5 Reasons Why The Ford Probe Isn't As Horrific As Everyone Makes Out

I passed my test shortly before my 18th birthday, and it was time to buy a car. Because I live in England, worked in a supermarket 10 hours a week, and didn’t have ‘top one per cent’ parents, for the first two years of my driving life I could just about afford to run a car that nearly had triple-digit horsepower figures. Score!

Then I quit college, went full time and started on my retail management career. My plan was to save up for something cool when I turned 21 (the Toyota GT86, which had just been revealed in FT-86 form, was what I would treat myself to), however I became disillusioned with working in supermarkets (you’ll be surprised to hear), went back to working part time, and used my savings to pay for a second stab at college.

With the very little money I had left, I decided to buy something interesting at the very least, and on impulse bought a cheap Ford Probe on eBay after absolutely zero research. I spent a bit of money (probably too much) getting the engine sorted and voila, I had something cool on my driveway. And do you know what? Despite all the horror stories, I absolutely loved that thing, so I’m here to stick up for the poor, bullied Ford Probe… just excuse the terrible quality photographs and my apparent attempts to make my photos look professional by taking them at a quirky angle!

1. It has pop-up headlights, because awesome

It is a matter of fact that if a car has popup headlights, its coolness increases by a factor of eleventy million. I used to love driving home after a late shift at work, seeing the headlights rise out of that long bonnet to light the way ahead. Sure, the way the headlight was constructed meant that barely any light seemed to escape the housing, but whatever, it looked great!

Oh, and since the Ford Probe is based on a Mazda platform, it stole a few bits from its Japanese partner. The headlight motor is taken from an NC Mazda RX-7… how’s that for some sporting pedigree? No? Okay. I tried.

2. It looks great

I seem to come up against a lot of people who think the Ford Probe is about as attractive as an overweight Gollum. I, on the other hand, think it looks great. Especially the front end, which is full of wonderful swooping lines; it’s a real 90s vision of the future, and I think that’s awesome.

Admittedly, the back end is a bit frumpy, but I think the car carries its weight well, and looks much prettier than the Mazda MX-6 with which it shares so much.

3. They're so rare, you'll probably never see another

One of the advantages of owning a car that many people mock, and that has a tendency to not actually work, is that their values drop quite quickly, resulting in many people not bothering to repair them after crashes (or catastrophic part failures). Therefore, there aren’t many on the road; according to the brilliant HowManyLeft.com there are only 763 Probes left on British roads.

That’s so incredibly low that you’d be lucky to ever see another one on the road. That makes them super rare, and thanks to their unique styling, quite the head turner.

4. The interior is spacious and comfortable

This car doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not. It might look a bit sporty, but it knows it’s no go-kart in the handling department. The Probe’s interior reflects this, with loads of space and big, comfy seats. I regularly travelled huge distances in this car, and never found the interior to be anything other than relaxing.

5. It's a fantastic mile-muncher

It wasn’t just the interior that made this car so brilliant for long journeys, it was the fact that the Mazda-sourced 2.0-litre engine delivered its power in a deliciously creamy way. With 118bhp, it was by no means fast, but it was spritely enough when it needed to be and once up to motorway speeds, it had more than enough about it to keep up with all but the most determined of commuters.

Have you owned a car you’d like to defend from the haters? Create a post about your ride, and we’ll feature the best!