The Ford Probe was not a bad car. People who look back now, barely remembering them, can be forgiven for thinking it was - Ford did such a terrible job of positioning and marketing the Probe that they essentially doomed it to failure. In fact, the Probe was good - very good. It was based on the Mazda GD platform, sharing underpinnings with the MX-6 coupe. Despite this, it was not just a bit of badge engineering, but a genuine effort that gave the Probe its own character, and in many ways, it surpassed the MX-5. But there was on thing the Probe would not be:

The new Mustang.

Once pony car purists caught wind of Ford's plan to replace the rear-drive, V8-powered donut machine with a front drive 4-cylinder, they literally freaked out. And Mustang purists within Ford management also freaked out, enough to do a sly end-runaround, saving the Mustang name for a new V8 car, and condemning the Probe to relative obscurity.

While nobody can be sad the Mustang was saved in itsw iconic format, the Probe itself deserved better. It was sleek, well built, reliable, handled well, and had excellent utility. The GT version was quick, and the GL and LX versions did their duty with poise. One problem was that the car was a little bit good at everything, but excelled at nothing - it was quick but not fast, plush but not luxurious, handled but not enough to really impress, and was somewhere in the gray area between cheap and expensive. It was the answer to the question nobody asked.

This is a complete rundown on the story of the Probe and the Mustang, and a review and test drive of a 16K mile 1990 GL model in near showroom condition. Review by Bill of Curious Cars, vehicle is for sale at Autohaus of Naples - on the phone at (239) 263-8500, or the web at http://www.AutohausNaples.com.