A black Ford Probe GL, seen in the far eastern suburbs of Beijing. The car was is a reasonable overall shape, but much in need of repairs to its bodywork and paint.
The seats are a little worn out, and the plastics a bit shiny. But everything is original, even the radio!
Ultra cool steering wheel.
The Probe badge on the B-pillar.
The first generation Ford Probe was made from 1988 until 1992. It was based on Mazda’s front-wheel drive GD platform, that also underpinned the Mazda MX-6. The body was Ford’s own design, except for the pop-up headlights, which were lifted from the Mazda RX7.
The Probe was available with three different engines; Mazda 2.2, Mazda 2.2 turbo and Ford’s own 3.0 ‘Vulcan’ V6. The Probe GL, the model we have here, has the base 2.2 under the bonnet, good for 110 hp and 176 Nm. The engine is mated to an 4-speed automatic.
When Ford started working on the ‘Probe’ it was actually meant to become the 4th generation Ford Mustang. When die-hard Mustang fans heard about it they got mad; front-wheel drive, a Japanese platform, and no V8!
A massive protest followed, Ford relented and decided to design another new Mustang. The FWD-design however was almost finished and Ford didn’t want to scrap it, so it became the Probe instead.
The Probe was not officially sold in China, so they are very rare. I only saw one other example, also in Beijing.
Beautiful light units. Probe badge on the left. Ford badge on the right is gone. Tiny exhaust pipe. Note the extra frame on the license plate area, used to fit the wider Chinese plates. Most gray-import U.S. cars have similar frames.
The Probe was parked in front of a car repair shop. The owner told me the car worked, and that they were busy fixing it up. Well, some water and soap might be a good idea too.
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