The one and only 1979 Ford Ghia Probe I concept car is no more after a trailer fire following Monterey Car Week. The historic Ford’s owners hope the car can be restored, but it’s a long shot for a one-of-one concept that’s 45 years old.
The Ford Ghia Probe I was the first in a series of Probe concepts dating back to 1979. According to Motortrend, it meant to preview commuter cars of the 1980s, with an aerodynamic body and heavy digitization—it even had keycard entry. The Probe name eventually came to adorn a captive import Mazda MX-6, which Ford briefly considered replacing the Mustang with. In 2002, the Ghia Probe I was bought by a California car restoration firm called the Scott Grundfor Company, which displayed the car at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Unfortunately, it may have been the Ghia Probe’s last outing.
On its way back from the week’s events on Sunday, a car passing the truck towing the Ghia Probe alerted its driver to smoke coming from the trailer. The truck slowed and was detached from the Probe’s trailer, though KSBW 8 indicates it took slight fire damage and that one firefighter was injured. But the Probe? Up in smoke, burned to a husk, and the trailer with it.
The Grundfor Company reportedly says they hope the Probe can be restored to rejoin its later brethren, the Probe IV and V concepts, which Grundfor also owns. But it was understandably noncommittal about rebuilding the car from scratch, as much of its construction was one-off work from decades ago. It’d be the project of a lifetime to resurrect what remains of the 1979 Ford Ghia Probe I, and it’s hard to say if there’s anyone other than Ford capable of taking it on.
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