- Ford Probe IV Concept chassis 001 has resurfaced in Spring, Texas, listed on Facebook Marketplace.
- The 1983 Ghia-built prototype is display-only, non-running and lacks drivetrain components
- Ford claims the Probe IV achieved a 0.15 drag coefficient during early-1980s aerodynamics testing.
For decades, the Ford Probe IV was little more than a footnote in Blue Oval folklore: a wind-cheating concept whispered about in aero circles, then quietly written off as lost. Now it’s back, very real, and doing the most 2020s thing imaginable: turning up for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
DRIVEN understands this is chassis 001 of the 1983 Ford Probe IV Concept, one of only two ever built, and it’s currently sitting in Spring, Texas. No museum velvet ropes. No secret Ford vault. Just a private seller taking offers, with a placeholder price of US$11,111 (a little over NZ$19k).
A science experiment on wheels
The Probe IV wasn’t meant to be driven, let alone owned. Built by Italian design house Ghia for Ford’s late-1970s and early-’80s aerodynamics programme, it was a rolling testbed for radical ideas about efficiency at a time when fuel economy mattered more than flair.
The headline number still stings today: a claimed drag coefficient of just 0.15. That’s lower than most modern production EVs, hypercars, and eco specials combined with a fair bit of creative rule-bending. There are no mirrors, no safety concessions, and no drivetrain to speak of.
Instead, the composite body sits atop a wooden chassis with steel subframes supporting the wheels. The suspension is manually adjustable for wind-tunnel work, while an electrically actuated front splitter hints at just how far ahead Ford’s aero team was thinking.
Lost… but not forgotten
For years, Probe IV chassis 001 was believed to have vanished. Its sibling, chassis 002, resurfaced earlier and sold in 2022 for around US$125,000, later finding a permanent home at the Petersen Automotive Museum in California.
This example, however, is the original development car used specifically for aerodynamic testing. It doesn’t run, can’t be driven, and was never meant to. That alone will cap its value, but it also makes it purer, in a strange, engineer-approved way.
A bargain? Depends who’s asking
The seller is accepting offers, and while nobody expects museum-grade money, this remains a genuine slice of automotive history. It’s a reminder that some of the industry’s boldest thinking never reaches a showroom, but still shapes everything that does.
In an era obsessed with software updates and drag-race stats, the Probe IV is a quiet flex from the past: proof that sometimes the most important car in the room doesn’t even have an engine.
