Congratulations to Steve Baysinger (FEP Username: 86-TC-SVO)
and his 1987 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe as the winner of the May Ride of the Month. Steve’s Thunderbird has been in the family since 1994 when his parents purchased the car as his Mother’s new driver. He purchased the T-Bird in the fall of 2012 to keep it in the family when Mom finally decided it was time for a new car which happens to be a 2011 Grabber Blue V6 Mustang.



The Thunderbird is still in mostly original condition. The stock head has been rebuilt due to a slight tapping. The factory valve cover was powder coated back to the original wrinkle finish black. Steve had the whole car re-painted in the winter of 2012. The factory wheels were sandblasted, the faces re-machined, and the inserts were repainted silver. The whole wheels were then clear powder coated. The Turbo Coupe does have a couple of custom touches that include a K&N air filter as well as dual exhaust to accentuate the Turbo. Steve added a Thunderbird decal to the windshield and a polished stainless panel over the top of the radiator fans.



Since the Turbo Coupe has been a daily driver most of its life it hasn’t spent too much time at the local car shows. Although when Steve has been able to show the T-Bird it has done well. It was Top 3 in the 1980-89 class a couple of years ago. It placed 2nd in the 1983-87 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe class at Carlisle Ford Nationals in 2006. The Thunderbird was also in the 60th Anniversary Thunderbird display at Carlisle Ford Nationals in 2015.

Steve has been lucky in regards to challenges in getting the T-Bird to its current condition. The Turbo Coupe has been well taken care of most of its life. The paint wasn't bad when Steve bought it, but the color needed a freshening and so the repaint was in order. That along with some other detailing and refinishing has given Steve the T-Bird you see today. Now Steve enjoys driving his virtually stock Thunderbird to the local car shows whenever he can.



Steve’s Thunderbird family story began way back in 1994. Steve’s Mother started to look for a new (to her) vehicle to replace her old one which would become Steve’s first car (1983 Mustang GL 2.3 carburetor 4 speed w/over drive). She liked the Thunderbird SC's, Dad and Steve liked the styling of the 87-88 Thunderbird TC. Dad had always been told that they ran well, but didn't really believe that knowing how the 83 Mustang was and that the TC was a bigger car. A local tire shop had a TC for sale and Dad was told to take it for a spin, He was impressed. Dad found a few but, not exactly what he wanted. He found an ad in the newspaper for one and went to check it out. When Steve’s Dad got to the dealership he couldn't find it. He then saw it in the service bay. He asked if it was sold already and was told no. Steve’s Dad didn't care for the colors at first and really wanted a 5 speed but, when he noticed that it had climate control he was sold. (All of their vehicles before this never had air conditioning). Dad came back home to get Mom from work and she drove it home that night. The Thunderbird at that time only had 41,000 miles and only has 64,000 miles today. The dealer told my parents that it was a factory buy back and it came from Florida. Steve thinks it had something to do with the ABS. The irony is that the DSO indicates the Thunderbird came from the Boston, Massachusetts area and it had winter tread tires on the back. Steve’s Mother used the Thunderbird as her daily driver for next 10 years or more. Steve learned how to drive in this car and he even took his driver’s test in the Thunderbird. The Turbo Coupe started the 2.3 Turbo craze in the family. Since then Steve has owned 10 or so TC's from 85-88, 5 SVO's 85.5 and 86's, and 1 84 GT Turbo.



FEP would like to thank Steve and his family for taking such great care of this Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. We also want to thank Steve for sharing his family story and his Thunderbird with us for the Ride of the Month. We wish Steve many more years of fun driving and showing his Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.