My Ford Probe used to remind me of NightRider for some reason, it's got a great look to it and I suppose you could call it a 'sports car' (if you really want). I don't have one any more, mostly because I can afford something better, but it was actually a pretty decent car in its day.
First of all I should mention its unflinching reliability; my Probe started every time I put that key in the ignition and I had very few other problems with it. I have experience with other Fords and they are nowhere near this impressive to be honest. It had some parts which I decided to replace, but this was a matter of preference rather than necessity (the standard wheels are rubbish).
Power-wise and in terms of general ability the car is not that impressive. But when you consider the price, it really is great value. A word of warning, though - don't expect to find new parts easily. Luckily I didn't have unreliability issues but the Probe is very rare and you might have to go a long way out of town to find new bits. Otherwise, the Ford Probe is a great little motor if you're on a budget.
I recently sold my Ford Probe, thinking that having had my third child I needed something bigger. So I bought an MPV with seven seats (another Ford) and marvelled at the roominess inside. But then I realised that it is virtually the same size as my Probe was! It comes up to the exact same point on my drive. What on earth was taking up all that room in my four-seat Probe? It always seemed so cramped.
Size and practicality aside, the Probe served me pretty well. It was particularly sturdy and well-built, something I feel doesn't actually measure up so well in my brand new MPV. It had air-con and a fair amount of safety equipment and on the road it drove very nicely. Handling fine and performance unexceptional but quite reasonable.
Two things which make it outdated are firstly, as I mentioned before, practicality, and secondly, fuel efficiency, which rarely crept out of the 20s in miles-per-gallons terms for me (and yes I was counting). Apparently the 2.0l version serves better in this department, so perhaps look to one of these if you are considering buying a probe.
I originally wanted a Mazda MX5 and I ended up with a Ford Probe, which apparently is pretty much the same thing, so there you go. It certainly looks like one, but you see far fewer of them and to be honest I think it's probably a better car, although I never ended up buying a Mazda.
The Ford Probe is built to a very high standard and its reliability is unwavering. It has a lot of electronics which have gone wrong for me twice, but I'm sure that this is the exception rather than the rule. Performance wise it's perhaps not as sporty as it pretends to be but I have no complaints there.
Like with most Fords there are plenty of parts about when anything does go wrong, and these are cheap. In my opinion this is a stylish and underrated car and I'm not sure why it wasn't more successful when it first arrived on the market. Looking at how cheap these are nowadays I'd certainly recommend buying one.