History

The history of the Ford Probe has been a long one, dating all the way back to 1979 when it was originally a highly aerodynamic concept car.

In the UK, the Probe was only available from March 1994 until 1998. This model was the second production model to carry the Probe name in the US. The first generation car was never introduced in the UK for general sale, but as an introduction the following paragraphs cover the history of the car in the US.

In May of '88, at the Chicago Auto Show, the first Ford Probe was introduced to the public as the 1989 model. Despite its sporty appearance and design, the Probe could be equipped with enough luxury options to suit a driver well into the hedonistic phase of life. Options included air conditioning, cruise control, a trip computer, and power everything. The GT came standard with four-wheel discs brakes and an option for the anti-lock system. If you wanted an automatic transmission, you had to forgo the turbocharged engine and choose either the GL or the LX. Both models had softer suspensions, narrower tires, and cleaner, more conservative bodywork than the GT. The LX had a more luxurious interior trim than the base GL and shared the GT's highly adjustable seats, tilt steering, electric mirrors, and alloy wheels. Like the GT, both the GL and the LX could be outfitted with a long list of comfort and convenience options. If you had to have electronic gauges, the Probe LX was the only choice. The Probe faced such established competitors as the Toyota Celica, the Honda Prelude, and the Nissan 200SX, as well as the MX-6, but it showed itself to be a strong contender. The Probe was also priced competitively. A fully equipped GT was only about $17,600 back in 1988.

For the 1990 mode l year, the Probe received a minor body restyling and a new engine was added to the lineup. The LX model received Ford's popular Vulcan 3.0 litre 12-valve V6 engine with electronic fuel injection. Borrowed from Ford's line of Taurus's and Rangers, the Yamaha built V6 included Ford's advanced ECC-IV engine control and was not available on the MX-6 and 626 platforms. The engine produced 140hp at 4800 rpm and 160 foot/pounds of torque at 3000 rpm. A massive 80 percent of the torque was produced at only 1000 rpm. In 1992, the LX's V6 increased by 5 horsepower and 5 foot/pounds of torque. It was at this time when Ford and Mazda was amidst working on a replacement for the current Probe. This time, Ford would get the opportunity to have a word in the platform design and help create the car from the ground up.

The car introduced to the UK market was essentially the same design as the second generation model in the USA. The Probe was released in the UK a year later than in the States, the ageing Capri still being available over here, although ultimately being replaced by the Probe.

For the 1993 model year, the Ford and Mazda design teams merged once again to give the Probe a complete restyling and the second generation Probe was born. Again the new Probe was to share its understructure with Mazda's MX-6 and 626. Ford concentrated on the interior and exterior styling, while Mazda engineered the engine and chassis. The Ford/Mazda team added 2 inches to the length of the new Probe as well as 4 inches to the width, while still managing to shave off 125 pounds. Along with numerous other enhancements from lessons learned since the first Probe's debut, Ford brought the experience of many days at the track to the design table, creating one of the best handling cars on the road. The base model received a new Mazda 2.0 litre 4-cylinder engine with 16 valves and dual overhead cams producing 115 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 124 foot/pounds of torque at 3500 rpm. The GT model was powered by the new 24-valve Mazda 2.5 litre V6 engine with multi-port fuel injection, four cams, and a computer controlled variable induction system. The V6 produced 164 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 156 foot/pounds of torque at 4000 rpm. The second generation Probe was introduced in August of 1992.

When Ford released the new Mustang in 1994, Probe sales began to deteriorate. Due to the decreasing sales, Ford planned on discontinuing the Probe, making the '96 model the last Probe year, but then continued production through to the '97 model year. During that year, Ford only sold 32,505 Probes, making it the worst selling Ford car for that year. On March 17th, 1997, Ford announced the discontinuation of the Probe, Thunderbird, Cougar, and Aerostar. Although the Probe, Thunderbird, and Cougar were discontinued, Ford planned on reintroducing the three in the coming years. The third generation Probe was to be built on the same platform as the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique as the earlier generation Probes were built on the Mazda MX-6 and 626 platform. The base third generation Probe would have the same 4-cylinder engine as the second generation Probes, but producing more power with 125hp at 5500 rpm and 130 foot/pounds of torque at 4000 rpm. The GT's V6 engine, like the 4-cylinder, is the same 2.5 litre as the previous generation's V6, though it will produce 170hp at 6250 rpm and 165 foot/pounds of torque at 4250 rpm. Unfortunately, as the Probe was born from what was to be the new Mustang, the new Cougar was born from what was to be the new Probe. In June of '98, Ford introduced the new Probe… as the redesign 1999 Mercury Cougar.

The base model Probe was not available at all in the UK, it came with different design for the nose and smaller wheels, instead 2 models were available, the 24V which is equivalent to the US GT, and the 16V which is equivalent to the US SE model. One model that was never available over here was the GTS which was introduced in the States in '97, this was essentially an options package that included a spoiler, racing stripes and chrome 'swirly' style alloys. Although the alloys and spoiler were available from '96 in the UK, the stripes were never an option.

Most of this report has been gleaned from the history sections of the AusPOC and PerformanceProbe websites and has been used with their permission.