the Turbo Coupe.  My very first car was a 1988, loaded Turbo with the 5-speed.  I have been searching and I'm looking for one that is completely stock, in excellent condition and low on the mileage.  I have found several that are currently listed at Gateway Classics and Classic Auto Mall.  The prices are ranging from $17,000 with 40K all the way to $29,900 with under 10K.  Can someone help determine what the correct price would be or if these prices are fairly accurate considering the cult following of these cars?

Thanks in advance,
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Jeff K Offline
Administrator
#2
The prices you quote are completely insane!! You should be able to get a very nice TC that needs minimal work for under $10K. Mileage on these cars doesnt matter that much. The engines (except for the slider cams if oil isnt changed regularly) last forever. Do you want a nearly perfect car to park in the garage and rarely if ever drive it, spend the big $$$. If you plan to drive it on a regular basis dont waste your $$ on a nearly perfect car, as it wont be perfect after being driven 50K+ miles. These cars were meant to be driven, not stuck in a garage and looked at every so often.

Check Ebay, Autotrader, even Craigslist etc.
Jeff Korn

88 Turbo Coupe: Intake and exhaust mods, T3 turbo at 24 psi, forced air IC, water injection, BPV, Ranger cam, subframes, etc., etc.
86 Tbird 5.0 (original owner): intake, exhaust, valvetrain mods, 100 HP N2O, ignition, gears, suspension, etc., etc.
11 Crown Vic Interceptor
14 Toyota Camry (wifes car)
95 Taurus GL Vulcan winter beater
67 Honda 450 Super Sport - completely customized
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anasazi4st Offline
Senior Member
#3
Sad 
Amen to that, Jeff. I’ve shared here my decision about a year and a half ago to drive mine daily for my work. In that job I drove all over parts of Arizona, sometimes more than 500 miles a week. I was concerned that, taking it out of the garage, I risk some idiot running a stop sign and putting an end to my TC experience (the “Ol’ Yeller moment,” as I call it, remembering the end of that movie).

My thought then was, “The reason I have my car is to drive it, not to have it sit in the garage.” That’s still my thought.

But then it happened. Last Thursday a week ago a 20-year old driver pulled right out of a side street onto the main avenue...and just sat there, oblivious to cars bearing down on him.

I was one of those cars. I was about 30 yards away, slowing down to about 20 mph, and he wasn’t moving. “I’m going to hit him,” I thought, certainly he would get his butt out of the way in time.

He did not. I swerved into oncoming traffic to the left—fortunately there wasn’t any—and now he decided to get out of the street. Right into my car.

I sat there. This is any antique/special interest car owner’s worst nightmare. How bad is the damage? Where will I get the parts?

It was my first collision with this car, after 28 years and over 150,000 miles.

As it happened, he hit me in probably the best of all possible places—just in front of the right front tire. I lost the front bumper, fender and header panel, as well as the plastic trim, the left headlight and marker lights.

There was no engine, radiator or hood damage. (The tire’s sidewall was punctured by the fender.)

Here it is:

[Image: 2019-07-18%2015.41.55.jpg?dl=0]



Soon afterwards I made a call to a salvage yard in Tucson which is my source for parts (and curse whomever you are that bought its rims before I could!  Undecided Angry ); last Saturday I made the 110 mile drive there to pick up those parts, for a cool $300! (And that includes the cost of their removal.)

[Image: 2019-07-20%2015.27.33.jpg?dl=0]

So once the temperature here gets below 85 (October) and I can paint again, I’ll shoot those pieces and get them on there. I have the rest of the parts I’ll need, but I could use a right cornering light black accent piece (the frame)...if anyone has one...? Heck, I probably won’t be able to wait that long. I just hate the idea of my otherwise-great-looking car with white parts on it. But better than no parts, right?

Keep up the good fight.
Another proud dues-paying member.

1987 Turbo Coupe w/T5OD, 8.8 axle, grey smoke; most options. Got it in 1991 with 41K miles: 3 turbos, 2 heater cores, 3 T5OD full rebuilds, 6 clutches, 1 head gasket, 2 Teves II ABS units, etc. later....
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94VERTiGO Offline
Junior Member
#4
I just picked up a solid factory original (no mods) car from original owner. It was garaged most of its life and most of the car is in very nice condition, weatherstripping, dew wipes, and interior are like new. It is a very nice driver and I intend to daily drive it, attend cars and coffee and be in Carlisle with this group next year. I found my car on local craigslist, it was posted on Saturday, I bought it on Sunday. I would have paid 6 or 7k for my car but I still got it for quite a bit less than that. I saw those cars you mentioned, but there is no way they are going to sell for that kind of money. Take your time and check all the sources listed by Jeff K, I would suggest turboford.net also.
Happy hunting!
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firebirdparts Offline
Member
#5
I bought a nice 1988 with 45,000 miles on it for about $8000. I think they can be had for as low as half that.
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